In today’s hyperactive world, where online training everything is being done at superfast speeds—time is everything. So much so, that a second’s delay could cost us hundreds, if not thousands. In a world like this, personal development is the last thing on our minds. I mean, why “waste” time and energy on personal development, which we could otherwise be spending on earning more money, right? In fact, that’s exactly the reason why we should be focusing on personal development—to earn more money. However, there is a lot more to it than that!
You might be wondering, what exactly is this “personal development” thing that we keep talking about? It is just a fancy way of saying, ‘spend some time on yourself, please!’ All the work done on improvement of any area of our life, be it our health, knowledge, soft or technical skills, is termed as personal development. This is what separates a winner from an average Joe!
Below, we have mentioned just a few of the benefits of focusing on personal development:
Increase in Income:
Yes, you read it correctly, personal development can increase our income. You might be skeptical about this at first but let me explain. In the US, an average laborer might be working harder than most, yet they can only go as high as $19 per hour. While on the other hand, a laborer, who has put time and effort into himself, and has risen to a rank of a supervisor can earn as high as $36 per hour—you can see the difference. Similarly, as you go higher up the hierarchy, the pay increase is exponential, rather than linear. So next time someone stops you from taking courses, or from joining a personal development club, you can just ignore them because you will be having the last laugh in the end!
Improved Self Awareness:
The journey of self-improvement begins first with a deep conversation with ourselves and identifying our strengths and weaknesses. Once we know our strong and weak points, we can then start capitalizing on our strengths, while continuing our journey of personal development to overcome our weaknesses. This whole process makes us more self-aware down the road. Hence, we don’t listen to our critics or get distracted by praises, because we know that we are on a journey, and we have a long way to go.
Higher Self-Esteem:
Self-esteem is a product of our beliefs about ourselves—how we perceive ourselves. As we start working on ourselves, the changes can be felt almost immediately—people start seeing you in a different light. You start being relied on and trusted by others. This boosts our self-esteem, and it motivates us to continue down this road. Not only that, even our mental image of ourselves starts to change. This improved self-worth improves our confidence, and then we are even more likely to take initiative, and that further boosts our self-esteem—a positive loop of personal development begins. And it all starts with one conscious decision—”I will spend time and effort on improving myself”.
Personal development may require dedication and time, but it can change your life for the better. A little time spent on improving your skills will save you many hours of hard continuous labor. You are more than what you consider yourself to be, all you need is a little effort on your part, and you’ll be golden!