Self Care

Personal Development

Whilst personal development means different things to different people. It is not always about making changes to your life, but ultimately it is a desire to have a better understanding of yourself, and that itself will make changes to the way you think and feel about yourself and your relationship with the world and others. Sometimes that is enough, and people are happy and feel more confident in themselves when armed with that knowledge.

However, once you have the knowledge, you may decide to use that to change your life. Undertaking your personal development journey will help you discover traits, strengths, and weaknesses and will give you the tools to change those you do not like and accept those you do.

Changing your mindset is the key to a happy life. There may be growing pains along the way, as you assess your life, as well as your strengths and weaknesses, but changing bad habits that may have been with you for a long time will help you grow beyond measure. The key is to move at your own pace and not put pressure on yourself. Let’s see how we can start this journey!

Step 1 – Inner Reflection And Evaluation

Before you start your personal development journey, invest in a journal. This will be a good way to keep a record of where you are at any given time. You can buy a blank journal, use a word document page, or even find a template that will help you on your journey.

In your journal record separate your page into different sections to include different aspects of your life. You can look at any area you feel is relevant. These may include:

Family
Relationships
Work
Spirituality

In each section write everything positive and negative that you can think of. There may be things that you would like to change that are easy to think of, but for some other areas, it may be more difficult. Give yourself time. Once you feel you have enough to start with, then you are ready to look at where and if changes are needed.

Step 2 – Identify What Can be Changed

Not everything in life is within our control. For example, you may be in a job where one of your colleagues makes you feel inadequate. You will not be able to change your colleague, that is their journey to undertake, BUT you can change the way you feel in response to their behavior – that is within your control and can be part of your personal development journey.

Now you have an idea of the kind of thing to look for, go through your list, and see what is within your power to change. These can be physical, emotional, or spiritual changes. As you progress you may notice something miraculous – you can change the way you think and feel about ANYTHING!

Step 3 – Look at Your Strengths and Weaknesses

This step may be a little more unsettling for you because it is time to lay yourself bare. Make two columns in your journal and title their strengths and weaknesses. Do not hold back. If you have anger issues – write that down. If you easily feel jealous – write that down too. Are you flexible, conscientious, loving, or demanding? Write down as many things as you can and choose which column you think they should go in.

Once you have a list, look at it closely. Most people will have many more on the weakness column than in the strength column. That is the way we are wired – we see the negative before the positive. This is the trait we need to change to ensure your personal development journey is a good one.

Next, create the columns again and put all negative traits in the strength's column, and vice versa. How does that make you feel? Why does it make you feel that way?

Here’s a tip – all negative traits (or weaknesses if you prefer) can be changed into positivity. Every single one. For example, some may see flexibility as a positive trait, and it can be, but if you are too flexible and allow others to take advantage of you it becomes a weakness.

Go through all of the information again and write examples of how and why it can be a strength or a weakness. This exercise may make you feel a little unsettled, and that is good, it shows you are committing yourself to look at yourself properly and once you do that you can make changes

Step 4 – What Do You Want To Achieve?

Now, you are ready to define your goals and set out what you want to achieve. The best way to start with this is to focus on what you will find easier to achieve, or there may be something that urgently needs changing. For example, you may have realized that you are not happy in your current job, or it no longer meets your needs.

One of your goals, in this case, would be to look for another job that will suit your needs and skill set. Your goal will need to be realistic. You cannot really decide to get another job the very next day with a salary of 900,000 per annum. This goal would be unrealistic and is likely to set you back and make you feel despondent when you do not achieve it.

Instead, focus on what you can achieve. For example, update your CV, your skillset, and your experience. Look at your strengths and weaknesses again and see how they relate to what you would like to do with your working life. If you feel you do not have the relevant skill currently, then look at ways you can obtain that skill or experience. There is always a way. The first step starts with you.

Step 5 – Review, Refine, And Update

Once you commit to your personal development journey you will invariably want to review your progress. See what you have achieved or changed and review what you still want to change. Your goals and aspirations will change as you change. You will also find you can add more strengths and weaknesses as you become more aware of yourself. Make sure you set milestones so you have a checklist against which you can measure your journey.

By reviewing your progress or your list regularly, you will feel you are actively moving along your personal journey. This not only encourages you to continue but also gives you the opportunity to make any changes to your plans.

There may be times when things slide for one reason or another but do not let this deter you. Personal development is a continuous journey of ebbs and flows and you can always change. After all, your personal development journey is all about having a better understanding of yourself, your needs, and the changes you want to make.

