Personal Development Ideas

Using the values sieve for personal growth and development March 30, 2015

By Dennis Mellersh

One of the problems many people face when first tackling a largely self-directed program of personal growth is that of being overwhelmed by the sheer scope of what they think may need to be done.

It can all seem to be “too much” to take on if we assume that our entire personality, behavioural characteristics, and general life habits need to be thrown out the window and replaced with the many elements, and/or key principles  of one or more  programs of  self-improvement.

The difficulty results from having an “all or nothing” approach; from thinking that everything we are doing, or not doing, needs to be changed, modified, or improved.

Maybe it does, but not likely.

A better approach is to realize that you can make choices and that you are probably in better mental and emotional shape than you may realize; otherwise you would not perceive the need for making any changes at all in your life.

You already have the self-knowledge and personal values to take a selective approach to decide what you need to do now, what can wait, and what does not need to be done.

It’s like using a sieve, which can be mechanically defined as a utensil for sorting out a mixture of larger particles from finer or smaller particles. Or in archeology, where a large sieve is often used to separate the valuable artifacts from the debris, gravel, and earth on an archeological site.

Similarly, in the case of personal growth prioritizing, you can use an intellectual sieve, based on your self-knowledge, and emotional and intellectual intelligence to separate immediate, short-term, and long terms goals for your personal improvement efforts.

And, to separate what you need to work on from what you don’t need to work on.