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.
