Are you searching for something, but not sure what it is? Are you feeling stagnant in relationships, a career, or even finances? This could be the time that you start to look inward and develop a personal development plan for yourself. 

If you say that you don’t like to read or there is not enough time for you to add that to your day, then don’t worry because you are not alone. However, if you want to make changes in your life and don’t know where to start, then it’s time for you to invest in yourself and make space for it.

Personal Development

What is personal development? Well for starters, it’s not something that is a 3-week course. It’s a lifelong process. And the more you learn, the more you realize you don’t know as much as you thought you did. 

Personal development is self-improvement in various aspects of your life and is typically gained through reading books or listening to speakers who have insight on the subject at hand.

I’ve been on my personal development journey for at least 15 years so I’ll share below how I got started.  In this post, I give you why and how I started on my journey so that it can help you as you start yours.

“The only journey is the journey within.”—Rainer Maria Rilke

Who Moved My Cheese

If you are new to personal development, you may not have heard of a book called “Who Moved My Cheese” by Spencer Johnson. It’s an interesting title for a book, but it’s relevant because the main actors are four mice.

Mice you say? Yes. But we won’t focus on the fact they are rodents, but the lives they were living.  I was introduced to this book by my husband several years ago and very early in our marriage. Let me tell you about where I was mentally at this time in my life.

I was about 27 years old and I had been at my government job for at least 3-4 years as a full-time employee. I’d worked there part-time while being a college student, so probably 8 years total. As you can imagine, I was working with colleagues who had been there 20, 30, and even 40 years. At that time, having a government job was what we call a “secure” or “good” job.

But the security was dangling over my head and so was about 400 hours of Sick Leave and 120 of Annual Leave. I liked the people that I worked with, but I was not happy in the environment. It seemed like everywhere I turned, someone was unhappy. And I just didn’t know if I could stay there for 30+ years of my life. 

So, back to the book. My husband told me to read this book. It was about 70 pages and looked like an easy read. Now I had never done any leisure reading other than Sweet Vally High and the Baby Sitter’s Club (Yes I’m dating myself). Once I left college, I didn’t have the energy to just read for the fun of it unless it was a magazine.

I finished the book in about 2-3 hours. It was an easy read (which is why I recommend it for newbies). It brought to light what I was feeling. Like I was scared to change and what would happen if I didn’t. I won’t spoil it for you, but let’s just say 2 mice figured it out and the other mice kept reliving Groundhog Day.

Needless to say, that book was the catalyst I needed to start applying for jobs and updating my skills. A few months later I secured a different job where I was in a much better place mentally.

Personal development is about changing yourself. I didn’t do a complete 180 degrees just because of this book, but it started the movement because it was easy to read and understand from a mouse’s point of view. 

Zig, Jim, and Les

These 3 character names are legends in the realm of personal development. But let me tell you their full names. Zig Ziglar, Jim Rohn, and Les Brown. 

It’s funny how you can be around certain things, but until you’re ready to receive it, you may not even notice it’s there. My husband was more advanced in his personal development journey than I was. He had already listened to these 3 speakers multiple times, but in my early years, it just wasn’t a priority for me.

I can’t recall if he introduced me or if it was the MLM I was a part of at the time that led me to that path. A few years after I had started a new position, something happened on the job that made me want to pursue another source of income.

So I joined a fitness MLM. Now say what you want about MLMs, one of the best things I took away from it was the personal development aspect. And there was my quest to listen to different speakers. So you can’t say personal development without hearing Zig Ziglar and Jim Rohn. 

What I liked about their presentation in their recordings, is that I felt like I could become more. The positive mindset they portrayed and their delivery was something I didn’t mind listening to in the car or just cleaning the house.  

Great for new learners on their personal development journey. 

Les Brown is more current (and still alive as of this writing). His jovial personality and upbringing can make you feel that if he can do it, you can do it. And sometimes that’s all we need is the push to get started. Check out some of his recordings on YouTube to get the full effect. 

Now of course there are hundreds of great personal development coaches and leaders and podcasts out there, but if you are new to this, I’d recommend starting with these 3. You can’t go wrong. 

The Bible

Now if you just met me, then let me tell you that I am a believer in God. However, it wasn’t until recently that I decided to take on actually reading the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. My goal at the beginning of the year was to read the Bible in a year. 

Now I will say that for complete understanding, please consult with a better authority figure because I’m still understanding a lot of it myself.  But there is a reason I have this as a good start to personal and spiritual development. 

Something I have noticed over the past year has been a change in how I think about life, people, and circumstances. I wish I had started daily readings several years ago.

According to a study published by the Center of Bible Engagement, there are many benefits to reading your Bible only four times a week. For example, getting drunk decreases by 49%.

I’m not saying you are going to understand every single word but there are a lot of gems in there to help you in your journey for personal growth. Myron Golden, a successful entrepreneur and business owner often relates his teachings to passages in the bible.

As Myron says, if you want to be successful, use the Bible as your guide.

Journaling

One of the last items I want to mention is the concept of journaling. Now this isn’t a particular resource to gain from like a book or podcast, but it is a resource to pour into. When you are reading or listening to something that has given you an aha moment, jot it down. 

You’ll be surprised what you write down when you come back to it a week, month, or even a year later. You’ve heard at some point that writing down your goals helps you meet them. Writing down positive affirmations and tips to help you in life will make you remember them more when you need them the most.

Start Now

Now it’s your turn to start investing in yourself. This type of self-care may not be a trip to a day spa but you are starting the journey to care for your mental well-being.

If you need another good reason to start, check out Tom Corley’s research. He is the author of Change Your Habits, Change Your Life. He spent years studying the habits of wealthy people.

A couple of takeaways from that study were that 55% of wealthy people read for personal development and 63% listen to audiobooks on their commute. Why not start today to be part of that percentage?

Once you get started, you’ll never want to stop and watch your life take on a new direction and meaning. Now go pick one to start!

If you liked this post, check out my writing on having an Abundance Mindset.

The post Unlocking Growth: 4 Newbie Tips to Begin Your Personal Development Journey first appeared on Angela P. Banks.