What is Personal Growth and Development?
People tend to be lost in the modern world. They are spending their entire life without thinking and knowing about the meaning of life and without exploring their passion. I was one of them, lived like a zombie over the years. Then at my forties, I realized that I should do something to broaden my vision and find the passion to have a more meaningful and happy life. Then I asked myself: What is personal growth and development? What should I do to get that?. My amazing journey has begun at that point.
Personal Growth, A Wonderful Path
I think personal growth and development is a journey. It is an exciting adventure. You can discover the wonders of your soul with personal growth and development. It feels amazing when you find out hidden treasures inside you: Your passion, your skills, your vision and the aim of life that can make you happy.
Humans are incredible created beings. We have the most developed control system of the earth: Our brains. Humankind is the only species that can think, analyze, synthesize and comprehend the world they are living. On the other hand we have another treasure: our souls. Without the soul, our body would have been only a complex machine. We have feelings, emotions, fears and excitements which proves that we are not solely created with our body.
We can educate our brains, learn a profession and learn how to survive in tough circumstances. Briefly we can set our mindset. However, if we do not develop our soul set, we can never be happy.
Therefore, the most important aspect of personal growth and development lies upon the soul health and development.
How To Find the Way
We are lucky that nowadays there are so many sources for personal growth and development. From classical books like “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill to online platforms like “Mindvalley”.
There are many classical books about personal growth and development. Some of them are which I would recommend are:
1) Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
2) Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
3) The 4- Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
4) The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
5) The Subtle Art of not Giving A F*ck by Mark Manson
6) Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
7) Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy
8) Atomic Habits by James Clear
9) The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
10) The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma
Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases from these books.
There are also free great content at Youtube, Edx, Coursera. In my opinion the best way is to start reading classical books about the subject. Then you can try online free content. Ultimately you can switch to paid sources like Mindvalley to get deep understanding and get great wisdom from masters of the field.
I personally started to watch YouTube videos. There I had watched Robin Sharma, the author of “The Monk who Sold His Ferrari”. I read his famous book. It is telling the story of a successful lawyer who leaves his glorious career behind and start his journey to find his aim. In the story I felt as he is telling my story.
Then I discovered that Robin Sharma has an online platform. His idea of 5 AM Movement and Club catched me. I have got subscribed and started to watch his personal growth and development series. There I have met with top gurus and mentors of the field.
Simulteneously I read books, listened audibooks. Storytel is my indispensible application that I am still listening books. I followed Robin Sharma’s advice which he names as “Traffic University”. He recommends listening audiobooks instead of music during long car travels in the city. I bought an Apple Airpods which is probably one of my best investments. I am now listening audiobooks when I am doing ordinary works at home, cooking, cleaning, etc. I have finished more than 100 books in couple of years that I would have never found time to achieve with hardcopy books.
Then by the help of Robin Sharma, I discovered “Mindvalley” which is an awesome platform for personal growth and development. There I have discovered many mind blowing courses which changed my life. There is Wildfit from Eric Edmeades which transformed my health and well-being. Jim Kwik’s courses made me a super reader. Besides these mentioned courses there are many insightful courses at Mindvalley that include vast topics from entrepreneurship to love relations.
Paid or free which one shall I choose.
As a starting point it is ok to observe the free content. On the other hand at some point, I think you should invest to get masterclass content. Please do not forget: the best investment is investing yourself!. It is best to choose a premium subscription after you choose which platform is most resonating with you. In this way you can get quality content. Believe me that you will get much more value than you pay. You will never regret if you register to proven networks such as Mindvalley and Robin Sharma Nation.
Getting a Mentor
After you have the great feeling of improving yourself and discovering your hidden treasures inside your soul, you wil request more! I think the ultimate process will be getting a mentor, a coach to help you through this process. The mentor should not be necessarily deal with you in person. In this modern era, there are many online programs that you can follow with very reasonable prices.
If you require more, there are premium memberships that these mentors can get in touch with you in person. It is up to you find the right coach. They generally have free trials that you can experience beforehand.
Conclusion
I think searching for personal growth and development is a great experience. If you are here, that proves that you are at this wonderful path! Starting is the ultimate brave move! Congratulations for that! You will experience that your quality of life will be improved, you will have better relationships, your mental & physical health and well-being will grow! You will discover your passion and the “ikigai” of you. Please don’t postpone this exciting journey that will lead you through a better life!
If you have any questions and advice about personal growth and development, let me know in the comments. I had a lot of experience with this and I will very happy if I can help you.