Monthly Archives: November 2025

learning & change

1 leaders/ 2 strategy/ 3 culture/

The Personal Growth Cycle

A Practical Way to Make Change Stick

We’ve all felt the frustration of setting goals, only to see them slip away. Change isn’t a straight path, and it can be messy. Deliberate change takes time and happens through cycles of getting clear, experimenting, and learning along the way. That’s why we developed the Personal Growth Cycle, a research-informed toolkit for personal learning and behaviour change, built around three phases—Frame, Experiment, and Integrate.

How the Personal Growth Cycle Works

The Growth Cycle helps you make deliberate change by moving through three connected phases: Frame, Experiment, and Integrate. You start by clarifying what matters, then try out new behaviours, and finally bring what works into your everyday routines. Targeted prompts guide your reflection and planning, keep you accountable, and help turn insights into lasting habits.
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How to use it:

Each week, start with the prompts, using as many or as few as are useful, and begin journaling to build a mental picture of the why, what, and how of your change.

    1. Week 1 – Frame: Define your goal, clarify what matters, and journal your thinking.
    2. Weeks 2–9 – Experiment: Try new habits, track progress, and reflect weekly using the prompts.
    3. Week 10 – Integrate: Review what worked, what didn’t, and journal what to carry forward.

Following this cycle turns intention into action and helps you create lasting change.

Week 1: Frame – Get Clear on What Matters

Before you act, you need direction. This phase is about building desire and momentum by connecting to your purpose and values.
    1. Clarify Your Why – Why does this change truly matter to you, and what difference will it make in your life or work?
    2. Visualise Your Future – If this change succeeds, what will your future look and feel like?
    3. Map Your System – What habits, routines, and relationships currently influence this area of your life?
    4. Enlist a Guide – Who could guide you or give feedback to help you improve faster?
    5. Build Your Blueprint – What does an expert do here, and what micro-moves make it work?
    6. Find Some Leverage – Where could a small shift create a big impact?
    7. Align with Your Values – Which of your core values do you want to express more fully?
    8. Choose Your Actions – What two or three actions would make the biggest difference right now?
    9. Commit to Act Now – What are you willing to commit to doing differently in the coming change cycle?
    10. Surface Hidden Barriers – What fears or competing priorities could derail you?

Weeks 2-9: Experiment – Test and Adapt

Change happens through action. This phase is about trying new behaviours and learning from feedback. Expertise is built through focused, feedback-rich practice. Small, consistent habits compound into big results over time. Habits are reinforced by cues, routines, and rewards—so design your environment to make success easier.
Prompts for this phase:
    1. Set Your Practice Goal – What specific behaviour will you practice this week, and why?
    2. Isolate the Hard Part – Which part is hardest, and how can you focus on just that this week?
    3. Track Your Lead Indicators – What signals will show you that you’re making progress?
    4. Design Your Conditions – What conditions will help you follow through?
    5. Gather Feedback – What feedback are you noticing — from yourself or others?
    6. Spot Surprises – What surprised you in your experience or reactions?
    7. Catch Yourself in the Moment – What did you notice about your reactions while practising, and how did you adjust?
    8. Adapt Your Approach – What adjustments will you make next week?
    9. Celebrate Small Wins – What small win are you proud of this week?
    10. Name the Friction – What resistance or friction did you notice, and how will you address it?

Week 10: Integrate – Reflect and Sustain

Reflection turns experience into learning. This phase helps you consolidate gains and prepare for the next cycle. Growth requires courage to look honestly at what worked and what didn’t. Reinforcement is key to sustaining habits. Staying connected to your values helps you stay grounded when life gets messy.
Prompts for this phase:
    1. Spot Emerging Habits – What behaviours have started to feel natural or routine?
    2. Identify Success Patterns – What patterns of success have you noticed?
    3. Acknowledge Challenges – What challenges taught you something valuable?
    4. Seek a Critical Mirror – What did someone else notice that you missed, and what can you learn from it?
    5. Reinforce Your Identity – How has your sense of identity shifted through this sprint?
    6. Challenge Your Rules – What key assumption was guiding you, and how has it changed?
    7. Choose What to Sustain – Which practices will you commit to sustaining beyond this sprint?
    8. Let Go of What Doesn’t Serve – What behaviours or habits will you let go of?
    9. Capture Your Learning – What have you learned about yourself and your system?
    10. Frame the Next Cycle – What theme or focus feels most alive for your next sprint?
The Personal Growth Cycle is not about perfection—it’s about giving yourself the structure and space to learn, adapt, and grow with intention. By moving through each phase with curiosity and commitment, you can turn your goals into meaningful, lasting change. Remember that every cycle is a new opportunity to refine your approach and continue your journey of personal growth.

Reference List

  • Chris Argyris & Donald Schön – Organizational Learning: A Theory of Action Perspective (1978)
    Explores how individuals and organisations learn, introducing the distinction between single-loop learning (correcting errors) and double-loop learning (questioning underlying assumptions).
  • James Clear – Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones (2018)
    Explains how small behavioural changes compound over time and offers practical strategies for designing habits through cues, routines, and rewards.
  • Carol Dweck – Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (2006)
    Introduces the concept of growth versus fixed mindsets, showing how beliefs about ability influence learning, resilience, and achievement.
  • Charles Duhigg – The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business (2012)
    Explores the science of habit formation and the role of habit loops in shaping behaviour in individuals and organisations.
  • Anders Ericsson & Robert Pool – Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise (2016)
    Presents the research behind deliberate practice, showing how expert performance develops through focused practice, feedback, and mental representations.
  • BJ Fogg – Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything (2019)
    Provides a behaviour design framework that shows how small, easy actions anchored in existing routines can lead to lasting habit change.
  • Graham Gibbs – Learning by Doing: A Guide to Teaching and Learning Methods (1988)
    Introduces the six-stage reflective cycle (description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion, action plan) widely used in professional learning.
  • David Kolb – Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development (1984)
    Describes the experiential learning cycle: concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualisation, and active experimentation.
  • Donald Schön – The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action (1983)
    Explores how professionals learn in complex situations through reflection-in-action (thinking while doing) and reflection-on-action (learning after the event).
  • Peter Senge – The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization (1990)
    Introduces systems thinking and the concept of learning organisations, highlighting the importance of shared vision, mental models, and collective learning.
  • Simon Sinek – Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action (2009)
    Argues that organisations and leaders inspire action by clearly communicating purpose before strategy or execution.
  • Russ Harris – The Happiness Trap: How to Stop Struggling and Start Living (2007)
    Based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), this book shows how values and psychological flexibility support meaningful change.

We hope these resources are as helpful for you as they have been for us. At Soji, we’ve found that effective change is less about a one-size-fits-all solution and more about having the right tools to develop and refine your practice.

To learn more about upskilling your leaders in personal change, reach out to us at info@soji.com.au.