Personal Development For Success. What Are The Alternatives?

By Peter Stephenson

Individual growth as a young person is what I mean by Personal Development. It includes developing one's character, and acquiring skills and know-how. Also it covers how we all mature educationally, in our careers, and in our private lives.

Understandably, the influence we receive from our parents, socially, at school and in later education, all has a significant impact on Personal Development. The bottom line however is self effort. A swimmer can be provided with the best coaches, but races will not be won until they have trained long and hard, and are self motivated to take the gold medal.

Individual growth in terms of one's character, and in terms of one's skills, represent two important components of Personal Development. And the third is about the growth of self inspiration to achieve. Most of us when we are young, develop personally in a Conventional manner.

This assumes the pretty standard sequencing of school, college and maybe university. Also it assumes several interests and activities outside of academia. In my study of 100 successful people who were world famous, 52% presented themselves as Conventional young people.

Others of us, engage in Personal Development which is more Specialized. Examples include being a good singer or sportsperson. In such cases our parents may have committed and motivated us to develop such gifts in a forthright manner, at the same time allowing us to opt out of the educational system when still quite young.

Other Specialized forms of personal development include pursuing vocations, apprenticeships or trades while still young. So developing personally in a Specialized manner, can embrace many alternatives. In researching the patterns of success behind famous people in the world, I found 24% of them were Specialized, as youngsters.

But Personal Development does not stop at just being Conventional or Specialized. It can also include Broad Life Experience when young. This again means we leave the more normal form of education, early.

With Broad Life Experience, young people pursue their own lives, wherever this takes them. This is how they learn and acquire capability, in other words by being involved on the ground in different walks of life. This also comes about by watching other people and life happenings all around them.

So this is very hands on and focuses on reality, rather than on life discovery from a book. May call this reality university, although others may regret they did not complete advanced academic study. Of the successful people I studied, 24% engaged in Personal Development as young people, through Broad Life Experience.

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