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Dr. Carl Rogers, in his
book On Becoming A Person, identified three major characteristics of healthy
personal growth. The following "behavioral model" is based on the
three qualities identified by Rogers.
"An
Increasing Openness to Experience"
How recently have you...
 | participated
in a new sport or game?
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| changed
your views on an important (political, personal, professional) issue?
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| tried
a new hobby or craft?
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| taken
a course in a new field?
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| studied
a new language or culture?
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| spent
fifteen minutes or more paying attention to your body feelings, senses
(relaxation, tension, sensuality)?
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| listened
for fifteen minutes or more to a religious, political, professional, or
personal viewpoint with which you disagreed?
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| tasted
a new food, smelled a new odor, listened to a new sound?
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| allowed
yourself to cry? or to say "I care about you"? or to laugh until
you cried? or to scream at the top of your lung capacity? or to admit you
were afraid?
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| watched
the sun (or moon) rise or set? or a bird soar on the wind's currents? or a
flower open to the sun?
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| traveled
to a place you had never been before?
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| made
a new friend? or cultivated an old friendship?
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| spent
an hour or more really communicating (actively listening and responding
honestly) with a person of a different cultural or racial background?
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| taken
a "fantasy trip" allowing your imagination to run
freely for ten minutes to an hour or more?
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"Increasingly Existential
Living"
How recently have you...
| done
something you felt like doing at that moment, without regard for the
consequences?
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| stopped
to "listen" to what was going on inside you?
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| spontaneously
expressed a feeling anger, joy, fear, sadness, caring without thinking about it?
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| done
what you wanted to, instead of what you thought you "should" do?
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| allowed
yourself to spend time or money on an immediate payoff rather than saving
for tomorrow?
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| bought
something you wanted on impulse?
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| done
something no one (including you) expected you to do?
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"An
Increasing Trust in One's Organism"
How recently have you...
| done
what felt right to you, against the advice of others?
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| allowed
yourself to experiment creatively with new approaches to old problems?
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| expressed
an unpopular opinion assertively in the face of majority opposition?
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| used
your own intellectual reasoning ability to work out a solution to a
difficult problem?
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| made
a decision and acted upon it right away?
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| acknowledged
by your actions that you can direct your own life?
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| cared
enough about yourself to get a physical exam (within two years)?
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| told
others of your religious faith, or philosophy of life?
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| assumed
a position of leadership in your profession, or an organization, or your
community?
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| asserted
your feelings when you were treated unfairly?
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| risked
sharing your personal feelings with another person?
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| designed
and/or built something on your own?
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| admitted
you were wrong?
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