Adventures of Personal Development
Our first thoughts of adventure are not personal development, they are of hiking, traveling, or experiencing something new. Well in a sense we are going to experience something very new on a personal level and that could include new activities, new methodologies or a new life focus.
In my last post and podcast, our focus was on beginning this new adventure called personal development. I challenged you to look deep at who you are, what you want and who you want to be. Then the focus turned to a SWOT analysis using the information that you had gathered about yourself. When it comes to making some of these changes it can certainly be overwhelming at first, or at least until you get into a rhythm that works for you.
Now we can start working on the fun stuff! The self-discovery and self-mastery, this may seem like a long process and it sort of is. It only takes nano-seconds to make a decision but to carry it out on a regular basis is where the challenge comes in. There are multiple analogies I can throw out at this point but I think the best one is about weight loss, the extra pounds were not gained overnight so we should not expect them to be lost overnight. That one makes the most sense to me because it has been a struggle to get my weight in check this last couple years. This adventure is a marathon not a sprint, enjoy the process. As David Goggins says in his book "Can't Hurt Me" I needed to look int the "accountability mirror" and take stock of who it really was looking back at me.
Now that you have completed your SWOT analysis it is time to dive into all of your options and there are varying directions you can go so I will keep it general. Also, keep in mind you may need to go through this process multiple times to really get specific with your direction. It is time to look through all of your options, ho do your strengths help you, how do your weaknesses hold you back, what specifically do they hold you back from? What are your opportunities and how do they align with your strengths and weaknesses? How do your threats affect your opportunities? I know all of that in itself can be a lot to think about, but you really need to think deeply about it so that you can plan to move through it successfully. This process or what I like to call it an adventure is all about personal growth and development. Personal development is considered to be a lifelong learning process not an overnight process. What options are going to work best for you? That is the ultimate question, but they still need to challenge you to make changes.
Before you make any concrete decisions, do your research, be sure you can follow through, is the decision a new career path? If so, will it move you up financially, will you be more productive, happier? Talk to friends, family, coach or mentor, what are their thoughts? Although this is a self-discovery process be open to advice and opinions that will help you on your new adventure. There are many aspects to consider during this self-discovery and evaluation process so do not forget to do your research to see what path will be best for you.
I feel like the most important thing to remember this week is to stay focused. Stay focused on the process, focused on your dreams and focused on all of the amazing things that this adventure will bring you. If you do the work, do the research and stay focused amazing things can happen. It can be so easy to loose focus, negativity from family or friends, self-doubt, insecurities or whatever is a distraction for you, but you can fight off the negativity and naysayers or dream killers, you can remind yourself that you have accomplished many things so stop doubting, find your confidence and ignore the distractions and remind yourself of the immortal words "just do it!". You can and you will, I believe in you.
Be sure to listen to our podcast that goes along with this post. You can listen on Anchor, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Breaker and RadioPublic. Whatever platform you choose be sure to subscribe and follow us here on our website and on Facebook to be notified of future episodes. We won't spam you I promise, I hate that.
Until next time!
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