What Personal Development is to Me
October 1st, 2007 by Richard CockrumGleb Reys at Personal Development has started a writing project. He put out an open invitation for those who publish in the area of personal development to write about what they mean when they say personal development. This is my contribution to the project.
I’ve been mulling over this post for the past week. On my About page I say this site is about personal development, but if I try to decide what personal development is to me, I can get confused.
From my reading both off line and on, in the most general terms most people think of personal development as creating change in one’s life in a desired direction through changes in one’s behavior.The behavioral changes can be mental or physical. The desired change can be in the material, physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual areas of life. It’s a boring definition.
What’s more, I don’t like it. It doesn’t strike any kind of chord when I say it out loud. I may as well be reading a psychology textbook.
Let’s try again.
In my podcasts I say Shards contains tools to help you build the you that you really are. I’m not really about bringing something new into being, but of allowing that which already exists to shine through. A diamond, when found, is just another rock. Hard, dull, looking like any other crystal. Cut, polished, with all extraneous material removed, it becomes a body of light, its true nature shining through.
If you’re from a Christian background you know Paul’s words
For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face.
In our workaday world, we have not been shaped and polished. In the beginning we see only our surface, with the occasional glint of the true center shining through. With time, with polishing, more and more of who we really are appears. We shed the non-essentials. The dirt, the rough edges are removed. We become the whole we already are. We see face to face.
Technorati Tags: personal development, Gleb Reys
Popularity: 16% [?]
Del.icio.us
reddit
October 2nd, 2007 at 11:18 am
I agree. While some bit of growth goes into the material side of life, doesn’t this serve for the purpose of being a tad more free to pursue the real reasons for being here? Personal growth, from the inside out
October 2nd, 2007 at 11:45 am
That’s the way I look at it, Harveen. We need some things to keep body and soul together comfortably, but after that, the opportunity for choice is all they give us.
Isn’t personal growth always from the inside out?
October 5th, 2007 at 5:51 pm
[…] What Personal Development Is To Me by Rick from Shards of Consciousness […]
October 6th, 2007 at 1:39 am
Hi Rick,
I love this analogy. So glad I discovered your site through Gleb’s PD writing project. Great to see useful and practical tools to help people reach their goals.
S.
October 6th, 2007 at 6:44 am
Thank you for stopping in, Simone.
I’m glad you like the analogy. Writing this for the personal development writing project was a good oppotunity for us to clarify our thinking about what we’re trying to do for ourselves and others. I’m looking forward to more articles like your’s and Tejvan’s.
October 14th, 2007 at 1:56 am
[…] What Personal Development Is To Me by Rick from Shards of Consciousness […]
October 19th, 2007 at 7:40 pm
Great one Richard. To me, this is the simplest definition of PD.
Your article seem to ignite some sparks within me because this
is the whole essence of personal development.
October 19th, 2007 at 11:45 pm
Thank you, Adebola. I’m glad we were able to strike a spark.
March 12th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
[…] What Personal Development Is To Me by Rick from Shards of Consciousness […]
March 19th, 2008 at 4:47 am
personal growth and development…
It was very exciting hearing Marie tell stories of her experiences since The Secret came out. After the overwhelming success of The Secret, it is very encouraging to see how excited Marie is about our project. There is a lot of buzz starting to build o…