When trying to grow it's easy to stumble more than once and scratch your knees on your way to success, happiness, expansion of consciousness and all that good stuff.

There is certainly some pits to watch out for and here's nine mistakes – in no particular order – that I'd say are very common.

I have certainly made a lot of them. More than once.

If you can, try be observant of your own behaviour and to learn from my mistakes. While we perhaps learn best from our own mistakes there is no reason for you to at least waste a little less time that I and so many others before me have done.

Now, let's go.

1. Thinking you already know everything.

This one is a big problem and can halt growth for a very long time. It's the mindset that says: “I know how the world works. I don't need that snake-oil salesman stuff to improve my life. They have nothing new to offer. Only desperate people need those books to get their life together. It's just common sense.”

This attitude and close-mindedness will make it very difficult for you to grow. When you start reading about personal development from writers such as Anthony Robbins, Brian Tracy or Wayne Dyer you quickly realise that their best advice is not that much common sense at all. In fact, it's often the opposite to the more commonly accepted “truths” that many of us have heard through school, media and other people throughout our lives.

2. Being confused by the marketing hype

The mindset in the first example isn't totally of the mark. There are snake-oil salesmen in every line of business. And since most successful personal development authors/speakers really knows how to communicate there is bound to be perhaps a more than average amount of the high-pressure sales stuff you can read about in books like Influence by Robert Cialdini. Stuff like offering a small free gift to the consumer, saying that there are only 500 copies of the product and that the offer will only be available for one week.

But even though some marketing techniques may seem overly optimistic or kinda aggressive doesn't mean that the products are without value. Don't confuse the sales techniques with the products.

I say, start with trusted names or products that have received great reviews. Do a bit of your own research via google and browse the reviews on amazon before you buy. See what other people think. If you'd like, take a look at this list of my favourite personal development products so far.

3. Not taking action

Thinking that reading a book or blog will automatically transform you and your life. But knowledge without action on your part is not that very transforming. And only you can change yourself. Others can only give a bit of advice, support and motivation. But in the end, you have to take the steps in real life.

Have a look at Don't get stuck in reading for more thoughts on the common affliction of getting stuck in reading a whole lot of personal development books without putting much of the advice into action.

If you have problems taking action, it's often due to fear. Try the first and the second suggestion in this article on overcoming fear. It helped me to get going.

4. Giving up

At the first or third failure thinking “It's no meaning. I am who I am and that can't change. I just have to get used to that thought.” Don't give up. One or five or 20 failures ain't that big of a deal in the long run. You have to fail to get good at something and to grow.

5. Worrying about/listening to what others think

You might fear that people will react in badly to your change.

And they might actually do that.

Perhaps they do not want you to change because then they fear drifting apart and losing you forever. 或許，他們不想你去改變，因為他們害怕從此就會和你疏遠，最終永遠失去你。

Or they might not want to see you improve as that will make them feel like they are standing still in life. Or give you unhelpful heap of negative thoughts on personal development and that it's all just common sense, a waste of time and that in real life it doesn't work like in the books.

If you get stuck here it's probably because you need validation from others. Take a look at Why you should not compare yourself to others for some thoughts and practical tips for overcoming or at least reducing this very common problem.

6. Dabbling with it

Dabbling with your personal development and personal growth material on and off. Not committing to studying/action and developing it consistently as a part of your life.

Perhaps you feel it's just too hard. Or just not worth it. And therefore not commit to it.

Is it hard? Yes, sometimes. But I find that growing is overall a lot more positive than negative. And I think that from an outsider's perspective – as someone who hasn't immersed his/herself yet - it often looks as if there is a lot more struggle, time and money invested than when you look at from the inside perspective. Hard work isn't that hard when you feel you are growing and like what you are doing.

Is it worth it? Well, it’s certainly better than the alternative. Just running or drooning around day after day filled with anxiety, stress and a low sense of self expressed in all kinds of direct or indirect ways ain't no fun.

Keys to success with anything in life are consistency and patience. Commit to your personal growth. 想要在生活中取得成功，最關鍵的是持之以恒和具有耐心。全心全意的投入到你的個人成長中。

7. Having unreasonable expectations

This stems from a lack of information. Sometimes both in quality and quantity. When you get you first start you may think that just reading one book will solve all your problems. Not having a reasonable picture of what you can expect will make you feel disappointed and like a failure for no good reason. This can quickly lead to giving up.

To get good results, you need to know things like: you will be enthusiastic in the beginning – as with anything new and exciting - but that enthusiasm will probably dissipate.

