Personal Development
What do we understand about Personal Development? I believe everyone has its own definition of it but what does a dictionary says about it?
Personal development: Process of transformation whereby a person adopts new ways of thinking to develop new behaviors and attitudes. Personal development takes place over the course of a person’s entire life.
Prior to reading the definition, my own concept of it was that Personal Development involves growing in our professional field and no more than that, this meaning learning only things we can apply at our jobs and that help us getting better positions or salaries. How simple was my definition that applying personal development in our professional field is only a section of all the areas we can affect in a positive way. What also caught my attention is what says: ‘Personal development takes place over the course of a person’s entire life’. This phrase now I realize, is the key for continuous improvement in all the fields that our life is involved on.
Unleashing our full potential is not a matter of hours, days or weeks, it takes our whole life and we can’t stop seeking that growth to achieve our ultimate goals. Of course, it sounds that is only a matter of time when we say it like that, but unfortunately not, there will be multiple moments in our path to success where we find ourselves a bit lost or maybe without the necessary motivation to continue but those are the moments when we need to shine the most, it is more than essential to keep the right mindset in order to accomplish our challenges and being persistent can help in this regard.
Don’t let room for disappointment as failing is only a sign that we are in the right path. How are we supposed to succeed if we never encountered or learnt from any hardships? We need to focus on always moving forward. One tip I find really find helpful and that I try to apply everyday of my life is setting small challenges that contribute to my main goal. As a person that struggles to find motivation in things I do, setting small goals put me in the right mindset to accomplish those things. They provide me that feeling that even though my goal is not complete yet, one section of it is and all I learnt completing this challenge can be applied to the remaining of my journey to keep moving with more determination.
Additionally, personal development also includes helping others grow, this taking the role of a teacher, counselor, manager, mentor, etc. Age in this regard does not matter that much, since our focus is to share the knowledge and experience we have acquired through self-improvement to others and assist in their growth process as others also impact ours sharing their experiences.
As a final thought, visualizing the person you wish to become is one of the most important things we can do, it helps us setting the right goals, finding the right path to follow and surrounding ourselves with the right people.
Remember that succeeding in life is in our hands, keep learning, avoid negative thoughts, be persistent and never surrender!