Free your mind and your a$$ will follow

 

I got a request to talk about the importance of Personal-development. If one cares enough for himself and of making sense of this mortal life, he'll work on himself till he draws his last breath.
For me personally, there's no greater joy than handling my stuff on my own. Taking responsibility for my actions, reaching goals and questioning external and internal boundaries.

" Personal development covers activities that improve awareness and identity, develop talents and potential. Build human capital and facilitate employability, enhance the quality of life and contribute to the realization of dreams and aspirations."

That's straight out of the book what P.D. is and how important it is for every human being to work on himself. I am not going to give you steps you can follow to develop yourself. There's out there plenty of material from people with outstanding background in this field. I'll give you some references but I'm just going to talk about my view and how i'm working on myself. Maybe it will give you a hint or a clearer vision.

Personal development is a pact you form with yourself, saying " HEY! I know we're weak and fragile but we'll build ourselves a pyramid, one that can withstand anything life throws at it".
That's how life acknowledge your presence in a sense. It's a cruel existence for sure, life throws you randomly in a poor family or with a fucked up parents.
We all get a bite of that. You have to chew it up, get a grip of yourself and move on.

I had my fair chair of doubt, misery and pathetic existential crises. Feeling cornered and suffocating, not wanting to leave bed, nor be part of a society i deemed unfit for fruitful living.
You feel like you're misunderstood in every possible way. That you are better than most men and anger starts to manifest itself.
At that point i knew my thoughts are clouded and i wanted to see the light.

An introverted ass, a conscious mind and a genetic desire for greatness made me leave all of that behind and build a life for myself.

I used to say i achieved nothing in life and I'm working toward big dreams. But that thought is in the backyard of my mind now with all the ideas that i had to reconsider. Which takes me to the idea of being open to change of mind.
Now i live day by day, comparing myself to the day before and adding up a brick after another to my pyramid.

I made no great things in life, but I'm proud of the person i am today, i accept my defects and work on them. I grew aware of the righteous voice inside my head. You know that voice that tells you what you should and shouldn't do, but for some reason you keep ignoring it and regretting it every time.


It is unsettled, when i try to figure out how i got here, i would get back to my childhood and the discipline that my father engraved in me since the age of four when he put me in a swimming club. Constantly preparing for
competitions, waking up early for morning prayer and returning home everyday for 8 years after 10PM.
That seemed like the most logical explanation. But when i look at my brother that shared with me that childhood and who Later in life turned sideways and couldn't make a sense of his life. I would reconsider that idea.

"You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one."
I really love this quote, I'm a strong believer in having a character of your own. In my perspective this is my only way through life. Not blindly following ideologies culture and dogmatic belief systems.

A Professor named Jordan Peterson once said in an interview with a journalist if i recall correctly" Where's you in all of this? it's like you're not here,
i can replace you with someone else with the same ideology and nothing will change. it's boring when i can anticipate every word coming out of your mouth.".
Those words touched the bottom of my heart and i felt an urgent need to study and contribute. That's the way i feel with every great person i encounter in life, they teach me gratitude and humbleness among other things.

I wanna leave you with lyrics of a song called " good thoughts and bad thoughts"  inspired by a book called " as a man thinketh" by James Allen.
I listened countless times to this song until the lyrics got stuck in my head.

Travel like a king
Listen to the inner voice
A higher wisdom is at work for you
Conquering the stumbling blocks come easier
When the conqueror is in tune with the infinite
Every ending is a new beginning
Life is an endless unfoldment
Change your mind, and you change your relation to time

You can find the answer
The solution lies within the problem
The answer is in every question
Dig it?
An attitude is all you need to rise and walk away
Inspire yourself
Your life is yours
It fits you like your skin

The oak sleeps in the acorn
The giant sequoia tree sleeps in its tiny seed
The bird waits in the egg
God waits for his unfoldment in man
Fly on, children
Play on

You gravitate to that which you secretly love most
You meet in life the exact reproduction of your own thoughts
There is no chance, coincidence or accident
In a world ruled by law and divine order
You rise as high as your dominant aspiration
You descend to the level of your lowest concept of your self
Free your mind and your ass will follow

The book by Alan James is a fast read, i advise you to read it. It's free and kinda poetic. Alan would go meditating everyday and write stuff. What a wonderful man.

I believe that this eternal battle with oneself is the most virtuous thing we can have as human beings.