That's normal. And when you are prepared for it, when you get to know your emotional weather more closely, it’s gets easier and easier to control. You know that there will be rain. But it won't last forever, even if it might feel so.

One motivating method I use to get out of that low emotional state is to develop an on-going habit of consuming development material, whether it is in the form of a books, blogs, audiotapes or dvds. I'm building my own small library and filling it with solid and practical advice on personal growth. 用來克服低落情緒的一種激勵方法是養成一個持續的習慣，不斷的學習與發展相關的各種材料，不管是書籍、博客，還是磁帶、DVD等。我正在建立自己的小型圖書館，并在里面裝滿各種值得信賴、切合實際的對個人成長有幫助的建議。

Revisiting to a tape by Brian Tracy not only gets me motivated again but often presents me with ways to solve the problem at hand too. This habit - combined with action - will over time bring clarity to what you want, which methods that work best for you and the possibilities and limitations in your own personal growth.

8. Failing to/not wanting to (at least start to) understand yourself

To change yourself you have to learn about the processes inside yourself. How your emotions work. How you ego works. How you past experiences and habits can affect you. And what you can do about all of that. How you can help yourself. Even when parts of you are working against what you really want.

So I say, don't stick to one guru and to one line of thought. Read/listen to books from a lot of highly regarded authors to broaden your knowledge and number of possible solutions to your problems.

Try to be more conscious. Be aware of what processes are taking place inside you when you become angry, depressed, jealous or envious. Try not to react in the knee-jerk manner you may often do.

Instead, in the moment, apply what you have learned about handling this issue. If you fail to do so – which everyone does a lot, so beat yourself up about it – take some time later to analyse why you felt/did that negative thing. And what you can do about it when it arises the next time.

9. Not taking responsibility for yourself

This is absolutely essential. Don't blame anyone else. It’s up to you to change.

在成長的過程中，為了獲得成功、歡樂、意識的發展以及所有向往的美好事物，你往往很容易不止一次的跌倒，劃傷膝蓋。

除此之外，我還要告訴你，必須當心那些坑洼，這就是我將要提到的九大遏制你個人發展的錯誤（不按特定的順序），他們是極其常見的。

就個人經驗來講，我個人已經犯過很多種上述錯誤，而且不止一次的犯同樣的錯誤。

如果可以，請你仔細留意自己的行為，并從我的錯誤經歷中總結出教訓。這樣，如果我們能夠從自己的錯誤經歷中去粗取精，那么，你就完全沒有理由在我乃至其我之前的其他很多人都作過的事情上浪費一丁點兒的時間了。

那么現在，讓我們開始吧。

錯誤一：自以為已經無事不曉。

這一個很大的問題，它能很長時間阻止你的成長。這種思維模式是：我了解整個世界的運作，我不需要買騙人的萬靈油來改善我的生活。他們說的總是千篇一律。只有無可救藥的人才需要那些書籍來讓生活繼續。這樣的事情都太平常不過了，不值一提。

這樣消極的生活態度和狹隘的心靈將使你的成長變得艱難。當你開始閱讀一些關于個人發展的書籍，例如，安東尼·羅賓、博恩·崔西或者韋恩·代爾所寫的書籍，你就會發現他們的建議并不完全是毫無意義的；事實上，他們的建議和那些我們從學校、媒體和身邊的人們那聽到的道理，那些更為常見的“真理”恰恰相反。

錯誤二：因夸張的促銷廣告而產生疑惑。

這與第一種錯誤心理是完全不一樣的。在各行各業都有賣“萬靈油”的推銷員。當最成功的個人發展類作家或演講家知道了如何與讀者交流，你就能夠在很多書籍中閱讀到超過平均水平的。羅伯特·西奧迪尼所著的《影響力》就是其中之一。 或者是，能夠給消費者提過一個免費的小禮品的書籍，例如此類書籍只有500本而且發行期僅限于一個星期。

但是即使一些促銷手段看上去過于樂觀或者些許帶些冒犯的意味，也并不意味著書籍本省沒有價值。不要將促銷手段和書籍的實際價值混為一談。

我建議，從那些值得信賴的作家或者受到好評的書籍開始。在google上做一些調查，在買之前在Amazon網站上查閱評論。看看其他人的看法。如果你喜歡，還可以看看目前最受歡迎的個人成長類書籍列表。

錯誤三：沒有采取行動

認為閱讀一本書或瀏覽一個博客將會自然而然的改變你和你的生活。但是，心動沒有行動并不能如你所愿的產生作用。只有你自己可以改變自己。其他人只能給與一些建議、支持和激勵。但是最后，你必須在現實生活中采取行動。

