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Personal growth and the attraction of opposites May 27, 2014

Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Goal Setting and Realization, Solving Problems.
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There can be times in our personal growth and development journey when confusion sets in, when the choice of which path to take becomes difficult.

We hear different and often conflicting pieces of advice, suggestions, or ideas – from others, and from our own internal voice.

This does not mean there is something wrong with the methods we are using, or the overall approach we are taking to our self-improvement efforts.

Feeling this way is normal and is a result of the attraction of perhaps equally attractive alternatives.

Having these “dilemmas” is actually what can make the self-development journey interesting, exciting and rewarding.

Mindless, inflexible adherence to one, and one-only, approach to self-actualization can be limiting, unproductive, and yes, boring.
The philosopher Eric Hoffer makes this comment:

“It is the stretched soul that makes music, and souls are stretched by the pull of opposites – opposite bents, tastes, yearnings, loyalties. Where there is no polarity – where energies flow smoothly in one direction, — there will be much doing, but no music.” (1)

(1) Eric Hoffer, Reflections on the Human Condition

How inspirational books can assist our personal growth May 23, 2014

Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Personal Growth Books, Solving Problems.
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Embarking on a journey of personal growth and development often begins with our being in one or more of a number of emotional or life-situation states.

(a) We may be full of confidence and high self-esteem
(b) We may be facing a difficult problem or series of problems in our lives
(c) We may be at a low spot emotionally
(d) We may be generally satisfied with our lives but are looking to move to a higher level of achievement, contribution, and satisfaction

In each of these situational starting points, but particularly when we are facing significant difficulties, inspirational self-improvement books and other media such as DVD’s and videos, can be an important and productive asset in our plan to feel better about ourselves and to thereby have the drive and the energy to realize our life potential.

Effective inspirational media will often give us an emotional lift and bring some light to what may seem to be a dark emotional landscape.

The primary reason inspirational material can help us is that it offers hope – believable hope that positive change is possible within our lives.

Better quality inspiration material will:

(1) Be realistic and plausible and not full of clichés and delusional platitudes
(2) Offer true examples of people overcoming adversity

The best inspirational material will do both of the above as well as provide us with practical action steps that we can take to achieve the improvement we seek in our lives.

Overall, we should allow ourselves to be comforted by words of inspiration; we just need to make sure that we take the necessary action steps to turn inspiration into a personal journey of actual achievement.