The Law of Attraction

The law of attraction is one of the fundamental laws of the universe. It states that like attracts like. In the human context, this means that our dominant thoughts and emotions determine what we attract into our lives. The more positive you are as a person, the better your life will be. Like the law of gravity, the law of attraction is one of the universal laws of reality. And it states that like attracts like.

To understand this, you first need to understand that everything in our reality is made up of energy. Yes, even matter is made from energy. Einstein’s famous equation “E equals MC squared” proves this.

The only difference is that each object (whether it is a planet, a table, your guitar, etc) vibrates at its own frequency. The same applies to us humans too. The atoms in our bodies all have a unique vibrational signature. Even our thoughts and emotions have their own frequencies that are projected outwards into the universe.

It is this latter part that is of most relevance to us. That’s because, the law of attraction says that the types of thoughts and emotions you give off attract the same type of things, people, and situations in your life. Think positively about a cup of coffee, and the universe shall reward you with one! Like attracts like.

1. Practice Meditation Regularly

Meditation is an ancient spiritual practice that has been in use for thousands of years. That’s not really a surprise given that it has a whole host of tremendous benefits for practitioners. Out of these benefits, the one that is relevant to us is that meditation helps in organizing your thoughts and emotions.

When you meditate regularly, the very connections between the neurons in your brain get reorganized. This leads to greater clarity, a boost in cognition, and more control over your emotions. Naturally, you can then direct your thoughts and emotions with greater ease towards what you want and the manifestation process becomes much smoother as a result.

2. Practice Gratitude

Gratitude is another practice that is very popular among users of the law of attraction. If you understand the law clearly, you will already know why that is the case. You see, when you feel grateful for something, you are sending powerful vibrations of appreciation into the universe. And what does the universe do in return? It gives you more of what you are grateful for. Again, like attracts like.

So, it is a good idea to start writing in a gratitude journal. The idea is quite simple. Every night, you need to list as many things in your journal as you can think of that you are grateful for. And while you’re writing them down, make sure you feel genuine gratitude in your heart. Only then will this technique truly work.

3. Say Your Affirmations

You might have already heard of affirmations or even seen people use them. Basically, affirmations are short positive statements about things that you want to reaffirm to yourself. They can be used to reinforce certain beliefs, start a new habit, get rid of bad habits, and so on. But what they can also be used for is manifesting your dreams. And it’s quite easy to do so.

What you need to do is write short positive sentences about anything that you are trying to manifest. Let’s say you want more money.

You could use some affirmations like, “I am a wealthy person,” “I always have more money than I need,” “Money flows easily into my life,” “I feel so prosperous all the time,” and so on.

You can come up with your own affirmations also. Then, you can repeat these affirmations throughout the day whenever you feel like it.

4. Try to Deal With Anything Positively

This one can be a little tricky at first. But with practice, you will begin to get a hang of it. The idea here is to deal with any given situation in a calm, composed, and positive manner. This is because the law of attraction requires you to stay in a positive state of mind as much as possible. This not only ensures that your dreams will manifest but also makes the whole process faster.

So, no matter the circumstance, try to have a positive outlook. Try to see the brighter side of things and look for opportunities even in challenges. Of course, it must be said that it is not possible to remain positive 100% of the time. And that’s okay! Do not set that unreachable target. Just do your best and go with the flow of things.

5. Experiment With Small Things First

One common mistake that a lot of beginners make is that they immediately try to apply the law of attraction to manifest huge goals. For instance, someone might try to manifest a million dollars on their first try. And more often than not, this fails. Not because there is anything wrong with the LoA, but because of the way the beginner might have used it.

You see, belief plays a huge part in your manifestation process. If you have an unwavering belief that something will come true, it surely will. So, when a beginner learns about the law of attraction for the first time, it is only natural that their belief for the entire process still hasn’t set in.

This becomes a barrier for the manifestation to take place. So, it’s important to start with little things because it’s easier for us as humans to believe that they will materialize.

6. Use the Power of Visualization

Visualization is an extremely potent technique that could become your go-to if you can learn to use it well. As is self-explanatory, visualization includes imagining that your dreams have already manifested. The more vivid the visualization, the better your results will be. Let’s take an example to understand this better.

Let’s say you want a particular car. To use visualization, you could sit on your sofa, close your eyes, and pretend that you are sitting inside your dream car. Notice the interior design, the dashboard, the steering wheel, and all other details. Then, imagine that you are driving this car. Feel the rumbling of the engine, the wind in your hair, and the smile on your face. This is what a typical visualization session looks like.

