How Personal Development Can Help You Breakthrough Now

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” ~ George Bernard Shaw

Do you ever feel like you are standing in one place? Like everybody around you is going with the flow, and you are lying at the bottom of the river like a rock, with no chance to move?

You’ll always remain at rock bottom if you choose not to improve. Improving yourself in different ways opens up many paths and opportunities, so why not try to do something about it?

What It Is

Personal development is the tool to use, in that case. But what is it?

Personal development is a lifelong process. It is all about investing in yourself. Firstly, you analyse yourself, then set goals and finally, follow the set plan.

Not only should you develop in the areas you lack something, but also in those that you’re good at. Think of yourself as a computer. Constantly updating your software. Changing minor details. Not only do we fix what’s broken, but also the parts that are working great.

Computers are an excellent technology, but do they ever stop developing? No, and neither should you.

Where should you start?

There is no specific area that you should start fixing or enhancing. It doesn’t matter where you start, it matters that you do. Here are the main points of personal development:

• Mental: Expanding your knowledge, learning new things, and developing critical thinking skills. Whether it’s by reading books or taking courses.

• Emotional Intelligence: Understanding and managing your emotions, improving communication with others and empathy for them.

• Health and Wellness: Developing physically and mentally. Exercising, following a balanced diet, practising mindfulness.

• Career: Improving your professional skills, whether it’s taking on new challenges or going to business trips.

• Mindset: Getting rid of ignorance, greed, hatred. Shifting your mindset on positivity, empathy and growth.

• Time Management: Prioritising and managing your time. Making the most out of it. Set boundaries and don’t be afraid of saying “no”.

What else..

Not always self-analysis will help you find areas that you lack something in. Be open to feedback. Sometimes people around you observe you better and that’s okay.

Development is not easy. The more you start working, the bigger the obstacles become. Learn to be mindful. Even if your brain is the smartest, sometimes it can be the one keeping you away from success.

Find something that’ll motivate you. Maybe a person who you can share your personal development story with. Or a mentor. Self-reflection is a great tool. Journaling can help you with that. Writing everything down helps you get a better perspective on your improvement. Later on in your journey, when a lack of motivation starts to settle in, flip through the pages and see how far you‘ve come.

Use the main points I’ve written to create a personal development plan (PDP). Set achievable goals, break them down into smaller tasks, and track progress over time.

PDP Example

• Mental: Let’s say your goal is to read 30 books yearly. (1) Break it down: that’s almost three books per month. Most books are about 300 pages x 3 books = 900 pages. So, to reach the monthly goal, which is, again, three books, you’ll need to read 30 pages per day. If you’re a slow reader, it will cost you, give or take 1 hour. (2) Time to set a plan: every evening before bed, you dedicate 1 hour to reading. (3) Follow the plan.

• Emotional Intelligence: Understanding others better and building stronger relationships. (1) Break it down: Analysing yourself and others. Processing that information, then acting. (2) Set a plan: Before answering, think - How do you actually feel about this? How can you properly express yourself? Then, catch on to others’ emotional and physical cues. Like voice tone, body language, etc. If it’s hard for you, even stopping for a split second to think before answering, could be a big step towards emotional intelligence. (3) Follow the plan.

• Health and Wellness: Goal: Develop physically and mentally. (1) Break it down: Exercising, following a balanced diet, practising mindfulness. (2) Set a plan: Running, pilates, yoga or weight lifting. Let’s say you want to cross off exercise from your list first thing in the morning - take a 30 minute jog around the neighbourhood. Following a balanced diet is not that hard, focus on healthy fats, carbohydrates and protein. Meal prepping is a great way to save time, ( shoutout to time management). Meditating in the morning or evening, maybe even on your lunch break at work. (3) Follow the plan.

• Career: Taking on new challenges. (1) You’re open to taking on tasks you wouldn’t have taken before. Maybe a big project. (2) Next time your boss offers you a project, you’ll accept it. Break it down into smaller tasks and over time complete it. If a project is not offered to you, go in and ask for it. This might leave a good impression too. (3) Follow.

• Mindset: Shifting your mindset on positivity. (1) Getting rid of ignorance, greed, hatred and overall negativity. (2) Next time something bad happens or just simply slips out of your hands, think about what positive feedback you could give. For example: Got fired. Positive feedback: new job opportunities, maybe even a better workplace. Getting rid of hatred, greed and ignorance, is not that easy. Just like in emotional intelligence, you’ll have to think before acting out. Maybe the one you’re about to lash out at for bumping into you, had a bad day and was lost in their thoughts, that‘s why they didn’t see you. Instead of screaming your guts out, express your empathy.

• Time Management: Managing your time. (1) Routines are a must in time management. Not only should you build a routine around work, exercise and diet, but incorporating leisure is really important too. Breaking away from a constant loop is a must for overcoming burnout. (2) Write down your routine. Prioritise different aspects. If something doesn’t fit or is not that important, set boundaries and don’t be afraid of saying “no”. (3) Follow the plan.

Reflect how it’s going, by that you’ll be able to not only find motivation seeing how far you've come, but also recognising flaws in your plan and developing that too.

Final breadcrumbs

Building positive habits—like reading every day, exercising regularly, or simply managing your time - can have a profound effect on one's personal growth.

People around us can either help or disturb your personal development. Build supportive relationships and eliminate toxic ones. Again, don’t be afraid of saying “no”.

This is a long and hard process. But I believe in you. Even small steps can lead to huge success. It is up to you, whether you’ll choose to improve or not. Think about long-term consequences rather than short-term.

Identify your current strengths and weaknesses, self-reflect, then start developing.

“Life is like a game of chess. To win you have to make a move. Knowing which move to make comes with IN-SIGHT and knowledge, and by learning the lessons that are acculated along the way. We become each and every piece within the game called life!” - Allan Rufus

Don’t sleep, make your first chess move right now!