Obtaining new knowledge and new experience, developing new qualities and competencies in ourselves - all this is instilled in us from childhood by parents, educators and teachers. But, of course, no one will be responsible for us all our lives, and one fine day the moment comes when we ourselves begin to be responsible for ourselves, our development and successes.
Behind us are kindergarten, school, university - the places where we acquired basic skills and knowledge. This is where the path to a new life begins. Some continue their studies, some get a job or open their own business, but one way or another, people feel the need for further development. But in what direction to develop and where to start are questions that concern many.
Therefore, in fact, we decided to make material specifically on the topic of self-development . It was created to help those who do not know where to go, and will be useful both for beginners and for those who are already familiar with self-improvement, but for some reason have fallen into a stupor.
In this article we will cover the following questions:
- Psychology of self-development and self-improvement (what needs underlie them, why are they important, what tasks to set for yourself)
- What does self-development consist of (what does it look like, what methods and directions exist)
- Stages of self-development (where to start self-development, 5 steps to self-development)
- What hinders self-development
And it would be most logical to start with why a person generally has a need for self-development, and what are the psychological features of this process.
Area 6. Reviews of books and films on self-development
List of 25 books for self-development
I suggest you familiarize yourself with the list of these works, because there you will definitely find something for yourself.
The author of the review tried not to forget about anyone, so he divided the books into several categories: for men, for women, for teenagers, motivational books, books on financial literacy, psychology and others... read more
20 books on self-development and personal growth for women
Regardless of what stage of life you're currently going through - a breakup, a job change, an identity crisis or just feeling overwhelmed - these books for women should be required reading in 2021... read more
15 best self-development audiobooks
Stop! If you don't like reading that much, here is a list of audiobooks that don't require much effort. This is cool because it saves you time and vision.
Listen directly while driving, while jogging, in line or in class... read more
TOP 15: The best books of biography of great people
Warren Buffett once said that his favorite genre of books is biographies. For a minute, this is the richest person who spends 5 hours a day reading. He explains it this way:
“Biographies provide an opportunity to live the lives of the people discussed in the book. Learn about their experiences, lessons and disappointments.”
Warren Buffett
TOP 19: Best motivational books for 2021
Do you like reading inspiring stories and motivational tips? Then this top of 19 books on motivation is especially for you... read more
Top 16 books about a healthy lifestyle
Here is another useful selection of books. This time it is aimed at a healthy lifestyle. If you think your body needs a reboot, go and get acquainted with books that will help with this... read more
13 books that will help improve your investing skills
Reading a good book for investors can help you make the right financial moves when starting out. The authors of these 13 works are themselves former or current investors who built their fortune on this type of activity... read more
TOP 24 inspiring films for self-development
Well, if you don’t want to read, and you’re not interested in listening, then I have one last suggestion – films for self-development. With their help, you will learn in an interesting and easy-to-understand format how to improve your life... read more
Stages of self-development: 5 steps to self-development
In general, there are no universal stages of self-development due to the individual characteristics of each individual person and his life. In each case, both the path itself and its segments along which a person moves will differ and have a lot of options. But there are still several steps that can be given as general recommendations. There are five steps in total:
- Recognize the need for change
- Find your shortcomings / determine the direction for development
- Form an image of the desired future and set a goal
- Find and choose appropriate ways to achieve the desired result
- Start acting based on your goals and chosen methods
Let's look at each of these steps in more detail.
Awareness of the need for change
Understanding that change is needed is the first thing to do. The best way to do this is to critically evaluate yourself, your condition and your life. In most cases, you can focus on several indicators that can directly indicate that it is time to change and start developing:
- "Distortion" of the world . Sometimes it happens that a person begins to notice that something has happened to the world around him, that people are doing incomprehensible and logical things, that some inexplicable events are happening. With a high degree of probability, this may indicate that the person himself is beginning to “fly off the rails.” The reason may be dissatisfaction with life, doing something that is not “your” business, routine, boredom, etc. This should be regarded as a signal of the need for change, and immediately begin to look for ways out of the current situation.
