Personal development is vital to our success. We all have areas in our life that we need to fine-tune. Most may want certain changes in their lives that they have committed to. While other changes are off in the distance. Regardless of where we are with change and personal development, one thing is for certain “It’s a mind game.” Truly it’s a war between our ears.
We can want all the personal development in the world but if our mind isn’t in the right place we go nowhere. So how do we get our minds in the right place is probably a million-dollar question. It probably looks different for everyone. But there are some fundamental points that work in most situations.
Identifying stress
First and foremost, stress must be identified. Stress can cause both physical and mental strain on a person. When we are stressed, fatigue sets in whether we know it or not. Stress causes us to neglect our physiological and psychological needs. When these two needs aren’t met it can paralyze us.
Imagine waiting for a medical diagnosis that could change your future or a test score that determines if you pass a course. Maybe you’re having car problems and you can’t miss any more work. Our minds can become so focused on specific events that nothing else matters. These events in our lives may be short-lived or long term but they can derail us from our personal development very quickly.
Reducing Stress
If you’re able to identify stressors it’s important to figure out how to reduce them. Taking the time to focus on reducing stress is vital to personal development. Some people can handle stress well while others can’t handle it. Notice this section isn’t about resolving stress, it’s simply a reduction of stress in your life that is overwhelming.
Maybe you are conflicted spiritually or your finances are crushing you whatever the case it’s important to start chipping away at it. Reducing stress could be getting information from friends, and family members, or maybe it’s an internet search or YouTube videos. It doesn’t matter what means you are taking as long as it’s productive to your life. I think it goes without saying, using drugs and alcohol would be a counterproductive outlet. It may take away the worries for a short time (while intoxicated) but you have fixed nothing and the stress will remain.
Manage Stress
Let’s say you’re at a place where you have reduced stress in your life. If we don’t keep our stress in check, it can rear its ugly head. We need to truly find some closure with the stress. Closure can help us manage stress and look at it differently. Stress doesn’t have to take over our minds and body.
Every now and then make sure you re-evaluate if what you’re doing to manage your stress is working. If it’s not and stress keeps creeping back in look for a new outlet. Keep searching for new outlets there is always a way.
Seek clarity with personal development.
Once your stress is under control it’s time to figure out “What it is you want to personally develop.” With the stress out of the way or at least in check personal development can really take off.
Brainstorm what it is about yourself that you want to develop. Begin to clear up what it is you’re after. It’s important to write things down or type them out so you can get them out of your head. Writing or typing it down brings things to life. Have fun with the brainstorming. Get creative with and even make visual aids charts, posters, or calendars that outline your goals.
Understand Personal Development takes time.
Go into this with the understanding that personal development will not happen overnight. It takes time, effort, and momentum. It’s important to set goals for yourself both short-term and long-term. The goals all need to be attainable. Never overdo it. It’s okay to start off small and build yourself up. Every small step is progress. Life tends to go at a fast pace but it doesn’t have to. Personal Development is like playing with blocks. We begin by building a foundation and then we continue to build off of it.
Enjoy your personal development.
Personal Development needs to be something that you really want. Not only that but it must be enjoyable. At the time of this post, I have created 32 different articles on my website ThinkingDeeplySelf-Critically.com. I had no idea that I would be able to do this and I have learned so much from just diving in. Furthermore, over time I have found excitement and enjoyment in it.
In reference to the last section, I started with one post and went from there. I’m in a place where I hope I continue this for a very long time. Lastly, I’m going to sound repetitive by if you can’t find enjoyment in your personal development it will probably be short-lived. We need to get excited about it and stay excited about it.
Involve others in your personal development.
Personal development is yours and yours alone but it’s always good to involve others in your successes. Relationships are vital to our success and our personal development. Find people that support and motivate you in your life and decision-making. People don’t have to have the same goals as you but we need to put ourselves around people who are kind and compassionate to us. We need to be selective about whom we let into our circle. People in our circle need to be optimistic and encouraging about their and our life endeavors.
What we don’t need is negative self-talk or self-doubt. Those two things only add stress to our goals. Place yourself around people that inspire you. Building meaningful relationships is vital to our success with personal development and to our life.
Conclusion
We need to minimize the big stressors in our life to really be able to dig into our personal development. The stress put weight on us which is harmful to our health both mentally and physically. Once we have a grip on the stress, we need to embrace the idea that personal development takes time. We also need to find joy in the personal development we are trying to accomplish. Lastly, we need to involve people in our personal development. It’s important to have a team behind us that is supporting us. Having healthy relationships with others is vital to our success and our lives.
Personal Development: We must keep thinking about how to develop into the best version of ourselves! If you like what you have read, check out other articles on the website ThinkingDeeplySelf-Critically.com the site is designed to give us tools and techniques to help us become the best version of ourselves. There are four main categories on the site. The Foundation, Our Responsibility to Us, Our Responsibility to Others and Facilitating Crisis.
Other articles you may find helpful: Becoming a Better Person in 2023 part 1 and part 2.
You may also like: How to Build Momentum and Make Change.
The Harvard 80-year study is an amazing eye-opening article about the importance of relationships in our lives.
