Apply the self-expansion framework to individual growth, not only relationships

The same motivation that drives relational closeness also drives individual meaning — seeking growth for its own sake.

Why it works

The self-expansion model does not require a partner; it proposes a general human motivation to expand. Individual pursuit of genuinely new skills, domains, or perspectives activates the same expansion mechanism. The motivational quality of "flow" and "meaning" in solo contexts is consistent with expansion: engaged novelty and challenge produce the felt sense of growing that the model identifies as intrinsically rewarding.

How to do it

1. Identify one domain entirely outside your current expertise that genuinely interests you.
2. Commit to a defined period of exploration — enough to move from complete novice to beginner.
3. Note the quality of motivation during the early novice phase: rapid expansion typically produces high engagement even before competence arrives.
4. When the novelty plateau arrives (everything feels familiar again), either go deeper or branch to an adjacent area.

Evidence

The self-expansion model predicts individual-level expansion motivation; this is consistent with flow research (Csikszentmihalyi) which shows novelty and challenge as preconditions for the engaged states associated with meaning and well-being. (mechanistic)

Individual self-expansion is a prediction of the model; the empirical research base is stronger for the relational application than the solo one.

Common mistake

Staying in domains where competence is high because that is comfortable — the expansion model predicts that high competence with low novelty produces boredom rather than satisfaction.