Personal Development Blog

In Scott Young’s new blog at http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog he has an interesting writeup about why to pursue personal development (http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/page/2/). 

He makes an interesting point about how an epiphany leads to this pursuit for many people, unfortunately I agree this is often what it takes for many people. I think what created my own interest was wanting to rise above mediocrity, and thinking about what separates the successful from the unsuccessful.  One of the early conclusions I came to was that too many people think education ends when school ends, and most schools never teach you how to “teach yourself”, keeping the power in the schools.  In my early career in the computer field, I saw that you only obtained the advanced knowledge if you went out and got it yourself, those that just waited around for someone to send them to training got nowhere.

The same thing applies with personal skills, such as communicating well, having good relationships, and being happy in life.  If you don’t take the time to learn how to do it better, you’ll never rise higher and tap into what you’re capable of.

I completely agree with Scott that this is an investment in yourself.  Society invests in you until you graduate from high school or college, but it’s then up to you to continue that investment!  Education should never end.

As I studied personal development teachers such as Brian Tracy and Jim Rohn I also realized there were so many great concepts out there we don’t know about. It’s important to always remember how little we know, and avoid becoming egotistical about the sliver of knowledge we may already have.

In another Blog entry at http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2006/03/01/what-is-important/ Scott talks about “What is Important”.   I really like this question, I use a variation of it myself by asking “What am I really trying to do here” when taking on something new, to keep myself focused.  Most of us are easily distracted.  The interesting thing is to apply this question to your life experience in general, and keep drilling down with “why”.  Is making money important to you?  Why?  Is being successful important to you? Why?  What defines success to you?  Oftentimes the end result of these questions is that we want to be “happy”, and we are faced with trying to understand what makes us happy. 

The question I would pose to anyone reading this, is what makes you happy?  Please share it in a comment.  One thing that makes me happy is when I’m having positive interactions with my 8 year old son.  Another is when I complete a project I take on and it turns out well.  Another is when I hear that I’ve helped someone else in some way.  Yes, making money makes me happy, however money is just a means to another end, and ultimately just a symbol.  Personal Development is all about becoming happier, whatever that means for you.

Steve