- Feeling of degradation and standing still . In everyday life, you may begin to act in ways that were unacceptable to you just recently, feel that you are not moving anywhere, and that life is wasted. Another sign is the understanding that you have no goals and aspirations, that there is no desire to reach new heights and that you are mired in the drab everyday life and everyday trifles. Any of these manifestations should be an indicator of the need for change.
- An inexplicable feeling of anxiety inside . It can arise for no reason, but can be expressed in a premonition of inevitable misfortunes or troubles, a feeling of heaviness from existing or expected problems, or depression. It is necessary to understand what causes this condition. Sometimes it is useful to consult a specialist, for example, a psychologist.
- Procrastination. Simply put, this is endless procrastination of important things for later. At first glance, it may seem like a trifle, but in the end it can lead to the accumulation of unsolved problems, the emergence of life problems and painful psychological effects. If you notice that you have begun to regularly come up with something for yourself that is more important than what is actually important, it’s time to figure out what doesn’t suit you in life and set new, motivating goals for yourself.
- The emergence of bad habits . No matter how strange it may sound, sometimes people start drinking or smoking (God forbid, taking drugs), biting their nails or lips, getting stuck on social networks and spending time aimlessly because they don’t know what to do. This serves as another signal that you need to start changing something in yourself and in life. Otherwise, you may end up at the very bottom.
Understanding that “something is wrong” is not always easy. Sometimes our consciousness deliberately builds barriers, saying that everything is normal, that this is temporary. Of course, if the above sensations occur to you once a year, then you should just rest or go on vacation for a couple of weeks. But still, take a look at your life from the outside - if these manifestations have already begun to resemble chronic ones, you need to pull yourself together and think about what to do next.
Finding your shortcomings and determining the direction for development
Finding and understanding what needs to be changed is the second step on the path to self-development. Everyone has disadvantages, but only your shortcomings should bother you, because... they can cause failures and defeats, as well as unsatisfactory life outcomes. What prevents you from opening up, what prevents you from enjoying life?
If you feel that you are not progressing at work, but want to, think about what qualities or skills you need to start cultivating in yourself. If your job is draining all your energy, think about what you would like to do and what it will take to do it. If you feel the need for internal support, it makes sense to turn to psychology, religion or esotericism. The most important thing is to identify the direction that requires change.
Forming an image of the desired future and setting goals
The third step on the path to starting self-development is goal setting. If the last stage outlines in general terms the picture of what and where it is, then the formation of the desired image of the future will allow you to outline the main guidelines on the path and understand where and what exactly you want to get to. But there is one trick here.
For many people, the goal setting stage is a stumbling block. This happens for the reason that most often people know what they don’t want and how they don’t want it, but they have no idea what they want and what will suit them. The result of this ignorance is a classic of the genre - complaints about life, blaming everyone and everything for one’s troubles and misfortunes, victim syndrome, self-pity, etc. And this is exactly what should not be allowed under any circumstances, because... There can be no talk of any self-development here.
You need to do it differently: choose a time, take a piece of paper and a pen, write down everything that doesn’t suit you and what the opposite picture looks like, and you will have a visual guide to action. Determine what exactly you want to change, what you want to learn, what you want to do, etc. Be honest with yourself - only this will help you understand what you really need and what direction to choose for self-development.
By the way, we have a special test to determine areas of self-development, after passing which you will receive a selection of materials suitable for you to read and study: articles, links to books and courses.
Finding suitable ways to achieve the desired result
The fourth stage is the search and determination of suitable ways of self-development. Everything is simple here - you need to consider all the options that will help you achieve your plans. We advise you to pay attention to books, films, trainings and courses on relevant topics. You can also ask for advice from more educated and experienced people, specialists and trainers.
