YOUR BEST INVESTMENT IS YOU!

Are you 100% completely satisfied with your life? Like REALLY satisfied?  Like "I have arrived" satisfied?  If you're anything like me the answer is probably no.  You may feel like there is something in your life, your job, your health, or your career that you would like to improve on.  You might know exactly what that is or maybe you're not really sure.  You just know you want something to be different or better. Be encouraged.  One of the greatest truths in life is that we, you and me, are a work-in-progress.  We have the capacity to always be growing, learning, and improving.  We have the ability to create change and to better our life.

To do so we must take a good, hard, honest look at ourselves in the proverbial mirror and assess what we want to improve upon.  Oftentimes this takes hard work, dedication, persistence, and a large dose of both desire and commitment.  Deciding what you want to improve on is step one.  Next comes the "how" - the plan of action.  Deciding how, where and when to invest your time, energy and resources on improving is critical.  My suggestion based on personal experience and researching what highly effective people do to achieve success is to invest in yourself.

Just what do I mean by "invest in yourself"?  I'm talking about personal development.

Personal development covers activities that improve awareness and identity, develop talents and potential, improve your employability and overall quality of life, and helps you achieve your hopes and dreams.  It is the process of understanding and developing oneself in order to achieve one's fullest potential.   This lifelong process of self-awareness and self-improvement is the greatest investment you can ever make.

The important word in that last sentence is YOU.  We are each responsible for our own personal development.  We are given the gift of a new day - 24 completely new hours -  every morning.  We are given choices, many choices, every day.   How we respond and what we choose to do with that time and those choices influences how successful we are.   When was the last time you paused long enough to reflect on what YOU need - personally, professionally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, socially?  When did you last consider what would help you grow or improve?

I read an article once that likened personal development to the growth of a plant.  If you nurture and take care of the plant by providing it healthy soil, adequate sunlight, and water the plant will flourish and grow strong.  However, if you neglect any one of the vital nutrients and the plant does not get the nourishment it needs, the plant will shrivel up and eventually die off.  The same can happen in our own life if we fail to nourish and enrich it through personal development.   We may not physically die but we can be left feeling empty, unfulfilled, bored, void of purpose, overly negative, and frustrated.

If you are feeling like your life's glass is half-empty, here are a few really good reasons to begin a process of personal development:

1. It can help you clarify your goals and purpose.
2. It can provide you with direction and a plan.
3. It can help you better manage your time and identify how you wish to spend it.
4. It can assist in fostering healthier relationships.
5. It can alleviate stress and help you embrace change.
6. It can help you achieve a balanced lifestyle.

We all have more to accomplish, achieve, experience, and embrace.  Through personal development you can focus on the life you want to create and your potential rather than settling for mediocrity or your current state.  If personal development is important to you, you will begin to change.  What we deem important gets done.