7. Do Things You Love and Enjoy

This is perhaps the easiest of them all to follow. When you spend more time doing all the things that you love and enjoy, you are naturally happier and more ecstatic. Without even realizing it, you exude powerful positive vibrations out into the universe. This, in turn, brings all those things, people, and situations into your life that make you feel ecstatic.

So, you could literally set up a positive feedback loop and continue to have a great life! All by spending more time on your hobbies, with family, with friends, and so on.

Meditation

Meditation is a practice that trains your mind. People employ a specific type of meditation to train their minds to pay attention and be more physically and mentally aware. This is done to attain a cognitively clear, emotionally peaceful, and stable state of mind.

People have meditated for thousands of years. Records show that the practice of meditation started around 1500 BCE. It appears to begin in India as a component of early Hindu tradition. It was later found as a component of Buddhist teachings in India and Chinese Taoism over a thousand years later, and Philo of Alexandria and Saint Augustine are noted to have brought the practice of meditation to the Western world.

Meditation was initially intended to aid in the more profound comprehension of life’s divine and mystical energies. The Hindus believed that meditation was a way to commune with God. The Buddhists believed that we could better understand how everything in the world is connected to each other through meditation.

However, today the practice of meditation is more widely used to help aid in relaxation and reduce stress. In addition, people of all ages, ethnicities, and spiritual backgrounds use it as a tool to help improve their overall mental health.

Meditation can be performed by anyone, anywhere, and at any level. You can do it alone in a quiet place, in a group of other people doing the same thing or fitting it in during a commute or while out for a walk.

The most important thing to know is that there is no wrong way to meditate. Find whatever way works best for you and enjoy the many benefits this mental exercise can bring you.

Through medical research, there has documented evidence that meditation could potentially help with the following medical conditions:

Alcohol Addiction
Age-Related Memory Loss
Anxiety
Asthma
Cancer
Chronic pain
Depression
Heart disease
High blood pressure
Irritable bowel syndrome
PTSD
Sleep problems
Tension headaches

Different Types of Meditation?

There are many different types of meditation. Some are for the more disciplined, but all can be mastered. Here are a few of the most popular forms:

Guided Meditations – Meditation is done under the guidance of a trained practitioner or by utilizing imagery, music, or voice through audio or video.
Mantras – Meditation that uses a sound, word, or phrase on repeat to help you focus and enter a deep state of meditation.
Mindfulness Meditation – A form of meditation that focuses on being aware of your breath with the intent of increasing positivity and awareness of your thoughts, bodily sensations, and the surrounding environment.
Qigong – A type of meditation where the body is in motion through a physical exercise involving fluid movements that teach control over your body and breath.
Tai Chi – A Chinese martial art form initially used for self-defense but can be utilized as a type of meditation similar to Qigong.
Transcendental Meditation – Similar to mantras, it is a specific form of silent mantra-like meditation. It is part of the Transcendental Meditation movement created by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
Yoga – A popular form of exercise that also requires you to focus your mind while performing intentional movements and controlling your breath and thoughts.

Almost all types of meditation have four key elements.

A quiet space or a location with as few distractions as possible
A comfortable place to sit, lay down, or walk.
The ability to focus your attention either through humming, chanting, or concentrate on your breath or an object in your line of vision.
An open mind

No matter which type of meditation you decide to try, they all share the same goal: To bring you inner peace through the practice of opening your mind, becoming self-aware, and focusing on positive energy.

How to Meditate

Step 1: Decide which type of meditation you want to try. A simple guided, mindfulness, or mantra technique is a good place for beginners to start.

Step 2: Decide where and when you want to try. You can meditate in a quiet place, in a group setting, or out in public. However, it’s recommended to try in a quiet place that has as few distractions as possible for your first time. Someplace where you will feel at peace and not self-conscience.

Step 3: Decide how long you want to meditate. If you are doing a guided meditation, that step is done for you. However, if you are trying a mindfulness or mantra technique, you will need to figure out how long your session should be. It can be as short as 1 minute or as long as 20. On average, 5 minutes is an excellent place to start, and you can gradually work your way up to longer sessions as you feel comfortable.

Step 4: Begin the session. Almost all meditation techniques start by focusing on your breathing. This helps to bring your focus inward and allows you to connect with your physical body mentally. During this process, it’s good to acknowledge any physical tension and mental concerns you might have and then let your mind release them as you focus on your breathing. If you find your mind wandering during the session, gently refocus your thoughts to your breathing or mantra.

Step 5: Finish your session with a positive thought or intention and ground yourself. When doing a meditation technique that doesn’t require movement, it’s good to end with a relaxing stretch to bring movement back into your body.

Whether you are a beginner or master with meditation, you can’t deny the ease and benefits it can bring to your life.