The Personal Development Blog

2010-05-31T04:16:00.000-07:00

In this personal development blog, I will be sharing with you the different strategies and insights I have picked up from my studies in the field of personal development over the past decade. I've read hundreds of books, listened to the thousands of hours of audio programs, and attended dozens of seminars.

One thing I have realized during all these years is that making learning a life-long process is one of the most rewarding experiences you can have. There will always be room for self improvement because we as humans will never reach our full potential.

As you accomplish goals you once thought were impossible, your mind will open up to even greater possibilities. The further you go, the more you realize the further you can go. As you grow and develop different areas of your life, you will naturally thirst for more knowledge.

The problem with personal development however, is that many people will fall into the trap of mindlessly learning for no particular reason. It's as if reading more self help books or attending more seminars will help fill some kind of void in their life. It's a cycle many fall into and never get out of.

The purpose of The Personal Development Blog is to not only give you insights but to also help you find a purpose for learning and improving yourself. You need to have a meaningful purpose that will be the main driving force of all your actions.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif All these skills and self improvement strategies are just tools to help you live closer to your purpose.

As you will find, if you haven't already, when you live a life of purpose, you will understand that there is no finish line. Your life will be a never-ending pursuit of living as close to that purpose as possible. If you're not sure what I'm talking about, that's okay, it'll come.

For now, know that one of the greatest joys in life is discovering why you are here. When it comes down to it, your purpose is whatever you choose it to be. Once you find it, you can then redirect all of your energy in that direction. Everything else you pick up along the way will just help you stay on the right path and/or get you moving faster.

My purpose in creating this self improvement blog is to inspire you to grab a hold of life, embrace it, bring it into your soul, and dance with it. Let's create something wonderful.

When the Going Gets Tough

2009-08-28T19:56:00.000-07:00

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. We have all heard this saying and understand what it means yet too many times when the going does actually get tough, we forget to keep going. You can see this happening when the economy gets bad like it is now. During these times of challenges, many people are feeling defeated. People all over the country are discouraged and worried and feel like they can't do anything about it and are waiting for the people in office to fix everything for them.

We all know that when the going gets tough, we, the tough ones, must get going, but we sometimes forget that rule when our minds get too clogged up in the "tough" part when it actually hits us. We forget this thing called determination. Our minds become shrouded with the image of this huge wall that was seemingly built up overnight standing in front of us. What we need to do is to step back and look at the big picture.

Do you remember ever trying to cheer up a friend who has just gone through a relationship meltdown? They must have thought the world was coming to an end while you on the other hand were trying to tell them that it is not the end and that there are plenty of other fish in the sea. Now let me ask you this, has the opposite ever happened? Have you ever been in the position where you felt your world was crashing down?

Realize that when you are caught up in the problem, it is very easy to become overly pessimistic and discouraged about the whole situation. So how do you deal with this? You must step back and look at the situation from the outside, just like the time when you tried to cheer up your friend. When you take a step back, you are able to see things more clearly and with a more optimistic outlook because you are able to see more possibilities.

When the going gets tough, you must get stronger. When things look down, you must look up. You must remember that these times of challenges are there for you to have the opportunity to grow. During times when the majority is panicking, you must remember to stay calm and focused and have an optimistic outlook for your own life. More millionaires are made in times of a recession than in times of growth because while most people shrank in fear, these individuals stood up and took charge of their life.

Sure, the economy might get worse, but does that mean your life has to get worse? No. It is too easy to blame your problems on the economy. The economy is not responsible for your life, you are. When the going gets tough, you must get tougher. You must remember that pushing yourself to take action when things seem hopeless will separate you from the helpless crowd. Get stronger, better, smarter, and braver and when the economy does turn around, you will be ahead of the masses.

What is Your Tolerance Level

2009-05-25T00:21:00.000-07:00

How low will you go before you can not stand it anymore and are forced to take action to change your present outcome? We all have something called a tolerance level. It is a point that we will do anything to move away from once it is reached. So how low is your tolerance level? Your success in life is be directly related to how low you will go before you have had enough and spring into action.

