Do you know what personal development really is? Do you want to know what it implies and how to apply it in your life?
If there are aspects of your life that you would like to change or you want to improve on something to achieve a greater sense of Y emotionally, understanding what and how personal development is achieved will help you empower it to achieve your dreams and aspirations.
Do you like what you see in your life? The starting point of this podcast taken from a conference by Enric Corbera is a reflective question that does not expect an answer and that arises from a superior premise: The life we see is the reflection of our interior.
In this video, taken from a reinforcement class carried out for our “alumni” continuous learning community, David Corbera shares some reflections and keys to strengthen one of the fundamental skills for personal development: Self-concept.
Personal development: do we really know what it is?
Also known as personal growth or human development, it is defined as an improvement process that helps us acquire and enhance the necessary resources to achieve our vital objectives. This definition can lead us to believe that it is a procedure through which we learn certain techniques and skills that will lead us to be a successful person.
Thus, frequently, personal development is seen as training to become something that we are not in reality, generating more frustration and discomfort because we move further and further away from ourselves.
If you start from the question “Who do I want to be?”, any attempt at self-improvement will actually be a process of change oriented towards the external, which is not attending to the root of what we are and, therefore, will not be effective or lasting.
A true development process only occurs when we start from the question “Who am I?”.
What is the true meaning of personal development?
The word “development” is made up of the prefix “des-“, which indicates the investment of an action, and the verb “roll up”. Thus, development is the unfolding or unfolding of an idea, a society or a person, according to the potential possibilities it has.
Describes the action of carrying out the potential of being and reaching the fullness of possibilities. In the case of personal development, it leads us to be more and more ourselves, not something else.
Also, the word “personal” comes from “person”. According to Jung, the archetype of the “Person” represents the part of ourselves that we show, that is, our public image, also called . It is important not to confuse personal development with the beautification of the mask, be it with university degrees, physical changes, behaviors, etc.
Perfecting the image that we show is an outward-oriented process that moves us away from who we are, while personal growth implies an inward movement that leads us to be more authentic, more ourselves.
Then, what is personal development? It is the process through which you discover and unfold all those parts of yourself that you have been leaving behind, allowing them to manifest and choosing which facets are most appropriate in each context.
How does personal development occur?
It is a continuous non-linear process, in which learning is carried out and the different resources that each stage of life requires to continue advancing are developed. In this journey there is nothing right or wrong, but more or less adaptive.
For example, it is natural and evolutionary to cry when you are hungry when you are a baby, to obey adults when you are 10 years old or to be rebellious during adolescence; however none of these behaviors is adaptive in adulthood.
«All behavior, whether it is an act deployed externally, or internalized in thought, appears as an adaptation or, better said, as a readaptation»
jean piaget
Each stage invites us to continue deepening who we are and it is important to understand what personal development really is, since it implies an internal movement aimed at expanding our field of consciousness. Imagine a rose bush planted in a small pot; at first it grows, gives flowers and is healthy.
But it continues to grow and there comes a time when its leaves lose color, fall off and its flowers are fewer and smaller. What do we do? We can paint the leaves or add a lot of chemical fertilizers – beautify the mask – but if we don’t give it more room for its roots to expand, it won’t be able to continue growing healthily.
In the same way, we need to expand our field of consciousness, which would be our “pot”, to continue growing.
In the words of writer T. Harv Eker “If you want to change the fruits, you will first have to change the roots. If you want to change the visible, you must first change the invisible.”
Personal development and BioneuroemotionⓇ
Bioneuroemotion conceives personal development not as the cause, but as the consequence of the increase in our level of consciousness. For this reason, behaviors are not taught, but rather tools to transform any experience into an opportunity to get to know oneself and .
We understand that the process of personal growth is inherent to life, it can happen at any time, in any place and through every experience.
Conflict always implies individual development for the prepared mind.
However, there are certain attitudes that can block it, such as the search for comfort, conformism, attributing to others the cause of what happens to us, and a series of unconscious conditionings that hinder our development.
In order to evolve, it is essential, in every difficult situation, to stop hoping that other people will change and resume your responsability, that is, your ability to respond to the circumstances that generate stress for you.
This ability arises by not projecting the cause of what happens to you outside, that is, by applying unity consciousness, understanding that everything that surrounds you has to do with you.
This attitude takes you away from and from victimhood, it allows you to get to know yourself in depth, identify and overcome your blocks and, ultimately, take back the reins of your life. A) Yes, each interaction is inexorably transformed into significant learning for your evolution.
“You can choose to go back to safety or move towards growth. Growth must be chosen over and over again.”
abraham maslow
Assuming our responsibility allows us to self-manage our emotional states, transform problems into learning, boost our personal development and, ultimately, feel more fulfilled and fulfilled.
An anecdote between the well-known psychoanalyst and his student Carl Jung says that the former asked the latter: “Could you tell me what happiness is?” Ten years passed before he had an answer, and it was: —Happiness is consciousness of evolution. That is, knowing and feeling that you are moving in the right direction.
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