In this wonderfully subjective interpretation of reality in which most of us live in, we are constantly told that we must meet this unreasonably vague standard of living in order to be considered a "successful" human being. We are promised happiness and fulfillment by this socially maintained definition of success while never truly being able to witness the reality of this standard, leaving us disillusioned and empty. The aspect of growth that isn't romanticized is the subjectivity of it and the innate human ability to nurture it. In setting intentions to improve an existence, it is necessary to recognize that because of the subjectivity of experience, people are meant to break every rule they have set for themselves in order to grow.
The social/cultural expectations we place on ourselves and on others prevent us from being able to fully recognize the sanctity and necessity of growth. When we place a standard on someone, we develop an expectation of what success for that person, a being completely capable of sovereignty, might look like. In doing so, we assume that we have the power to determine whether or not someone's life is as it should be. When we assume this power, we lose the ability to truly appreciate a person for what they truly are. When we place standards on ourselves, we set ourselves on a never-ending cycle of disappointment. When we assume that we are meant to experience growth exactly like someone else, we personally dispose of our ability to uniquely experience our own existence. In doing this, we smother the purely authentic being that is in all of us in an attempt to attain a socially-maintained definition of success.
People experience moments in their lives when they are absolutely unsatisfied with their existence. Whether or not the source of this dissatisfaction is self-caused becomes irrelevant with the realization that, in every moment, people are infinitely different and complex than they were before. We are capable of transcending every expectation placed on us because we are beings meant to experience life moment by moment. Growth begins with people using their intuition to set an intention to develop their lives into something they feel they are meant to be.
There is no place you are supposed to be, there is only where you are now. This moment, just like every moment, is meant to nurture growth, which is what you define it to be, not what someone else tells you it is. When we set an intention to better a facet of our lives, we recognize every specifically unique need that we have in that moment. An intention and a standard are separate ideas, for one allows for the natural growth of a being while the other attempts to force a predisposed idea of success on an otherwise hopeful existence, leading to the suffocation of the individual nature of humanity and of God.
In initially setting rules to "achieve" an intention, you do so in a manner that you think is best for you at that specific time. Being that an intention is absolutely subjective to your infinitely changing momentary needs, one must expect to break every rule that one sets for oneself. To do anything else is to ignore the reason and the purpose of an intention. Therefore, one of the most authentic things that you can do for yourself is to break every rule that you have made. Make every rule that you need in this moment, and expect to completely destroy them in the next, for you are a being made to infinitely change.