Growing physically older in life doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re becoming more mature or emotionally stable. Regardless of age, many of us are too hard on ourselves. We become more critical of our failures and more ignorant of our successes. We become discouraged when things don’t go the way we planned. We’re too impatient to allow ourselves to make slow progress toward a goal.

Yes, growing emotionally isn’t something that magically happens with age. It takes a conscious effort, and it’s worth it if you want to be able to live a healthier life.

Five signs of emotional growth

1. You learn from mistakes — Nobody is perfect, nor can anybody be perfect. We all make mistakes. Instead of getting frustrated at mistakes, emotionally mature people learn from their mistakes and learn ways to avoid them in the future.
2. You don’t complain — Sometimes things don’t go the way you want. Sometimes life isn’t fair. The easiest thing to do in these circumstances is to criticize everything around you, including yourself, and to try to find fault in others. Emotionally mature people spend less time complaining and more time taking action and solving problems.
3. You move on from things — Emotionally mature people have learned to let go of harmful behaviors, habits or toxic people that hold them back from living better lives.
4. You ask for help — Many people think asking for help is a sign of weakness or is embarrassing. This behavior only leads to increased mistakes. Emotionally mature people are not afraid to ask for help. It’s good to recognize when you don’t know how to do something and need help.
5. You stop caring about the opinions of toxic people — It’s good to value the opinions of others, but not all the time. People who are constructive or want to see you do well should have valuable thoughts and opinions for you. People who are negative or toxic are not interested in your well-being or will criticize you to bring you down, not to help you be better.

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