Personal Development is an Investment in YOUR Full Potential – Invest Today!
As the quote below implies Personal Development is an investment in you!
Each person’s task in life is to become an increasingly better person – Leo Tolstoy.
It is about taking the time to reconnect and be truthful to yourself. Also, it’s about removing the mask you wear and delving into what you DO and DON’T like in your life. Personal development is about identifying what is and isn’t working for you right now. Make your no. 1 personal development goal to learn to be confident. Make choices to invest in some positive changes toward a better you!
Benefits of Personal Development & Self-Improvement
Personal development and self-improvement are often used interchangeably, but there is a slight difference between the two concepts.
Personal development refers to the process of improving oneself through activities such as goal setting, self-reflection, and self-awareness. This mentally focused process involves identifying areas in which one wants to grow and developing strategies to achieve personal growth. Self-improvement, on the other hand, focuses on making positive changes in one's behaviour, habits, and mindset to become a better version of oneself. But I'll use the terms personal development and self-improvement interchangeably.
Let's Explore Some Personal Development Goals
Personal development goals and self-improvement may include:
- Increasing self-awareness: Engaging in personal development activities can help individuals become more self-aware, giving them better ability to understand their strengths, weaknesses, values, and beliefs.
2. Enhancing resilience: By working on personal development and self-improvement, individuals can develop resilience and the ability to bounce back from setbacks and challenges.
3. Improving confidence: Personal development can boost self-confidence and self-esteem, helping individuals feel more empowered and capable of achieving their goals.
4. Personal development for meaningful relationships: One important aspect of personal development is learning new skills which can lead to improved communication skills, empathy, and understanding, making it easier to build and maintain positive relationships with others.
5. Increased motivation: Engaging in personal development in both your personal life and your career can help you stay motivated and focused on your personal goals and professional development. This will lead to increased productivity, success, and employability. Your constantly evolving aspirations can come true!
Overall, personal development is essential for personal growth, happiness, and fulfillment. By continuously working on oneself and gaining deeper understanding you can become the best version of yourself and achieve your full potential. Although a somewhat daunting task, embarking on a growth mindset can provide a sense of well-being. It can reignite the motivation you need for setting goals and provides heaps of learning opportunities about your core values and beliefs. Your personal development is a lifelong process which will help you achieve both professional growth and personal dreams and aspirations. It's important to realize that small successes in different aspects of our lives will keep you motivated on the road map of life goals. Being self-motivated about developing further skills in the future can show the areas for improvement that you may want to achieve for your emotional well-being.
Personal Development Can Help
Personal development as a major life investment in you, starts with a personal choice, followed by a decision and then action.
Some people would probably fill a book with what they would like to see or experience differently in their life, and that’s ok. Just be sure not to initially overload yourself in the process. You will find as you continue to invest your time in developing a better self, many of these life areas will start to fall into place anyway.
Develop a Personal Development Plan
Like any change, it will feel a little foreign to begin with, there may even be mixed emotions on occasion. For example, fear, confusion and doubt may rise along the way. Do ensure not to let these temporary feelings stop you from improving yourself. Perhaps, you could benefit from enrolling in a course run by someone qualified or an experienced mentor. Personalized coaching can also help to develop a personal development plan. There are plenty of courses available on Udemy.com teaching the knowledge and skills you need to improve your self-image. In order to be better equipped, you could attend seminars and workshops in person to improve your life.
Believe in Yourself to Reach Your Full Potential
Sometimes the changes that you are wanting to see, or be daydreaming about, seem impossible or out of reach. You may even feel overwhelmed at where to start, if you are doing it right, what if this and what if that? This is the reason many people often settle for the sake of settling. Believing that they can never be or do anything different. Outdated beliefs and old conditioning can act as a roadblock or obstacle to your progression forward. Therefore, you may believe that you don’t deserve these positive experiences in your life. You may believe that you are in some way you’re not good enough…not worthy. Negative self-talk may accompany these thoughts and feelings. It’s a good idea to imagine a beautiful waterfall washing all negativity away so that you feel fresh and clean again.