Today on the Internet there is a huge amount of material on a variety of topics: from increasing reading speed to improving memory, from gaining muscle mass to training the brain, from learning foreign languages to spiritual development. But it is equally important to remember that when embarking on the path of self-development, you need to be very selective in your social circle. The “wrong” people will pull you back and tell you that you won’t succeed. You should strive to communicate with those who have already achieved what you want to achieve, who are stronger, smarter, better than you!
Actions, actions and more actions
Having set goals and selected suitable options for development, start taking action without delay. This step can be called the most important, because... it depends on whether you can achieve your goal. Activities will include reading books, watching videos, taking courses, searching for and learning new information, and putting into practice what you learn from selected sources.
Any change (and self-development is change in its purest form) requires labor. Therefore, you will have to work hard to start moving forward. This can be compared to how a rocket overcomes gravity to get off the ground and go into space. At first, maximum energy and fuel are used to rise upward, but as it rises, it becomes easier to fly, and as a result, all that remains is to correct the course. It’s the same with self-development - by overcoming laziness, the boundaries of your comfort zone and your “I don’t want” or “I can’t”, you overcome yourself to become stronger and better. And we need to boldly move forward. As a result, it will become easier, and in order to develop, you will just have to adjust the direction of movement from time to time.
And to make it easier to move, constantly remember why you started all this. When you achieve even the most insignificant results, compare them with those that were before you started self-development (this advice is especially suitable for beginners). The process of self-improvement is a continuous process, but the more effort you make, the easier it will be for you.
And, since we mentioned laziness, discomfort, reluctance and other things that can negatively affect self-development, it makes sense to more substantively touch upon the obstacles on this difficult but very interesting path. Anyone can encounter them.
Area 7. Reviews of educational sites on the Internet
TOP 20: Free and paid online learning sites that teach from scratch
If you are ready to develop together with 1 billion people, then follow the link and find out which sites you can study on... read more
Online programming courses for beginners and advanced | By rating
Nowadays there is a very high demand for programmers. Most people want to learn programming because it promises great prospects in the future. And if you consider that you can get a profession by taking just one course, this is generally a fairy tale... read more
Review of the 15 Best Online Graphic Design Courses
Should a graphic designer be able to draw? - not necessary. But he must definitely take online graphic design courses... read more
TOP 23 effective online courses on Internet marketing
In the digital and coronavirus era, it is simply necessary to know and apply Internet marketing to promote your own business or brand.
In the article, the author examines the most effective online courses on Internet marketing, which are suitable for beginners, professionals, business owners, brand owners or simply self-employed... read more
What hinders self-development
Despite the fact that there are materials on how to develop, become rich and successful, brave and skillful, etc. there is a lot, much less information about what can prevent a person from moving forward. And there can be many potential (or real) obstacles. But let's list just a few of them:
- Internet . It can be not only useful, but also harmful. This applies to situations where he turns into a time waster. A lot of people fall into the trap of social media, funny videos, viral news and jokes, etc. Sometimes, after being distracted for 5 minutes, it is simply impossible to tear yourself away, although initially the task was, for example, to find useful information. Be careful when wandering the Internet, try not to be distracted by nonsense and advertising, install AdBlock; differentiate the time when you go online for fun, and when you go online for development.
- Laziness . Everyone knows the feeling of not wanting to do anything, especially if it’s something difficult and unusual. But this is just a trap of inert consciousness. To learn how to quickly and effectively overcome laziness, you need to be able to motivate yourself, plan things, and be responsible. But this is brief, so we recommend reading the article “Causes of laziness and ways to combat them.”
- Stress . Another phenomenon that interferes with self-development. In the modern world, it is very difficult to remain full of strength and enthusiasm, motivation and desire to grow. But fatigue and stress are inevitable, and you just need to be able to deal with them. In short, to overcome these conditions you need to rest and maintain physical activity, get enough sleep and cultivate optimism. Read more about this in the articles “What is stress and how to relieve it” and “Ways to get rid of stress.”