Let me give you an example of tolerance levels. Unless if you are a neat freak who needs everything to be cleaned and put away all of the time, you will have some sort of tolerance level where once a room gets messy to a certain point, you will spring into action and clean it up. Your tolerance level could be 2 pieces of paper lying on the ground to a desk that has had its surface completely covered and a floor that cannot be seen without picking something off the ground.

Let's take your weight as another example. Chances are, you have been around the same weight for a while, give or take 10-20 pounds. Isn't there a weight that once you see yourself getting to on the scale, you will do what ever it takes to go the opposite direction? You see, we have tolerance levels for pretty much everything in our life.

How far will you continue to drive when you see the gas empty sign go on? It all depends on your tolerance level. This example is given to show you that we will make take the necessary actions when the pain of not doing anything to change our current situation becomes too painful to bear. If you understand this then you will realize that in order to improve your success in life, you must raise your tolerance levels in areas of your life that will make a difference in your level of success.

If you are making $30,000 a year right now but you want to make more, it is not going to happen unless you make earning this amount painful enough for you to want to do whatever it takes to change it. Imagine someone who is used to making $1 million a year suddenly see his or her income drop to just $250,000 a year. Do you think that will cause them to suddenly take massive action and do whatever they can in order to get back up to what they are used to? You bet, and it is because making $250,000 a year, to them, is way too low and therefore too painful to bear.

So in order to make your life the way you envision it, you must increase your tolerance level. You must make being disturbed come more easily in order for you snap into action sooner. That way, you will be taking massive action more frequently. Once you begin to do that, everything will start to improve for you.

So how low will you go before you take massive action? The higher you set the bar, the more successful you will be in all areas of your life.

Personal Development - Tough Times

2009-05-02T01:15:00.001-07:00

Part of personal development is knowing how to deal with life when it gets tough. We all know the saying that when the going gets tough, the tough get going, but how many of us actually get going when the going gets tough?

When we are part of the situation, inside of it, it's hard to clear our minds and think of the bigger picture. It's tough to remember that dealing with things like this is a part of growth. Currently, the economy is in the pits. People are losing their jobs, their homes, and hopes. Some have given up.

They forget that it's during times like this that we get the most growth. The reason is we grow when we are challenged. Imagine playing tennis against someone you're 100 times better than. You'll barely improve.

The point is that when things get tough like this, you must get tougher. Use this as mental training and the opportunity to surpass the masses. When people are running for the hills, you must take a stand and face the obstacles head on because only then will you come out of these hard times better than you came in.

I'm not saying things are easy, they're not, but who ever said life is suppose to be easy? As you know, it's full of ups and downs. Currently we're in the down part but realize that the up part is coming. When things get better, you'll be flying instead of just dusting off your pants like everyone else.

This is part of personal development: The ability and willingness to use challenges to grow as a person. Take advantage of it.

Increasing Productivity

2009-05-01T22:52:00.000-07:00

When it comes to increasing productivity, there are dozens of tips that can help you with this. Like with most things, some ideas will work for you, some won't. The key is to experiment and see what is most effective for you.

1. Make a list of what you need to do.

This helps you prioritize and organize your day. When you know exactly what needs to be done, and cross each one off as you finish them, you will be more effective in making the most of your day.

2. Wear a watch.

This will help you keep track of the time you spend on your different tasks. By knowing this, you will be better able to improve productivity by figuring out what activities you can cut time down on. This will increase the time you have to do other things.

3. Reduce or eliminate time wasters.

These are the things that just kill productivity. Things like watching too much television or spending too much time on idle chit chatter or even checking your email way too many times a day.

4. Outsource.

We all have tasks that are repetitive but required that we need to do. One way to be increase productivity is to outsource it. Have someone else do it for you. This way you will have more time to do other things.

5. Do important tasks during your primetime.

We all have certain hours in the day where we are more productive than other times. For instance, I work way better at night. So during the day, I will handle the non-essentials but necessary tasks while leaving the important things that have an impact on my goals for the night time when I work best.

These are just a few ideas for increasing productivity. Try them out and see the results.