12 Personal Growth Activities To Do In College

Being a college student comes with a ton of responsibility. In addition to being a good student, being involved in extracurriculars, and maintaining a social life, you also have to consider that your actions now contribute to the person you are becoming. That is why personal growth activities are so important to implement now.

This post is going to share the best personal development activities that you can use right now as a college student to bring you closer to your goals.

While school is obviously a large part of your college experience, there are a ton of other things to consider. The majority of your college experience is learning more about yourself, setting goals (both for graduation and post-grad life), and preparing for your future. Now is the time to explore new skills, make memories, and grow in ways you never imagined.

Everyone will have different needs for their personal growth activities depending on their goals. The first step in determining your goals is to understand your core values and have an idea of where you want to be in life. The main idea of personal growth is to help you become the best version of yourself. So start by figuring out what that looks like.

12 Best Personal Growth Activities To Do In College

Now that you have determined your goals and what your core values are, here are the best personal growth activities for college students to implement. Try one or all of them to get the best results. Always remember that it is better to start slow and master one new habit before adding another.

1. Learn a new skill or hobby

A new skill or hobby can always benefit your personal growth. Not only does it teach you something new, but it also allows you to find new perspectives on life. I find that the older I get, the more important it is to have hobbies.

Start by finding a topic you are interested in. Then, once a week instead of watching TV for an hour, learn more about this topic. It could be anything from learning about essential oils to starting a business. The options are endless.

2. Explore your creativity

I don’t ever want to hear that you aren’t creative. Creativity comes in many forms. It can be anything – cooking, singing, painting, or writing. Start by exploring something for 15 minutes a day. Having this creative outlet will help you reduce stress, be happier, and connect better with yourself.

3. Start saying no

One of the best personal growth activities you can do is start saying “no” to things/people. This might not seem like an activity at all. However, you will never have time for your personal growth if you are constantly giving everything and everyone else your time.

Also a small side note – you will be able to help more people by telling them no now because it will give you more energy by pouring into yourself first.

4. Develop your leadership

Leadership is likely a product of your own personal growth. However, there are also things you can do now to start developing that leadership. As a college student, you have a ton of opportunities to become a leader. Some of my favorites were through student government or clubs with leadership positions. Even if this feels uncomfortable it grows you in ways you never would think.

5. Listen to podcasts

Listening to podcasts is one of my absolute favorite personal growth activities. It is super helpful to hear other people’s ideas on topics that you might feel stuck on. They usually have actionable tips that you can implement right away. Plus you can listen to a podcast while doing other things like driving to work.

6. Read a nonfiction book

When you think about how much time we all spend scrolling on our phones, it seems like a no-brainer to take some of that time and read instead. It is a good goal to try and read 10 pages of a nonfiction book each day. Again, this helps to learn new things and create the habit of always doing something for our personal development.

7. Check-in with yourself

We definitely live in a “busy” culture. Which is not something to be proud of – but that’s a conversation for another time. Anyway, with the notion of always being busy, it can be hard to remember to check in with yourself.

This is why I love journaling. It is a great way to do a morning check-in every day. Plus, after a while, you will be able to see how far you have come!

8. Try short meditations

A good activity for personal growth is to do meditations. If you are anything like me, short is the keyword here. Especially if you are starting out, short meditations are a great way to calm your mind, lower stress, and welcome new ideas without allowing yourself to be distracted.

The key to success here is to find a quiet space and simply observe what you are feeling and thinking. I know there is this notion of silencing your mind. However, when just starting, think of it as more of another way to check in with yourself and where you are at.

9. Ask for feedback & use it

Often times we are blind to our weaknesses. It is one of the most helpful personal growth activities to ask someone for feedback on areas you could improve on. These then become your opportunities for growth.

Once you have asked friends or coworkers for feedback, you will grow a ton by actually implementing strategies that help you improve these areas.

10. Heal past hurts

If you have never really worked on past hurts, now is a perfect time. These past events can be keeping you stagnant in your growth journey. It can be any event from your past that has left you feeling negative emotions. But it is super important that you work on addressing these things and making sure they don’t affect you in the future.

11. Improve your self talk

On average, we have about 60,000 thoughts a day. How aware are you of the things you’re telling yourself? The goal is to have more positive things to say about yourself than negative things. A good personal growth practice is to work on improving your self-talk. Any time you find yourself saying something negative, reword the thought to be more positive.

We are literally the things we tell ourselves we are. Instead of affirming that you are negative things, try adding more positive self-talk into your life.

12. Build relationships

Relationships are crucial to the happiness of humans. We were made to be in community with each other. College is the best time to work on building these relationships. There is no other time in life where you will be surrounded by so many people your age with such a wide variety of interests. Join clubs, attend events, and find ways to build relationships with people. You never know when you will meet your best friend.

This post gave you 12 ideas for different types of personal growth activities to implement in your life as a college student.

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