Posts Tagged Self Growth
The problems of the world can be eliminated and solved by individual people like you and me, and through no other means than by those people purely concentrating on personal development and personal growth. We need to be able to recognize the essential humanity in ourselves and also in the people we meet.
Every time you open a newspaper or watch TV, listen to the radio or search the internet it’s the same thing nowadays: nothing but a seemingly endless succession of scenes of killing, robbery, rape, bombings, war and nastiness.
It can make you depressed if you let it.
Many commentators talk and write endlessly about the reasons for it all, and especially in the case of wars, governments and leaders of countries spend a lot of effort justifying themselves. It’s funny how they always seem to have some innocent and noble reason for invading a country or bombing the civilian population of that country, isn’t it?
In my opinion there are two major reasons why this situation continues, even though everyone hates it.
The first is a way of thinking that I have named The Badge Mentality. Under this mentality, you gather round and stay with those people who are wearing the same badge as you. Even if you maybe do not like a person very much, he is nevertheless wearing that badge, and it is the same as your badge. Actually, in a way, you do not even have to bother about making a decision as to whether you like him. That really does not matter. And why is that?
Because he is wearing the same badge.
And all those other people, the ones who are wearing different badges? We don’t trust them, of course, and we go ahead and obey our so-called leaders when they order us to kill them.
What form does this badge take? It can be a common nationality or a common language or a common skin color or even a common interest in a particular football team. The reason why there is conflict on Earth is because we have conditioned ourselves to see others as wearers of a badge, and we judge them by that, rather than trying to see each person as an individual human being.
The second reason for the continuation of this situation is if everyone blindly accepts the views and explanations of the political leaders, who are just saying whatever will keep them in office and preserve things as they are. This is why I say that if today everyone on Earth decided to ignore these so-called leaders, and instead, each person concentrated on his or her personal development as a human being, then we would have world peace in a very short time from now.
And yes, I am talking in terms of around next Tuesday.
But, you might say, maybe it is a little bit selfish to be pursuing personal development when there is so much trouble in the world? No because your own personal development is something you can start on right now, right here, today. And if enough people begin on a program of personal development, it will not be long before they develop a force too powerful for mere governments to withstand.
A personal growth revolution can never be imposed from above or from outside. So if it is going to happen, then it is for you to start it rolling, where you are, right now.
Peace is always there to be found within yourself.
Achieving personal development success has been a 20 year challenge for me. I was introduced to the concept of personal development when a company I worked for sent me to a seminar. A gentleman by the name of Mort Utley spoke, and it was something else! I was totally inspired to become a go-getting, top selling, life of the rich and famous success story. Of course, that enthusiasm ended abruptly at the first door I had to knock on for that company. Motivation gone. Since that time I have had times of unstructured personal development, like when I got one of the first copies of Steven R. Covey’s 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People. What a great book! Things I learned in that changed me forever. But then I went through another long stretch of sporadic self growth. The turning point came when I heard Chris Hughes speak about Jim Rohn, and everything came together for me. Chris is a big Jim Rohn fan, and talked about the “habits” of personal development, which are: 1. Read 10 pages of a good book every day. 2. Listen to 20 minutes of a good audio every day. 3. Attend a self improvement seminar every 90 days. Wow! When I heard that I realized that was the missing link for me. I liked personal development, it helped me be more positive and optimistic, more organized, a better husband and father, and over come negative thinking; but I had never made a habit of it. The really powerful part of this simple plan was the realization that I could do it. It sounded easy. I realized that I could easily fit that simple program into my life. Once I understood how easy it is to do personal development every day, I got on that track and haven’t gotten off. Since then I have read many books, and listened to a lot of great programs and pod-casts. I now have a fantastic library of personal development books, including: You Were Born Rich- Bob Proctor Think And Grow Rich- Napoleon Hill As A Man Thinketh- James Allen The Attractor Factor- Joe Vitale The Dream Giver- Bruce Wilkinson Seeing Is Believing- Wayne Dyer I also love biographies, and have a growing collection. I have read the life stories of Andrew Carnegie, Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Einstein, Steve Jobs, Lance Armstrong, Buddha, Benjamin Franklin, Henry David Thoreau, and others. Each of these has inspired and helped me in every area, spiritually, mentally, socially, and in my health and wealth. So hopefully these three simple concepts inspire you the same way they did me, and you can make a simple habit of personal development that will endure and make a daily difference for you. Some people complain that “motivation” wears off, and that’s true. Kind of like taking a shower, it’s not something you can do monthly! It has to be done daily to really work.
Personal development has moved forward in the last few decades. In past times we looked to our religions to give us spiritual insights. Not long ago we placed our gaze on science for the answers. However, in the last few decades many of us have started to look within for the answers and personal development seemed like the best starting point.
Personal development has, in the past, been a luxury pursuit of the rich, famous or dedicated seeker. However, as we find ourselves firmly planted in the 21st Century personal development is becoming more of a necessity than a luxury.
The term Personal Development has historically been a lose term used to describe the development of yourself in some area or field of expertise. However, in this day and age, it really refers to creating the type of self improvement at a mental, emotional and spiritual level that can create real positive physical changes in character and life experience.
