Continuous personal development - a manifesto
The road to here
I believe that life is not about time passing, but about building and developing something.
Look at where you are today. What stages you have reached, what successes you have achieved, what you have built up, what you have learned and what nonsense you have already left behind. All of this shows you are constantly improving, finding good solutions, and moving forward. At least that is what you have done in the past.
In the first half of our lives, this constant progress is by no means effortless, but almost inevitable. The second half of our lives is different: we could actually get through quite well just sitting on what we have achieved – without building up any more, without developing any further.
However, I believe it is very important to continue on this path: to keep climbing and to reach new heights.
Start where you are now
I believe that building and reaching new levels is not primarily about setting and achieving goals.
Instead, it is about maintaining a general attitude and culture of building and improving. It is not about the point we want to reach, but about the point at which we start. The focus is not on what big goals we might achieve in the distant future, but on the circumstances of our lives today: which direction we want to take, and what concrete steps we can take today to get moving.
This is the path
In doing so, we strive to
- solve problems,
- have freedom of action and movement,
- become better ourselves, be greater,
- have everything we need (being rich in money, and beautiful things), improve our living conditions (to put ourselves in a better situation), have a good life and not be bothered by the bad.
If we strive for this continuously, take it seriously and repeatedly achieve notable successes, then, I think, we are moving in the right direction. As is so often the case, asking the right questions is a good first step.
You will find a selection of right questions in the next paragraph. They are divided into a part “to zero”, which is about getting rid of the bullshit, and a part “from zero”, which is about winning over the wonderful.
The questions
Take some time, find a quiet place that allows you to look through a window into the distance. Make yourself a hot drink, sit comfortably. And then start and ask yourself:
To zero: What is bad? And how can I get away from it?
- What are you bad at today, what is holding you back?
- What problems are you running into again and again? Where does it hurt? What annoys you and ruins your days?
- What dangers and insecurities are spoiling your everyday life?
- What parts of life are you currently not happy with? Where does your life feel cramped and unfree?
- What habits do you have that are bad for you and that you are ashamed of?
From zero: What would be great? And how can I achieve it?
- When you close your eyes and imagine that you are better and everything is fine, what exactly do you see? What would be better than this?
- What do you miss today? What do you wish for?
- What achievement, or which place to be in, would make you feel bigger, stronger and more experienced than you do today?
- What good habits could you cultivate that would make you stronger, healthier, more alive and proud?
- What mountain would you like to climb, what stage would you like to reach – what adventure have you been putting off for too long?
Now you see it
The answers to these questions as a whole paint a beautiful picture: how it should be, how it could be, what we want it to be. Sometimes I see this picture in front of me: the whole, complete, fully developed, excellently functioning, calm, perfectly peaceful, majestically sublime, you name it. And I believe that I rather belong there than in a mediocre, compromise-filled everyday life.
That’s why we are the ones who solve problems. Who reach the next level. Who break bad habits and establish good ones. Who implement a plan and realize the dream. And support each other in all of this.