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When you think of personal development, what comes to your mind? The dictionary likens the process of personal development to personal change, growth, progress, advancement, and improvement. It’s an evolutionary process toward personal excellence or a state of being outstanding. It’s the opposite of settling for mediocrity.
I invite you to look around. Tell me, which do you see more of, mediocrity or excellence? Now, ask yourself this, “which do I want to be, mediocre or outstanding?”
What are your personal development expectations?
It’s not really important what others expect from you. What really matters is what you expect from yourself. Personal development is, after all, a personal pursuit. For some people such a pursuit is just not worth the effort. That’s fine, because life is not a contest.
Others, myself included, expect much more of themselves. For people like us, the whole point of the “school of life,” is to learn how to be the best possible version of ourselves. Not that anyone will actually achieve excellence in the ultimate sense. Rather, it’s the process of continued personal development and growth that we seek. It’s about the journey. Is that how you feel?
Are you on a personal development quest?
Are you constantly looking for ways to make subtle improvements in your life? When you discover some new way to improve your thinking or perception, are you quick to apply what you’ve learned? When you compare where you are today to where you were a year or two ago, can you see improvement?
In all likelihood, that’s exactly the kind of person you are. Why do I say that? Because you are here. The only reason people read my articles or hire me as a coach is because they have a progressive attitude toward their own personal development. That being the case, I have a question for you. What areas of your life would you like to focus on improving?
Targeting specific areas for improvement
There are several reasons why it’s important to identify a specific areas in your life that you want to focus on improving. First of all, personal development does not happen by accident. In order to improve in some areas of your life, you first need to identify what that area is.
The field of personal development takes in a lot of territory. It’s much easier to make noticeable progress by concentrating your efforts on only a few select areas. A key ingredient to success is focus, which requires that you purposely limit your efforts to these select areas. Once you identify these areas and give them special priority, you automatically prime yourself for success.
