Ah, such a popular and hyped topic, isn’t it? Well, it’s an important one. Self-development is often overlooked, which is ironic considering it’s so popular now. I hope to shed some light of my own on this topic, highlighting not only the importance of it, but also highlighting the one key thing that is not said nearly enough…
Personal development looks DIFFERENT for EVERYONE!
Sorry for yelling, but that should be shouted from the rooftops. Scrolling through Instagram and checking out everyone’s highlight reels, we get a chance to see what others are doing for their self-development tactics. We get to hear about how successful they’ve been, how much they’ve grown and changed, and how much their specific tactics have helped them immensely. After reading their caption and staring intently at their perfect picture, we feel a little discouraged and down on ourselves, like “Damn, I wish I was doing that good. Whatever I’m doing must not be right.” WRONG. Bubble bursting time: there is no wrong way to develop yo shining self!
Behind the Squares
First of all, let’s point out the highlight reel aspect. You generally don’t see the struggles, tears, slamming of doors, and thrown books that come along with self-development. And believe you me, there is plenty of all that. No one’s – I repeat NO ONE’S – journey is all rainbows and butterflies. No one is able to just jump from the person they were to the person they strive to become. It just doesn’t happen. There are ups and downs, there are ebbs and flows, there are ridiculous dances of happiness and ugly spouts of scream-crying. Seriously.
You will fall. You will fail. You will want to give up. It’s the nature of the game my friends. The key, though, is to not give up. Don’t let yourself get discouraged because others seem to be doing better than you – you have no idea what their journey has truly entailed. To help with this, look at where you are now and then look at where you were when you started your self-development journey. A lot has changed, huh?
Alllll the Right Ways to Grow
Every way is the right way (unless it’s illegal, explosive, or potentially harmful). So let’s start from square one: THIS SHOULD BE FUN! Personal development should not be a chore, or something you dread doing each day – if that’s the case, then you may have actually found a wrong way. But that’s not to say it can’t be turned into something fun! Maybe you’ve just succeeded in finding a few ways that don’t work for you, and that’s totally cool (and kinda the point of this)! Not every way is going to feel right to you or do the trick, which is why we can’t judge ourselves based on others’ journeys.
Alright, square two: you don’t need a time frame or a set schedule/routine. JUST DO YOU! You don’t need to be “healed” or your best self in any period of time. The beauty of this is that you can go at any gosh darn pace you would like to. Although, personally I think this is a lifelong journey we are embarking on. However, it slows and gets easier once you reach a place where you are truly happy (you’ll know when you’re there) – in other words, it stops feeling like an uphill battle.
Hopefully I’ve got you feeling a little less discouraged and a little more fired up to meet your soul self. I know I’m ready for some quality personal development time 😉 Which leads me into SOME of the MANY ways you can indulge in this area of growth and learning…
- Yoga
- Meditation
- Going for walks / hikes
- I prefer those in nature
- Journaling
- Writing: poetry, short stories, novels, etc.
- Reading
- Podcasts
- Documentaries
- Set goals & intentions
- Get clear on your dreams
- Vision board party!
- Practice gratitude
- Dance!
- Travel
All of these can aid in your personal development journey, as can some of the more woo-woo related ways…
- Crystals and stones
- Astrology
- Angel numbers (repeating or alternating numbers)
- Manifestation
The list could go on forever. But there are two themes here: 1) Spend time with yourself. It’s important that you take time to truly be with you and you alone. Listen to what your intuition is telling you, and what feelings/emotions are coming up for you. This is also a good time to look at your avoidance tactics – aka what you do to avoid the actual developmental healing stuff. 2) It can be literally anything. Maybe nothing that I listed above intrigues you, or maybe it hasn’t been working for you, but that is not to say that nothing will work. Get some time to know yourself, and start experimenting! You know what you like, what makes you happy, and what pushes your emotional buttons.
Feel it out and trust yourself. Your love will grow, as will your confidence and understanding of who you are. Work with the universe, or your higher power, and surrender what you cannot yet see clearly. This is one hell of a journey, and it will not be a walk in the park (figuratively speaking). But I promise you, it WILL be worth it!
Leave me a comment if you have any other ideas to help with self-development – the more the merrier! Now go out there and grab your life by the balls and tell it who’s boss!