- Negative experience . Mistakes and failures are an integral part of our lives. But while for some they serve as a reason to give up and go with the flow, for others they become an incentive and source of energy. Learn to learn from mistakes and failures, and they will become your faithful assistants on the path to achieving goals and changes for the better.
- The desire to control everything . The desire to control your life is quite natural. But it should not be hypertrophied. In other words, you don’t need to try to control absolutely everything that happens to you - events, other people, circumstances, problems that arise. It is much more useful to accept others with all their shortcomings, adequately perceive what is happening around and with you, change your attitude towards difficulties, learn to be flexible, and not go out of your way to try to bend the world to yourself. Spiritual practices and educational literature are very helpful in forming a correct worldview.
In addition to the mentioned obstacles on the path of self-development, it is also worth mentioning envy, arrogance, wrong attitudes, blind trust in authorities and lack of a role model, self-pity and the position of a victim, excessive feelings of guilt and shifting the blame to other people, monotony of life , searching for paths of least resistance, lack of goals, bad habits, negative environment and unsystematic actions.
Having decided to engage in self-development, you must make yourself better in all respects, honing your personality, like cutting a diamond. But if a diamond can be brought to perfection, then there is no limit to perfection in working on yourself, and you can (and even need to!) devote your whole life to this. Then, having gone through a thorny life path full of trials, you will look back and realize with joy and inspiration that you did not go through it in vain.
We are what we strive for, what we think about, what actions we take. The global goal of man is evolution, and at the present time, when science makes new discoveries almost every day, and the stock of knowledge accumulated by humanity is incalculable, we can only evolve in one, but comprehensive direction - the development of our personality!
On this positive note, we end our article, and we advise you to devote time to reading additional literature - books on self-development. By the way, if you are interested in materials on areas, you can choose something from our selection of the best books on self-development. And to quickly get acquainted with the essence of some interesting works and understand that this is exactly what you need, look at the summary of the books.
And finally, another wonderful motivational video about self-improvement and the importance of personal growth:
We wish you success in your development!
We also recommend reading:
- Storytelling
- Success and self-development: key ideas
- Abraham Maslow "Motivation and Personality" - summary
- Top 10 mistakes on the path of self-development
- Self-development as a game
- 3 Eco-Friendly Ways to Get What You Need from Someone
- Using Maslow's pyramid for self-actualization
- Systems and methods of self-development: a selection of useful materials
- Self-actualization
- How to understand what you want
- Humanistic theories of personality: what to take from history to modern times
Keywords:1LLL
Recommendations for men
For dessert, I have prepared for you gender-specific recommendations for self-improvement. They will help highlight your strengths and achieve harmony. Let's start with men's.
Develop physically
Strength training and cardio are a must. They can be diluted with gaming and extreme sports, sports tourism, yoga. If you haven't done any of this before, start gradually.
Learn martial arts
I highlighted martial arts as a separate item, since this is training not so much for the body as for the spirit. They develop courage, patience, endurance - qualities so necessary for men.
Train your masculine character
In addition to the three listed, there are at least a dozen more truly masculine character traits. Diplomacy, endurance, ability to take responsibility, dedication and others. Think about which of these are lame in you, and focus on them.
Learn to make decisions
Every day a man has to make many important decisions. The fate of other people, for example, a wife and children, depends on some of them. If situations of serious choice put you at a dead end, you need to learn to make decisions. Otherwise, one day you will hear an offensive “not a man” addressed to you.
Four steps to create a personal development plan
Benjamin Franklin had a plan for life and stuck to it all the time. Of course, not every great person had the same one, worked out in detail and written down on paper, but many successful people had a clear idea of who they wanted to become and what to achieve. A development plan is a plan of action based on values, learning, reflection, awareness, knowledge and goal setting to succeed in learning, career, relationships and self-development. What it consists of and how to develop it, we describe in this article. Read more…
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Conclusion
It is impossible to develop, focusing only on action, without receiving a response in the inner world. This quickly leads to psychological burnout. You can't get very far with self-control.