可以閱讀一下《不要拼命閱讀》，其中有更多有用的想法。它們可以幫助那些讀遍所有個人成長類書籍，卻始終不能將書中的建議加以實踐的人，讓他們擺脫困擾。

如果你總是不能采取行動，那多半是因為你的恐懼。建議嘗試本文章中第一條和第二條的建議，它們對我很有幫助

錯誤四：輕言放棄

第一種或者第三種導致失敗的想法：“這都沒有意義。我只能是我自己，不能有什么改變。我不能不接受這個想法。”不要放棄，一次，五次，甚至是二十次的失敗，從長遠來看，都算不了什么。你不可能總是事事十全十美，即使失敗了，也要繼續前進。

錯誤五：害怕或是拒絕吸取別人的想法

你可能會害怕看到人們對你的變化作出不好的反應。

而且，他們很有可能就會作出不好的反應。

或者，他們可能不想看見你改變，因為那樣就會讓他們感覺自己在原地不動。或者，他們會給你一些關于個人發展的無用的、消極的想法，這些都是很正常的，只是在浪費時間，畢竟現實生活和書里的描述不同。

如果你深陷其中，那可能是因為你需要得到別人的認可。建議閱讀《為什么你不應該把自己比作別人》，這本書對中極其常見的問題很有幫助。

錯誤六：淺嘗輒止

對那些關于個人發展和個人成長的書籍，停停看看，看看停停。不用對學習或者行動下任何保證，只要把它當成你生活的一部分不斷的堅持下去。

或許，你覺得這簡直是太難了，或者根本就不值得，那么，就不要下決心去做。

很難嗎？是的，有時候。但是我發現，在成長的整個過程中，還是積極多過消極的，而在這個過程中，從一個旁觀者的角度——一個還沒有深陷其中的人 ——要比從一個當事人的角度看到更多的掙扎，更多消耗的時間和金錢。當你感覺到自己的成長時，困難也不覺得那么困難了，甚至喜歡自己正在做的事情。

它值得嗎？當然，它肯定比選擇好。整天漫無目的地跑來跑去，承受著來自各個方面的焦慮、壓力和薄弱的自我表達感，可不是什么好玩的。

錯誤七：懷著不切實際的期望

這種思想產生于信息的匱乏，有時候甚至是數量和質量的同時匱乏。當你開始關注自己的個人成長時，你可能會以為只要閱讀一本書就可以解決所有的問題。對自己能達到的期望沒有一個清醒的預見，最后只能讓你失望并且感覺自己失敗的毫無理由。這樣很快就導致放棄。

為了得到好的結果，你需要知道: 像那些新鮮且令人興奮的事情，會讓你一開始充滿了熱情，但這片熱情很有可能消失殆盡。

這是很正常。而且當你正在為它做準備時，當你越來越了解自己的感情天氣，它就會越來越容易控制。你會知道什么時候會下雨。但是，它不會永遠這樣，即使感覺上是。

每次聽博恩·崔西的磁帶，不僅讓我深受鼓舞，而且還能幫我提供解決問題的很多方法。這個習慣需要和實際行動結合起來，久而久之，你就能了解到什么是自己想要的，什么方法是對自己最有用的，什么是你成長過程中的可能性和限制因素。

錯誤八：不了解自己或者是不想去了解自己（至少還沒有開始）

要改變自己，首先必須了解自己。自己的情感是怎么樣的，自己的自我價值是什么，過去的經歷和習慣是怎樣影響自己的，還有自己能對這些有何作為，怎樣幫助自己，甚至自己的某些心理正在跟自己想要的作對。

因此，不要迷信一個人的指引，也不要只信守一種思想，而要閱讀不同的書籍，傾聽不同的聲音，這樣才能開闊你的知識面，才能更多可以解決問題的方法。

努力使自己更理智。當你生氣、低落、嫉妒或著羨慕的時候，留意自己內心的變化，盡量使自己不要未加思索的作任何反應。

相反，此刻，應該將自己所學到知識運用到待解決的問題。如果你失敗了，其實每個人都有失敗的經歷，那就讓接受失敗。之后，花一些時間，分析一下自己感覺到或者是所做的消極的事情，總結一下經驗，以便下次在發生類似情況時，你能有所準備。

錯誤九：為自己推卸責任

其實這是非常重要的。不要責備其他任何人。重要的是該是你改變的時候了。