What is self development? It's a concept that's often referred to across many niches and especially on this blog - now it's time to officially define it.
My lifelong love for self development inspired me to create this site. However, although it’s a subject we address frequently here, a question I’ve never posed directly is:
What is Self Development?
Let’s explore the answer to that question so we can understand what self development is and why it’s something that everyone should pay attention to.
Definition of Self Development
According to Wikipedia, Self development is a broad category that covers activities that improve awareness and identity, develop your talents and employability, aid in the realization of your dreams, and ultimately improve the quality of your life.
Just stop and think about that for a moment. It’s quite a grand, encompassing idea, isn’t it?
It does this actually mean for me and you?
It means that self development is a process, and it’s a process that will get you closer to anything you want to achieve in life.
Rather than waiting for life to hand you knowledge, opportunity and success on a silver platter (which it won’t), you can put in the work to a point where those things simply become results of your self development.
Here at www.theqmindset.com, we like to relate the concept of self development to a growing plant. In fact, another term for self development is personal growth, and this is fitting because plants teach us a lot about growth.
The Story of the Chinese Bamboo Plant
The growth of the Chinese bamboo plant is a natural phenomenon that holds significance to the topics of personal growth and development.
For the first four years of its life, the bamboo plant shows no sign of growth - it remains just a tiny leaf in the soil.
During this time you have to nurture it, constantly watering it, and then in the fifth year a miracle happens - the bamboo plant grows 90 FEET in just six weeks.
From experience I have found that the results of self development do not always show up immediately. Even after you do your research, read, train your mind, work hard, fail and persevere - it might still take a while to enjoy the fruits of your labour.
But during all that time you’re growing into the person you need to become to achieve your goals.
Then, when you do finally see progress one day, you laugh a little - because the sweetness of success overshadows all the past moments of struggle and doubt - and you realize you wouldn’t change a thing.
That’s the beauty of self development.
Why is Self Development Important
Self development is important because, to quote Draymond Green, “if you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse”.
But there’s a key motive behind self development that’s even more inspiring than that - and it’s the idea that self development puts you in control. When you are actively striving to improve your mindset, your skills, and your life overall, you don’t have to rely on talent or luck.
Instead you work hard and succeed and on purpose.
Self development bridges the gap between where you are and where you want to be. It’s the vehicle that leads you to your goals. When you commit to Self development, you enter a unique journey of self-discovery and high-impact realizations about life.
The 5 Areas of Self Development
There are five key areas of self development that most people’s goals fit into:
Health
Finances
Relationships
Spirituality
Career
Of course, there are other variations of these categories for personal growth. Let’s look further into each of them.
Health
Health is a key area of self development because every part of your life relies on you having good health. Within this area there are further categories such as physical health, mental health and emotional health. At a high level, most people aim to be fit, have good mental health, eat well, and sleep well.
Finances
Finances are another area that people work towards improving. Developing financial literacy is an important part of self development because you make better decisions when you are equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to manage money effectively.
Relationships
Close relationships are a source of happiness and fulfillment in life. Most people want to improve their relationships with others, whether it’s family, friends, acquaintances or a romantic relationship. Common topics in this area include improving communication, finding a partner, dealing with relationship anxiety, and maintaining strong friendships.
Spirituality
Spirituality is an area of self development that focuses on a higher purpose. For people with faith this can include improving one’s relationship with God. This element of personal development can also involve helping others and becoming more at peace with the world.
Career
Career development is often a key part of self development for many people. It involves developing talent and potential in order to advance in a career. It can also involve carving out a career for oneself through entrepreneurship and self-employment.
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