Being stuck in a rut or remaining stagnant in life experiences that tend to repeat themselves, are also good indications that you can and will benefit from personal growth. You may find yourself stuck in the same old, repetitive cycles out of habit. Sometimes, we humans tend to just settle and get stuck in our ruts!
Being Patient is Invaluable
Unfortunately, in this day and age, people are all in too much of a hurry to practice patience. Too impatient to wait to see that actions create change. Many often revert back to the outdated beliefs and rut type thinking. “No way could I make changes to achieve my desires, lead a happy life, become healthy, secure that new job, afford that new car”. This type of self-talk isn’t helpful, it keeps you stuck in the past. It is not the way to invest in yourself and change your life for the better.
Why not try a different way investing in self-improvement for both mind and body. If you don’t like exercise (not everyone does), skip this and invest in movement instead. You can 'reframe' your experiences by imagining a stop sign every time a negative thought or memory comes, then replace it with something positive. Patiently doing this and generally being more patient will give you time to develop a clear understanding of the steps toward a strong sense of accomplishment.
Connecting with Yourself for Personal Growth
Remember, Personal Development is about connecting with yourself. You can learn to look at the areas of your life that are no longer helping you move in a smooth and positive direction. Being patient with yourself during this process is very important. This time also allows you to acknowledge what these issues and experiences represent to you, and why they are holding you back from achieving happiness and fulfillment. As confronting as that may sound, rest assured it isn’t as difficult as you may think.
Remind yourself this practice helps in the process of releasing and healing the emotional energy that these areas may hold for you – which ultimately have been holding you back from living the life you want. Fear, outdated beliefs, and lack of self-belief and self-worth, are just a few of the areas that can manifest into bad habits or worse still, not achieving your goals at all. All of this damages your self-confidence so that it may seem initially that to become a better version of yourself, is impossible.
As you start to release the old and outdated beliefs, you will begin to make room for more positive choices and experiences in your life. This point of change is a significant time. You will begin to feel clearer in your thinking, your mind will be sharper, and you will start to feel energised. This is the opportunity you have been looking for to shine your own light. To do something constructive, positive, different, encouraging, helpful, educational, healing etc.
The Only Way is Up
In many cases our choices and decisions are often made during difficult or trying times. Perhaps at a low point life may seem as if it has lost its momentum or rolled to a stop. As a psychic clairvoyant, I look at the point where some people have hit rock bottom and try to identify patterns of behaviour. I can then encourage them to find a solid footing to push back up from, in order to take the first step forward. Sometimes, rock bottom has become a comfort zone for some people. Therefore, spiritual insight is needed so they can take one step at a time to get ahead. I will help them develop an action plan with new knowledge and self-care – even if it’s just in small steps like getting out of bed in the morning.
More Areas of Personal Development
This can be a bit of a tricky process for many people initially, so don’t give up if you find this a little strange to start with. It may seem foreign because you have become so used to life just being a certain way and expect no more. In other words, you have settled for the sake of settling.
Attachment to what no longer works for you can be difficult to step away from at times. The attachments that have formed over time have become your normal. This can be to family, friends, partners, constant drama in your life, addictions etc.
Be patient with yourself while working through whom and what you chose to keep in your life. Is it going to help in your development or hinder you in your smooth progression forward. Remember this pruning of the not so good from your life, doesn’t have to happen all at once. Personal Development is a continual progression… a work in progress so to speak. As you progress, so does your life and the people, opportunities, experiences and relationships around you. You may also find that certain areas that have been problematic in the past, will naturally fall away, out of your focus all together.
As a hobby I grow my own roses, and to get the most beautiful blooms, you must prune the dead wood. Practice the same in your life by sifting out what is no longer healthy or helpful in your life.
