Personal development is one of those buzzwords that gets a lot of people talking these days. However, not enough people actually know what personal development is all about. Personal development isn’t about making other people like you more, or creating a false image of yourself. It is about genuine positive change in your personal life, such as quitting a smoking habit, becoming a better leader, or getting over a fear of change.

Too Many People Are Doing Personal Development For The Wrong Reasons

So many people get personal development wrong because they think it is only about changing other people’s perception of them. Personal development isn’t about an image. When you are focused on what other people think of you, you can’t fully develop as a person. And what’s worse, you won’t keep up the personal development and make it a habit—as soon as you think your image has changed, you’ll stop. So do you want to actually become a better leader? Or do you just want people to think that you are a leader? Developing leadership qualities and working on them over time can produce a host of benefits, such as climbing up the job ladder.

Are You Doing Personal Development For Your Own Growth?

If you are doing personal development for your image alone, you are bound to fail. You won’t put in the right amount of effort and you won’t sustain the work over long periods of time. But if you are in personal development for your own growth, you will work hard to establish the daily habits that you need in order to reach success. Before you get started on any personal development challenge, you need to ask yourself why. Why do you want to become a better leader? Why do you want to go back to school? Why do you want to lose weight? If you are doing these things for the wrong reasons, then your motivation won’t last very long.

For Development To Last, You Need To Be Doing It For Yourself

When you are trying to develop your skills and improve personality, you’ll be willing to put the effort in for the long term. That means if you want to lose weight to be healthier, you’ll change your eating habits for good instead of just working out a bit harder for the summer months. It means you’ll look at ways to improve as a leader and as a person that you can use in all aspects of your life. Personal development means being introspective and looking at what you can change about yourself, instead of looking outward and wondering how you can change your image or perception.

If you are ready to let go of who you are for who you can become then let us help you get started. A free conversation with one of our coaches is eye-opening and will focus you on your next step.