Holistic living is the trend today. With people wanting to live integrated lives, with peace of mind foremost on their needs, self-development has become a commodity. Self-development is not a matter of adopting new Eastern techniques to be at peace with the universe. Self-development is a lifestyle you choose to lead, shaped to your needs.
Self-development starts with unlearning old patterns of thinking. You have to teach yourself to avoid negativity and instead focus on what you can do; focus on what steps you are to take with your life and correct your wrongs. Unlearn all the self-condemnation and flagellation. Learn how to praise and have confidence in yourself. When you have unlearned, you can now start adopting values that are congruent to your being. Values are not chosen randomly. They are adopted over time, through your learning, through your experiences in life.
Self-development develops as you gain knowledge, find your voice and learn to express it. When you find your voice and build your confidence through gaining mettle and credibility through knowledge and wisdom acquisition, you also grow as a person. When you realize all of these, you can now synthesize a vision for your life. What do you want to be? Where do you see yourself years from now? What do you want to make of your life? What is it that you want to underscore everything that you do? Your vision should answer these basic questions.
When you have unlearned, adopted values, found your voice, and synthesized all these into a vision, I believe, you are now in the heart of the self-development process. Self-development lasts a lifetime and does not stop when you reach 60. People have been known to touch others' lives, live out their vision, well into their 80s. It is a matter of being driven enough to live on, leave marks on others’ lives, and pursue your vision, no matter what your age. Self-development is a journey that will stop only when the last bit of earth has been shoveled into your grave.
The heart of self-development is to strive to be a better person, no matter what the circumstance is. Abraham Lincoln had so many odds against him, suffered so much defeat in his quest for the presidency. However, he had a vision, and he had the positive outlook, the values, and the voice to back up his vision. In addition, today, he is remembered as one of the greatest American presidents. Lincoln termed this striving as the quest for self-actualization. For him, self-actualizers are those who have a singleness of mind, who are focused on their goals, despite the odds they face. Self-actualizers to him are those people who have compassion on others and have a general concern for the welfare of the world. Self-actualizers have a purpose to live out, and usually these are lofty goals.
You may not see yourself as a self-actualizer, but you do want to develop yourself. That is totally fine. Just follow the steps. You may not want to develop a lofty vision, but I still suggest that you develop a vision with which to live by. Vision, no matter how lofty or simple it may be, would still be your life's backbone. If only for yourself, you need to develop one, to have a backbone of steel to guide your life. How you shape your life is incumbent on your decision just shape it. Do you want to be a drifter, going where the tide carries you? Do you want to be 60 and in dire need of guidance? Alternatively, do you want to be 25 and conquering the world? Your decisions are based on who and what you are as a person. Developing yourself is a start to making the best decisions you can make in life, and the consequences of these decisions, mind you, would be far-reaching. So take a deep breath, decide to realign your life, develop yourself, and be the next Abraham Lincoln!
Review the characters in an integral part of self-subversion.