Magnifying the Good is a Wonderful Way to Live
I guess this process is like fertilizing your lawn as you strive to get better roses. The stronger and healthier the grass – (you and your direction and choices), the less weeds – (the not so good in your life). The less opportunity the weeds get to grow, the healthier and stronger the grass becomes. Eventually with care, attention and patience, you will have created a lovely, consistent and smooth lawn. It’s like a circle of wonder improving your skills, physical health and your life!
Magnifying the good is just the same. The more you focus your time, energy, $$$ or whatever on what you enjoy and what is good in your life, the less you will focus on what may not be working. Once again it is important to take your time to think about what works for you. Be clear with what you want to experience in your life. If it is a relationship you are wanting in your life, don’t focus on the fact that you may be single and feel lonely. Acknowledge it yes, but turn your attention, thoughts and ideas towards what type of qualities you want to see in your future partner or what experiences you would like to share. If it is financial freedom you are wanting to experience and create in your life, do not focus your energy or attention on what we call poverty thinking. “Oh I can’t afford …, I struggle from pay to pay etc. Once again acknowledge your financial position and then focus, affirm and manifest what you would rather experience instead.
Acknowledge What Isn’t Working for You, But Don’t Dwell
Acknowledge what isn’t working for you and why you feel this way. What makes it so important to you at this time. Are you trying to fill a void to make it feel better without having to actually deal with what is behind the poverty thinking? Acknowledgement helps to heal areas that hold you back, areas that find you self-sabotaging, creating more of the same or being fearful of change and or success.
Remember, you have sifted the good from the not so good and decided what to keep. This means you are happy to work with and focus your attention in and on these areas. When you acknowledge what you are letting go of, and why you choose to do so you will feel liberated, empowered. This process aids in the healing of outdated beliefs, hurts, and the effects of being exposed to this not so good in your life. Once you have identified problematic areas and focused less on them and more towards what you have got working in your favour and your future goals, you will see yourself begin to progress in the right direction. You will notice a smoother, more positive flow to your life.
Ways To Improve Your Positives
By enhancing and magnifying the positives and the good in your life, you tend to weed out the stress, anguish, confusion, anxiety and fear in your day-to-day living. You will begin to start enjoying this experience called life! Simply start by watching your thoughts. It can be very easy to get caught up in negative thinking when you are stressed or struggling. Even when things are difficult, focus your mind on something more positive. Reach for a better feeling thought:
- Practice meditation – this helps bring and maintain clarity and positivity and also assists in recuperation of lost or broken sleep (sometimes as a result of worry).
- Get enough rest – it is hard to feel on top of life when you are burnt out from running after everyone else.
- Stay hydrated – drink plenty of water, this keeps you sharp and focused, enabling you to think and function better.
- Gentle exercise – walks, swimming, gardening, yoga, tai chi etc. produce the happy hormones in your body – making you more positive in general.
Affirmations that Nurture You
Affirmations are a fantastic way to promote positive change and self-growth. Not only are they good for practicing gratitude for the positives in your life, but they are also great for manifesting positive new changes and experiences. These handy little sentences are also a great way to lift your spirits when things are difficult. For example, “I am grateful for the fact that I have a happy and loving partner in my life… I am grateful for my family who are happy and healthy. I am grateful I have a fantastic job that I look forward to every day”. Word your affirmations in present tense in a positive way, rather than – “I wish my partner spoke to me properly and the kids didn’t argue so much. At least then I might feel less exhausted and actually enjoy going to work”. Get the picture? Let your self-development changes become your new normal. Bringing in and allowing what you want to experience and achieve. Personal growth and development is a continuous process where you learn new things every day. Make sure to get the extra skills you need to develop your skills for personal development and well-being.
Invest in your personal development journey. Personal empowerment will be the best investment of your life!
Start your personal growth journey by investing in your self development today!
Enjoy a happy life and many blessings, love from Chris x