Business, occupation, work should complement the picture of the inner world, improve self-esteem, and help improve. Realizing this, many see a mistake in choosing a profession. But don't despair. It's never too late to develop.
Basic mental processes
Development is a change in a person’s inner world under the influence of external factors and one’s own actions, purposeful activity to achieve a result. This is a conscious work that requires quantitative and qualitative changes. Self-development, according to psychology, is development that occurs due to the high activity of the person himself.
From an early age, parents guide their children through training and education. Under the influence of external and internal factors, personality is formed, intellectual, moral, and physical qualities appear.
Development takes place in different ways. Some move from class to class, then go to university because “it’s necessary,” and go to work in their specialty. Others try themselves in different fields, change directions, and look for something new.
Where does the activity come from? From the interaction between man and the outside world. The mediator is human cognition and its basic mental processes:
- sensation is what life begins with, the influence of warm, cold, hard and soft;
- perception – comparison of the characteristics of objects to create a complete picture;
- thinking is the process of establishing connections between objects or their characteristics, as well as analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization and abstraction, obtaining new knowledge about the world;
- imagination is the transformation of knowledge about objects of the external world, ways of interacting with them;
- memory is the process of accumulating knowledge about the surrounding reality, one’s own experiences, thoughts and conclusions regarding objects and processes;
- attention is the selective direction of consciousness towards solving a problem.
Most people are endowed with the same sense organs, but other mental processes are a reflection or processing of information received at the sensation stage.
Perception is selective. Depends on the strength of the stimulus, interest, experience and focus. Thinking is aimed at solving a problem, and the problem comes out of a problem or problematic situation, one that forces you to look for a non-standard solution. Imagination is the process of creating images that reflect reality and its processes - experience. Ability directly depends on experience. Memory is the selection and recording of significant information, which is mediated by emotion, interest, and purpose. Attention is associated with feelings, interests, experiences.
Why is a person given all these abilities? For survival. The ability of an individual to adapt to new circumstances depends on its development. The need for adaptation is one of the mechanisms of personal development and growth in psychology. Her breakdown is the same crisis of self-development.
Advice from a neuroscientist
The famous neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki (her book is on our RECOMMENDED page) suggests changing psychology by reinforcing it with physiology. To do this, she and her students engage in sports exercises during a lecture on neurobiology. For example, the following interesting conclusions can be drawn from her work:
- Any physical exercise, and especially its repetition, increases the release of positive neurotransmitters (pleasure hormones in this case) in the head. These hormones immediately improve your mood, and last two hours after training, and even your reaction time improves. The same can be said about race walking at a speed of 4.5-5 km per hour.
- Once you begin to exercise regularly and physically train your body, your memory improves and new neural connections appear. This means that the rest of your brain cells undergo these changes. Of course, treating Alzheimer's disease and memory loss is difficult. But it is possible to improve the consequences of senile dementia.
- You don’t have to go to the gym; you can walk in the park at a sporting speed 3-4 times a week for just 30-40 minutes to train your heart muscle. In addition, if you add useful affirmations, your well-being will improve significantly.
And then you will definitely understand the difference between the word I want and the word I really feel. Summing up, in order to see changes when practicing self-development, you need to do everything consciously and physically, and then there will definitely be personal growth!
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A Guide to Creating a Personal Development Plan
The power of a clear plan is that it helps focus all your efforts in the right direction. A personal development plan is the missing link for those who understand the value of self-development, but feel that at some point they took a wrong turn. Think about the past year of your life. Are you completely satisfied with this period? What achievements in which areas can you be proud of and what not? Can you say with certainty that you have grown as a person during this time? Simply taking a piece of paper and writing down your plans for the future increases your chances of becoming a much better person. But you can approach this process more seriously... Read more...
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