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Setting realistic expectations for personal growth May 12, 2014

Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Concept of personal growth, Goal Setting and Realization.
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One of the troubling and irritating tendencies we see with some personal growth writers and self-improvement philosophers is the idea that the only restrictions on our personal development potential are the limits that we impose on ourselves.

This theory is fine as long as it is meant to encourage us to set ambitious goals, to seek ideals, to do everything in our power to maximize our improvement efforts.

But the idea that there are absolutely no limits is flawed.

To tell people that anything is possible as long we set our hearts on it, work hard, and have faith, is to essentially be promoting an alternate universe of non-reality.

If taken to heart the “no limits” theory could damage our self-esteem and jeopardize our entire personal growth program.

We can have strong self-esteem and confidence in our ability to overcome obstacles, but if our goals are not realistic we are opening ourselves up to discouragement and eventual failure with our program.

Realistic goals + hard work = success and encouragement to do more

Unrealistic goals + hard work = failure and discouragement of further effort

The take-away

It’s not always that something is absolutely impossible.

It’s just that it might not be possible for us in our particular circumstances.

To be able to recognize the difference is an important part of progress in our personal growth efforts.

When to start planning your personal growth program May 8, 2014

Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Concept of personal development, Goal Setting and Realization.
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When we first begin to get involved in the concept of self-improvement, the temptation is to immediately start developing formal plan.

This can be a mistake; or at least, premature.

The quest for a plan assumes that, of all the plans or templates available, one is as good as another.

Or the assumption is that a particular standardized approach to self-improvement will work for each of us equally well.

However, we need to remember that we each have different personalities, different lifestyles, and different life situations.

That being the case, a “cookie-cutter” program plan or template (one size fits all) is not likely to maximize our potential in our search for betterment in our lives.

Before we can adopt a plan that will truly meet our needs as distinct individuals, we need to study and absorb a lot of information from a variety of sources and experts on personal growth.

We need to increase our self-knowledge and self-awareness as to which aspects of the discipline of personal growth we need to pay the most attention to.

Once we have an idea of what our real needs are, once we have prioritized what aspects we should focus on, then we can better develop a personalized plan that will have a realistic chance of meeting our goals and objectives for improvement.

As with any effort towards tackling a complex problem, we need to first do the research and only then set down a step-by-step approach for achieving solutions.