As the fear-mongers and financial elite continually drive home the concept that we are entering the worst recession in a hundred years it is now more than ever that we need to launch ourselves on the personal development trail. It is your responsibility to rise above the controlled collective consciousness of lack and embrace the truth that we are all connected and have access to unlimited supplies of everything!
Quantum physics is continually pushing past the old boundaries imposed by outdated science and showing us the way. It is being shown that the quantum world is composed of just one enegery field. Quantum physics is discovering, through scientific experimentation, that this field exists and is the building block from which everything in existence is made.
How does this discovery connect to personal development?
Well religious, metaphysical and esoteric texts have always told us that we are all connected and that there is only one God who is spiritual in nature. We have been told that we are given dominion over life itself. Jesus told us that we are the temple of the living God. Buddha became conscious of his connection with God. We are told that God is spirit and permeates all things. Now if there is only one God and he is spirit and he resides within each one of us, and everything else, it stands to reason that there is only one true consciousness – God!
Personal growth and self improvement begins with the premise that we are all connected within one mass of vibrating energy. Most self Improvement tools begin with this premise and mould their approaches around it. However, we always remain a part of the whole and cannot escape that, no matter how hard we try.
Science is now confirming that all these beliefs are true. Quantum theory postulates that this energy field, or divine matrix, is the starting point of all matter. In fact matter, or material objects, are just small packets of energy, within this one energy field, that group together to form things!
There is growing evidence to suggest that this one field of energy is electromagnetic in nature. This means the very fabric of material objects are electromagnetic in nature. It is also being shown that our thoughts are composed of the exact same electromagnetic properties as the very energy field in which we live, move and have our being!
Electromagnetic properities are similar to other forms of magnetism – magnetic! Therefore, if your thoughts are magnetised to this matrix of energy, which is the fabric of reality as we know it, and physical objects are part of this matrix then you can use your thoughts to attract things! Thoughts become things!
It is the aim of personal development to allow you to use this knowledge to change your life by giving you practical tools for achieving your goals. The reason why it is so hard for most of us to grasp this concept, never mind use it to our advantage, lies in the fact that most of our life experiences and material objects are created and attracted to us by our subconscious thoughts. It is the automatic thoughts you think that are responsible for creating your life! Most of these thoughts are negative in nature.
To truly elevate yourself above the collective consciousness and become the master of your own life you must fully embrace this axiom. It is necessary to find and then eliminate the negative thoughts and beliefs you hold that have held you back from achieving your dreams. Personal development is just a tool to achieve this. Use it to alter your automatic thinking. Then you will be free to consciously think yourself into any life you desire!
I am a great advocate of goals and goal setting tactics. However, many times goals can act as a barrier to your success rather than a tool for accomplishing your desires! Why this is so I will try to explain in this article and I will also endeavour to give you the best ways of combating this problem.
Although goal-setting has been proven to help launch you towards the success you desire many people fail to reach their goals and therefore they become a block to their future success. This is because we tend to set up beliefs based on prior experience. If you reach a goal and see the fruits of your labour come to pass you will have positive beliefs about goal-setting. If, on the other hand, you have tried and failed numerous times to reach goals you probably have a very negative view about goal-setting. This view, or belief, will seriously damage any future attempt to reach your desires.
For this reason I believe most of your major goals should be of a personal development nature. By striving to better yourself and your understanding of how your mind works you will eliminate many of the causes for goal-failure!
The most common reason for failing to reach your goals lies in over-confidence. Setting objectives that are too high or too far from where you are now, without having a proper, reasonable and realistic plan to reach them is like trying to fish in the Sahara.
Goals need to be reasonable. There is nothing you cannot accomplish but in order to get to a place, within yourself, where you are capable of achieving big goals you must set some foundations!
You set the necessary solid foundations for achieving your goals by becoming a person capable of achieving them! This means developing the skills and knowledge you need to attain your desire. An example of this would be setting a goal to be CEO of a company in 2 years when you don’t even work for them! Setting a goal to become a millionaire in 2 years when you currently have no job is equally as unrealistic!
You should start with stepping-stone goals. They should be easy enough to achieve but should require some work on your part. At the same time you should set personal development goals that help you improve as a person. For example, you should set a personal development goal to find and eliminate all the negative beliefs you hold about achieving your objectives.
Harbouring negative beliefs, thoughts and emotions that impinge upon your goals is always a major reason for failing to achieve your objectives. Goal-setting and personal development should always go hand-in-hand!
By developing a strong character and belief in yourself, your abilities and your deservedness to reach your goals is a strong defence against doubt, fear, the desire to give-up and failure!
A great personal development way to reach your goals is visualization. Most people fail to understand the awesome power and effectiveness of this very easy to use technique. It is important that YOU do not get caught in this mindset. In your mind’s eye imagine what it will be like when you have already achieved your goal. Muster up all the positive feelings that you will experience when this mental movie is reality. Step into that image in your head and feel it as though it were reality now. Through simple visualization tactics you can ensure you stay motivated in your goal-achieving activities. You will have seen, felt and experienced the very thing you are working towards and you will also increase you belief in the possibility of attaining it!
Use goals in this way and you will be assured of success while at the same time bettering yourself in every area through personal development.