6 Common Myths In Self-Growth & Personal Development

Hi there everyone!!

Mythology can be intriguing to study. The stories that are portrayed in myths may be fictional, but there is usually some truth that has allowed the story to be passed down from generation to generation. That's what "myths" are -- they are not completely true or completely false. Here we will discuss the true and false elements of common myths in personal development.

Myth #1: Personal development is all just about positive thinking.

Positive thinking is a component of personal development. For some, it's a big component, for others, it's not an important component at all. In fact, some paradigms of personal development teach us to think critically, radically, and negatively, depending on our circumstances. Personal development does not try to make us be a certain way. More than all of that, personal development allows us to control our way of being -- whatever way of being we choose.

Myth #2: The motivation doesn't last.

That's true. We eventually have to be self-motivated. Fact is, however, some of us are not self-motivated. So getting temporarily motivated by something or someone else is the first step towards becoming self-motivated. Sometimes, that's just the nudge we need to get ourselves into action. Personal development programs teach various methodologies on becoming self-motivated.

Myth #3: Personal development doesn't work for everybody.

Just because something doesn't work for everybody, doesn't mean that it won't work for us or that we should dismiss it for ourselves. Many things don't work for everybody. Diets don't work for everybody . . . Investing doesn't work for everybody . . . But the some/few people they do work for, they work for beautifully. We can only know whether something truly works for us, if we've sincerely given it a try.

Myth #4: Most people can't change very much, after so many years of conditioning and habit.

It doesn't matter how "much" we can change. Sometimes the smallest changes can have the biggest influences on the quality of our lives. The idea of personal development isn't necessarily to change our conditioning . . . It is to realize our conditioning, be conscious of it, and to use it in a way that is empowering for us.

Myth #5: All personal development programs are essentially sharing the same common-sense "truth."

Massive amounts of wisdom and knowledge are mirrored throughout the personal development industry. And that's great. We learn not only by knowing the truth, we also learn by experiencing the truth from many different perspectives. The reason common sense is not common is because everybody's "truth" is different. If there's any foundation to personal development, I believe it's the willingness to understand somebody else's truth.

The study of personal development is so vast because the depth to any truth is infinite. Any progress we make in uncovering a truth for ourselves, that enriches our lives in any way, is personal development. As Dexter Yager says, "You've got to learn to study things -- not see things the way they are, but see the truth behind what you're seeing."

Myth #6: The benefits are not worth the effort.

How do we know whether the benefits will be worth the effort, for anything in life? Think about spirituality, think about relationships. How do we know when we've put enough effort into something? Even from a financial perspective (which is more easily measurable) we may see business people lose money for several years before they turn a profit. How do they know that the benefits will be worth their effort if the majority of businesses go bankrupt within the first five years?

Is it worth it? Is your life worth it? Will personal development work for you? Those are questions only you can answer for yourself.

Let's love the world together...

Love,
[)anish /|hmed, blind visionary

3 Powerful Reasons Why You SHOULD Procrastinate Now!

Hi there everyone!!

We are so overloaded with information today that we sometimes tend to generalize everything we learn. From the foundational book, The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peel, some people have generalized personal development to be “thinking positive all the time.” That simply isn’t true. Similarly, the notion that procrastination is to be avoided at all costs, is another glorified fallacy.

Yes, there are many times when procrastination causes us undue stress, prolongs the inevitable, or negatively affects our productivity. There are also times when procrastinating can be a blessing, a productivity-booster, or even a necessity. Yes, you heard me right. Let me explain - here are three scenarios in which it is good to procrastinate.

1. Being in a bad state.

A bad state is a physical or emotional place where you cannot be very effective. That is, we feel over-stressed, overloaded, or physically exhausted. As an example, if we are in a depressed state about our finances, then the last thing we should do is our taxes. In this state, we would do a horrible job! We would naturally be pessimistic and wouldn’t look for all the possible ways we could save money. We should procrastinate until we are in a better mood and can do a better job. It would be better to do a good job later than a bad job now.

2. Having little else to do.

If we’re in a place of completing almost everything on our to-do list or having a pretty empty schedule in the near future, then perhaps we should procrastinate the one or two things that are left. Let’s reward ourselves with procrastination!! You’re probably not in this situation very often, so when you are, feel good about it. Procrastinate now, rather than procrastinating when you have a million things to do. There’s a time and place for everything - and this is a good time for procrastinating.

Why does procrastinating in this situation work? Let’s suppose we complete everything. Now, we feel accomplished for a moment. Then, all of a sudden, our subconscious mind asks “what’s next?” We may then feel unproductive, unnecessarily question our overall direction, or nit-pick at things that have already been done. Instead, if we procrastinate the tasks at hand until we have at least several things to do, then we’ll naturally be more excited, eager, and consequently, effective in completing the tasks.

3. Delegation ability.

Ever wonder how sometimes we procrastinate, and then find that the job got done by someone else, or that it didn’t need to be done at all? That’s because our subconscious knows the universe better than our conscious mind does! The trick is, when to trust our subconscious, and when not to fall pray to its tricks. We naturally want to procrastinate things that we don’t really like doing. So, the question to ask is, “can this task be delegated to someone else?” If so, delegate it! We should strive to do the things we love to do, and not fall into guilt tactics about procrastinating. The procrastination is a sign - and we must learn to use such signs to take appropriate actions. Another question to ask in this scenario is, “What will happen if this task never gets done?” Sometimes, we think we’re procrastinating, when in fact we’re waiting to get more information to make a decision on whether something should be done or not.

There are probably other scenarios in which procrastinating makes sense. The world isn’t black-and-white, and when we live life as if it was black-and white, we find ourselves feeling guilty, unhappy, and unfulfilled. There is a time and place for procrastination. Don’t live by other people’s generalizations. Discover what strategies work for you - and live by your strategies.

Let's love the world together...

Love,
[)anish /|hmed, blind visionary