Have you noticed that “Personal Development” is one of THE commonly used words these days? Perhaps you are wondering what is it all about?
If you are not sure, believe me, you are not alone!
I was in the same boat quite a few years ago and I am still working on my Personal Development!
When this beautiful thing called life throws you a curveball, we pause, acting like automated machines, and tend to make some critical inquiries about our motivations, aspirations and ultimately our “real” purpose in life.
To start with, most of us do four basic things in common with other species of life (especially animals) and they are:
a) Eating;
b) Sleeping;
c) Procreating, and
d) Defending.
Anatomically speaking, we humans are considered to be the highest evolved among many species because we are capable of doing certain unique things such as
a) We can think;
b) We have the sixth sense, and
c) We can speak etc.
That basically covers our physical evolution but how many of us considered life as such beyond these four basic things?
What is Personal Development?
If we look at the dictionary meaning of the word “personal”, it comes from the root “person”. When we see an individual, we identify them to be X or Y, male or female, from a particular country, have a skin color, speak a specific language, etc. But what we don’t realize is that there is something beyond this physical body which is pure Awareness.
It is common sense that if we want the betterment of an individual, we should ideally empower all aspects of a person that includes their mind, body, and spirit. “Real” evolution means complete improvisation and absolute utilization of our mind, body, and spirit. Any physical, mental, emotional and spiritual activity that helps us to experience the highest expression of our own mind, body, and spirit is Personal Development! Examples of such activities include Mindfulness, Fitness, Meditation, Yoga and Creative Arts.
Benefits: The benefits of Personal Development is multi-faceted – self-awareness, clarity of purpose, sense of happiness, internal peace, and helps us build healthy relationships. Self-awareness assists us to grow inside out. An integral aspect of awareness is self-love. As the common saying goes, charity starts at home. Therefore, self-care and self-love are quite important for any human being as first priority before they extend it to others in life. Self-confidence, a by-product of Personal Development is achieved through proper alignment of our values and beliefs systems with our mind, body, and spirit.
We never stop maturing – that is what makes us human, and our ability to change/grow & learn new things about ourselves and the world around us. Personal Development helps us to prioritize what is important to us, to think clearly, and even assists us to make decisions on some aspects of life that we generally dislike or not well connected to. A strong psyche is a recipe for success whether it be the personal or professional life.
Remember, life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away! Make it worthwhile while you are still “living” here!
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