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Personal growth planning: Genuine Progress Indicator April 29, 2014

Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Concept of personal development, Planning.
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In our ongoing work on our personal growth and development programs we need to be mindful of the dangers of making strong progress in one area of our improvement program only to have our success in that segment of our plan have a negative effect on other components.

For example, if we are trying to achieve a goal of financial betterment, and as part of that we take on three extra part-time jobs for increased income, we could negatively affect another goal, such as spending more quality time with our family.

This goal versus costs dichotomy has become apparent to governmental financial and fiscal planners in their efforts to reconcile apparent growth in gross domestic product (GDP) figures with costs relating to other factors associated with increased GDP.

To figure out impacts, economists devised the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI).

An example would be comparing real economic growth in manufacturing in a country versus the associated environmental and energy-production and/or transportation infrastructure costs.
Positives in one area have to be calibrated in relation to the negatives in another associated area, in order to get a true picture of genuine progress.

Similarly in our self-improvement efforts, we need  have our own personalized version of a genuine progress indicator.

We can do this by making sure we are aware of the impacts of achieving success in one area compared with possible losses in another.

An example could be: augmenting our personal  educational goal to acquire new skills by taking and paying for numerous seminars and courses, and comparing the costs of this with the negative financial effects produced in another area of our program, such as building up our savings in order to have a financial safety valve for emergencies.

As with most aspects of developing an effective personal growth program, this dichotomy requires using moderation in achieving any particular goal component within our overall personal growth efforts.

How does the concept of personal development work? April 28, 2014

Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Concept of personal development.
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Although practising the concept of personal development does have the ability to transform us, it will not bring instant success in helping to make us a better person.

We can be greatly inspired by some personal growth informational materials, but inspiration is something that has to be fed every day by constantly working the principles of self-improvement.

For the large majority of us, our minds and emotions do not have the capability to absorb and implement an entire personal growth program all at once.

Rather it is a step-by-step process, and as such is much more likely to have staying power for our entire lives than would a formula for instant personal change, if such a formula existed.

We may indeed feel we “have seen the light” on reading, listening to, or watching some outstanding self-improvement materials, but for the light to stay “on” we have to work at it on a steady basis.

It’s something like when we studied for exams in school. If we “cram” the knowledge of a course into our heads the night before the test, we can be sure we will have forgotten most of the material a few days after the exam.

If we study the course study materials over an extended period, however, we are much more likely to retain it.

We refer to the “process” of personal development for a reason – because as a process it is ongoing. It is a journey, not a fast path to our desired destination of personal betterment.

As we learn ways to increase our self-knowledge and self-awareness, we gradually pick up more and more ideas and tools with which to reach our objectives.

Gradually, instance by instance, we start to see the world and our place in that world differently. And we are able to react maturely and positively to challenging situations as they arise, by applying the principles we are absorbing each day in our personal growth work.

Then, when we are faced with a difficult circumstance, we remember an idea we have learned and we then successfully apply that idea to the situation. Our work on personal growth thereby becomes proactive and practical in our daily lives rather than just an abstract concept.