In order to really answer that, we need to define what we mean by personal development. In my opinion, personal development is:
- Growth as a conscious human being
- Activities that improve self-knowledge and identity
- Development of talents and potential
- Development in different areas of life
- Building of human capital and employability
- Enhancing the quality of life
- Contributing to the realization of dreams and aspirations
- Is not limited to self-development but includes formal and informal activities for developing others
- In the context of institutions, it refers to the methods, programs, tools, techniques, and assessment systems that support human development at the individual level in organizations
- (hard) work that requires discipline, determination, consistency, patience, time, courage, forgiveness
Let’s then take a closer look at some of these bullet points in correlation to success.
Improving your self-knowledge and identity means, among other things, that you become more aware of who you are and what you want. Knowing what you want and where you need to improve yourself in order to achieve what you want are essential parts of success.
If you have already achieved success you cannot stay put if you want to remain successful. The world and other people around you are constantly evolving; therefore you need to keep on developing your talents and potential further. Otherwise, your success will remain short term.
Depending on your goals, you need constant development in different areas of your life, not just in one. Some of these areas might include health, finances, relationships, emotions, habits and beliefs, to mention a few. A good health will ensure that you are able to do what you want to do. It is obvious that you can do a lot more as a healthy person than you would lying sick on a bed. It is obvious, in most cases, that you can achieve more and free yourself from some of the worries when your financial situation is stable. It is obvious that you can achieve more when you have sound relationships with supporting and loving people to back you up. And so on.
Having activities for developing others, in addition to developing yourself, is really what gives you the final boost for success. The old saying “what goes around, comes around” applies here quite well. Helping other people succeed will ensure that they willingly help you in return. It is much, much more difficult – and in most cases even impossible – to achieve success just by yourself. You can’t be the master of everything. And you shouldn’t even try to be. Concentrate on doing well what you love doing and let other people help you in the areas that they love doing. Help others develop themselves and they will help you develop yourself. That is for everybody’s benefit.
Finally, understand that long lasting success does require work. At times, it can even seem to require hard work. But once you have found what it is that you truly love doing, the work doesn’t seem that hard anymore. But it will require discipline, so that you keep your focus on your goals. It will require determination because there will be a lot of people who’ll try to talk you out of your dream. It will require consistency because you will encounter many obstacles along the way and you’ll have to be consistent to work your way through and around them. It will require patience because the bigger your dream, the more it will take time. It will require courage because you will move toward something that is unknown to you. And, maybe most of all, it will require forgiveness because you will have to forgive yourself for all the mistakes you have made, and will make, and you must also forgive others who have hurt you, so you can move into the future with a clean slate.
And that is all part of the road to success.
Written by Hannu Pirilä, one of the leading Personal Development and NLP Coaches in Finland.
http://hannupirila.com/
http://hannupirila.com/
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