Personal growth: Desiring what we have not yet earned April 11, 2018
Posted by Dennis Mellersh in personal development ideas.Tags: Confucius, David Hinton, inspiration, life, personal development ideas, philosophy, psychology, self-actualization, The Four Chinese Classics, writing
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If we have not yet been promoted to the job we want, if we can’t seem to reach the goal we are working on, if our life in general is not all that we want it to be, if we are generally dissatisfied with the progress we are making in our personal growth goals, Confucius reminds us that perhaps we need to invest more effort into what we seek.
Confucius in the Analects:
“The Master said, ‘Don’t worry if you have no position: worry about making yourself worthy of one. Don’t worry if you aren’t known and admired: devote yourself to a life that deserves admiration.’” (1)
(1) As translated by David Hinton in his book, The Four Chinese Classics
Personal growth paradox: A new program may not be better April 11, 2018
Posted by Dennis Mellersh in personal development ideas.Tags: achieving goals, inspiration, life, personal development ideas, personal growth program, philosophy, psychology, self-actualization, self-awareness, writing
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In our personal development journey, we will discover an unending parade of new self-improvement books published every year, and it raises the question of whether we are too often seeking the newest idea, switching to the latest shiny object in the self-actualization world instead of focusing on solidifying and developing our current personal programs which we probably have not yet fully explored.
I was struck by this possibility on reading the following promotional blurb on the cover of the book The Happiness Equation: “Dale Carnegie was last century. Steven Covey was last decade. Neil Pasricha is what’s now.”
It’s possible that we often seem to be eager for what’s new in self-actualization because we are looking for quick solutions and subconsciously want to avoid the difficult internal work of sticking with a program.
Seth Godin has written:
“Too often we get trapped believing we need:
Certainty
Quick answers
A guarantee”
Something to think about before we turn to yet another personal growth program and waste our time by starting all over again.
Dennis Mellersh
Personal Development Ideas 