Our bookstores are lined with thousands of self-improvement books, all promising ways to make you happier and more successful. This is certainly a sign of our times. We live in a world where more and more people are seeking greater meaning, purpose, success, fulfillment, and significance in and through their lives.
Some are seeking personal development as an escape from the reality of life - a reality that can sometimes be painful and uncertain. Others are pursuing personal development in order to move towards more happiness, success, and "the good life." And for some it's a combo.
Whatever your motivation, no doubt you have felt the desire to improve yourself and the quality of your life. Turns out to be a natural part of who we are. It's the call of Life that urges us forward - to new possibilities, to greater expressions of all that we can be and all that we are.
One of the things that I have noticed in my own studies of personal development is the dominant focus on improving one's life for the sake of improving one's life. Often, the invitation to improve one's life in order to improve the lives of those around you - and our world collectively - is missing. In other words, how many people do you know who are seeking personal development as a means to better the lives of those around them and the world at large?
What I like to invite you into is the realization that when you improve your life - when, for example, you learn how to CREATE your own desired life experience - you are then empowered to model and teach others how they can create as well. When you improve your quality of life, you are then in a position to help others improve the quality of their life. When you learn how to create emotional balance, you can model to others how to be emotionally balanced. When you work at being accepting of the various levels of growth that the people around you are at (versus judging them), then you model an attitude of acceptance and love to those around you.
In other words, when we work at developing ourselves and learning how to engage life more fully, we are also working on "global development" and modeling to others how to engage life more fully. I suppose the question for each of us to ask is, "What is my intention? Why am I pursuing personal development? Why do I want to be successful? What value do I add to the world when I learn to be responsible and in charge of my own life?"
To me, one of the greatest reasons we can better our lives and fulfill more of our potential is so that we can become a creative force in the world - an influence and an invitation for others. When we live more of our true, authentic self, and do so boldly, we invite others - and therefore the world - to do the same. When we begin to wake up to our own greatness, we - in a sense - give those around us the permission to do the same. When more and more of us do that, we begin - through our own awakening and growth - to create positive change and transformation in the world.
Some are seeking personal development as an escape from the reality of life - a reality that can sometimes be painful and uncertain. Others are pursuing personal development in order to move towards more happiness, success, and "the good life." And for some it's a combo.
Whatever your motivation, no doubt you have felt the desire to improve yourself and the quality of your life. Turns out to be a natural part of who we are. It's the call of Life that urges us forward - to new possibilities, to greater expressions of all that we can be and all that we are.
One of the things that I have noticed in my own studies of personal development is the dominant focus on improving one's life for the sake of improving one's life. Often, the invitation to improve one's life in order to improve the lives of those around you - and our world collectively - is missing. In other words, how many people do you know who are seeking personal development as a means to better the lives of those around them and the world at large?
What I like to invite you into is the realization that when you improve your life - when, for example, you learn how to CREATE your own desired life experience - you are then empowered to model and teach others how they can create as well. When you improve your quality of life, you are then in a position to help others improve the quality of their life. When you learn how to create emotional balance, you can model to others how to be emotionally balanced. When you work at being accepting of the various levels of growth that the people around you are at (versus judging them), then you model an attitude of acceptance and love to those around you.
In other words, when we work at developing ourselves and learning how to engage life more fully, we are also working on "global development" and modeling to others how to engage life more fully. I suppose the question for each of us to ask is, "What is my intention? Why am I pursuing personal development? Why do I want to be successful? What value do I add to the world when I learn to be responsible and in charge of my own life?"
To me, one of the greatest reasons we can better our lives and fulfill more of our potential is so that we can become a creative force in the world - an influence and an invitation for others. When we live more of our true, authentic self, and do so boldly, we invite others - and therefore the world - to do the same. When we begin to wake up to our own greatness, we - in a sense - give those around us the permission to do the same. When more and more of us do that, we begin - through our own awakening and growth - to create positive change and transformation in the world.
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