Be Careful with Self Development
Self Development is a path full of ups, downs and new experiences that we have not dealt with before.
I was watching a news report on people who have gone through psychotic episodes and died after going through self development courses, which reminds of a message I should give to everyone undertaking work on themselves.
Learn how to see and understand yourself first.
While I would be stupid to say I know what goes through peoples minds I do know how easy it is for one thought to lead to the next and snowball into obsession or worse.
If you cannot keep track of your thoughts and emotions then you should not be trying to manipulate them.
When you begin working away at yourself to resolve issues and improve yourself, you become a lot more open. With this freedom you have to also take on more responsibility to actively look after yourself.
If you tear down a bunch of resisting thoughts and emotions that stop you from expressing your opinions then you have have to replace them with an awareness that evaluates what you are going to say and do.
Tearing away your defenses should not be done if you have no plan as to how to manage the new found space.
Whenever psychological space is created it gets filled with something different, you must be able to watch and be aware of what it is, lest you be swept away by a whirlwind.
So watch yourself. Discover how the mind and the emotions work within you, how they come, go and interact with each other.
I would like to hear how other people prepare themselves to work on themselves.
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September 1st, 2009 at 7:53 pm
Good stuff. I think one of the most important things is turn an inner-critic into an inner-coach.
September 2nd, 2009 at 1:35 pm
Very informative article. You are right that we should be prepared from within before going any course for self development.
Thank you for this post. Keep it up!
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:32 pm
@JD. Meier: An inner-coach, interesting viewpoint.
@CFSD: Preparation is key right. I guess it must be hard for people just starting out to know how to be prepared when they are searching for how to improve themselves.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:20 pm
“Discover how the mind and the emotions work within you, how they come, go and interact with each other.”
However, here’s some food for thought:
How do we discover how our minds and emotions work within us when we are being controlled and influenced by our minds and emotions in the first place?
Can someone enlighten me on this?
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Oh my gosh — for the news report.
Besides that, I prepare myself by just planning what to get done tomorrow, and then prepare for it today. So when tomorrow comes, I’ll just get that done up and… voila! Stress-free productivity.
In fact, I’m sharing my thoughts and how I’m working on my own development through the blog (which you’ve commented on *smiles*). So yeps!
September 4th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
I totally agree with what you said. A lot of self-development gets you to take action by making you dissatisfied with your current situation in life.
This can be very dangerous!
September 5th, 2009 at 2:31 am
Self development is something to be taking in stride. Making daily steps is the only way to can truly succeed at this. Don’t just jump into it first. Soak up the information and allow your mind to process this new info. Then start to do one thing at a time before taking on major obstacles.
September 5th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
@CueZee: “How do we discover how our minds and emotions work within us when we are being controlled and influenced by our minds and emotions in the first place?”
Sit and have a look for yourself. Dare I say don’t use the mind to look at it. You will only find some sort of enlightenment through your own efforts.
@Daniel Richard: Keep your feet on the ground indeed.
September 6th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
@Kaizan: It would be nice to first learn the roots of what dissatisfaction is indeed.
@jonathanfigaro: I know when I first started I jumped in head first, fortunately the angle I happen to come in was one where the focus was very strongly on self-observation.
September 8th, 2009 at 6:51 am
Good thoughts Jarrod. Ahh the power of replacement! Just like when we get a song stuck in our head, if we want to replace it, we’re going to have to play another song. When we cleanse our unhelpful thoughts we have to also choose what thoughts will replace them. When I teach students to identify thinking errors, I also teach them to correct the error with an accurate statement. Even deeper, I think it’s most important to identify damaging beliefs and replace them with accurate belief systems.
September 8th, 2009 at 9:21 am
@Jennifer: I like your emphasis on getting in accurate systems (whether thoughts or beliefs). Sometimes the most accurate thought is the one that says you don’t have enough information to be accurate at all.
September 8th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
being stagnant in whatever field you are into is not a good thing to put in mind. everyone needs to grow in order to improve in the state of life, mind, and everything as a whole. and i agree that the very step to do about it is to know yourself first. after that, growth will flow naturally. thank you for posting such wonderful testimony and sharing this page to everyone. i really love to read articles such as these. it gives me a lot of insights. your page is really great. God bless.
September 9th, 2009 at 3:02 am
Jarrod, Exactly. We can jump to conclusions about things we have no proof for or we can just admit we don’t know what happened, what someone is thinking or why someone did what they did.