Personal Development Ideas

Personal development: Trusting our natural abilities April 21, 2014

The concept of personal growth does not necessarily mean that we have to improve virtually every area of our lives and personalities.

Each of us unique talents and abilities, and these strengths may be solid enough, without significant improvement, to serve as a strong foundation for our overall program.

A few examples of innate strengths

• We may have a strong sense of compassion, a quality which can help us in our efforts to build better relationships
• Our self-knowledge may already be well developed, and we can use this attribute to help us make decisions on which of our personality characteristics may need more work
• If we have good self-esteem we have an effective tool to help us avoid discouragement with the inevitable slow spots or bumps in our self-improvement efforts
• If we are analytical and logical in our approach to problems, we can use this characteristic in the difficult challenge of learning to manage our emotions
• If we have a strong sense of purpose, we can use that skill to better identify goals and be consistent in our pursuit of achieving them

To move forward with energy in our self-actualization efforts, we should trust in these collective capabilities because, combined with a positive mental outlook, they can help us achieve success.

Don Juan Matus, in one of his “conversations” with Carlos Castaneda commented, “Trust your personal power. That’s all one has in this whole mysterious world.”

Then speaking of the warrior class, he added, “A warrior is impeccable when he trusts his personal power regardless of whether it is small or enormous.” (1)

(1) Journey to Ixtlan: The Lessons of Don Juan, Carlos Castaneda,  Washington Square Press, Pocket Books, New York, 1974, pp. 167-168