The Basis of Successful Self Development

Most people rush into self development without thinking and then they wonder why they end up worse off. They followed every piece of advice they could get. But still they completely failed. How can that be?

Is it because people are different? Does self development only work for a special kind of people? I don’t think so. But there’s one essential part that is rarely mentioned:

Successful self development needs a solid basis. It has to come from within.

Sadly, a lot of people seem to ignore that fact completely. They try to rush into self development, using any promising sounding scheme that they found anywhere on the internet. But do they ever ask themselves whether they are ready to use the scheme? Probably not. Unfortunately, even the most sophisticated scheme only works if you comply with its requirements.

An Example of a Failed Attempt

Take the following common approach for example: Mr. X is completely dissatisfied with his own life. He’s one step away from depression and thinks of himself as crap. Not worthy to lead a happy life.

Now X decides to finally do something to improve these conditions, so he informs himself about self improvement. What he finds on one of the websites he browsed is the following method:

“Say out loud that you love yourself and your life. Do this every morning just after getting out of bed. This will result in higher self-esteem and a more positive attitude.”

Alright, X applies the method. He does exactly what was said on the website. But he gets strange results, because this is what happens: He slips right into depression. His self-esteem is as low as it can be. How could something like this happen to him?

It happened because he lied to himself. He might said that he loves his life but in reality he hated it. And that’s what he thought while he recited the words that should improve his life. So basically, he just increased the frequency of negative thoughts instead of creating a positive attitude.

The simple truth is: You can’t lie to yourself. That’s what X didn’t know. You can surely do better than him!

How I Created My Basis

Well, at first I should tell you that my starting point didn’t look all too bad. It all started about one year ago. I liked my life but I just wasn’t completely satisfied with all aspects.

That’s why I began to read a lot about self development and psychology. (Some of the books I found to be especially useful are listed on the page Resources.)

Some months ago I began to think a lot about my own life. About the goals I want to reach and about who I am. I’m not talking about this kind of daydreaming here. I sat down in front of my computer and concentrated on some basic questions while I wrote down every thought I considered to be important. This thinking process lead to some nice insights.

Now I’m still developing. Still thinking and gathering new information. The next step I need to take is going from theory to practice.

I can’t tell you how my life goes on but the quality of my life already improved and I feel that it’s still improving. So my approach worked for me. Still, I don’t want you to just copy what I did. Because my approach will not work for anyone.

Maybe you got a slight idea on how a successful self development attempt can look like. An attempt that came from within. Now it’s up to you whether you make use of this information or not. Just remember to go your own way.