Many people are familiar with the term Personal Development yet we’re somewhat unfamiliar with what it actually means. Consider framing Personal Development as simply ‘becoming better’.
It can be tricky trying to determine what the appropriate personal goals are in order to become better. Simon Sinek, marketing and personal development guru often states “Start with Why”, however, from my perspective we really must identify the what. Becoming better requires you to have an honest conversation with yourself and ask what needs to change. For me, I simply consider it talking to the best version of myself.
Engaging in this practice, perhaps once per week, once per few days or even daily, can begin the process to reorient yourself and your life. It isn’t about having grand goals and visions to begin with though those can be motivating. It is about learning how to impose order on the bits of chaos within your own life. The bits that you aren’t in control of have negative consequences for you right now, you in two months, you in ten years, or even those around you across many timelines.
Consider trying this: Sit on the edge of your bed each morning and simply ask yourself “Will my life be any different to what it is this morning if I keep doing exactly what I’m doing, every single day?”.
Personal Development is the act of addressing the things that are in need of repair or organization. These adjustments can be made to your environment or could pertain to aspects of self. Perhaps it is your physical health, mental health, communication skills, ability to resolve conflict rather than engage in argumentative debate. It could be your physical environment; your desk, your room, your car, your home, your neighborhood… It could even be the people around you. When you identify any single thing that you could tackle and impose order on, you start to become a force against the chaos of your own lives. When we address all of the little things that disorient our forward progress as a human, something amazing happens. We find ourselves on neutral ground for life, and from there, that is where we can truly launch. We can stumble across passion.
Passion is often found in pursuit at both a philosophical neurochemical level. When we are in pursuit of something, typically a goal, we evoke the neuromodulator ‘Dopamine’. Dopamine underpins passion because it regulates our level of ‘voluntary willingness to pursue that which we don’t already have’.
So, if you want to find your passion, start with becoming better. As you work on yourself, the things that draw your interest most will announce themselves. In order to become better start with “what” needs to change, then figure out your why.
By Matthew Peacock
