Are You Really Serious About Personal Development in 2018?

We can talk about how lit 2018 is going to be from now until tomorrow, but talk is cheap. Unless we take deliberate steps, 2018 will not be significantly better than 2017. In fact, “Happy New Year” begins now. If you’re really serious about developing yourself, there is one commitment you must make and keep: a commitment to lifelong learning. When it comes to education and success, there are 2 major misconceptions; first, that education is not necessary, and second that it refers only to school certificates and degrees. The truth is that it is important to learn about success from those who have achieved it, and whether it happens in or outside of a classroom, apply yourself to learning all the same. Personal development requires you to be deliberate about learning. Successful professionals know this. You need to keep studying, brainstorming and discussing new ideas. Successful people are lifelong learners. They understand that education isn’t limited to the classroom. Consider reading, for instance. Some highly successful people never got round to earning a degree, but they have read countless books on their industry. Education is not all about paper qualifications. Reading is one of the most helpful practices a person headed for success can engage in. From books and magazines, to blogs and websites, reading is one way many of the world’s most successful people educate themselves. Even in entrepreneurship, reading can be extremely valuable. For instance, you may have a passion but be unable to see how it’s a business idea, or how to get people to pay you for it, but when you embrace reading, you can work out a way to turn your passion into profit. Real estate tycoon Udo Okonjo has experienced the life-changing power of books. “More than 10 years ago, I was broke, struggling as a regular professional, and by grace laid my hands on some books, one of which changed the cause of my life. After reading it, I made the equivalent of $100,000/N15m in one transaction, just by following that idea (concept) in the book,” she says. The level of growth and freedom you can achieve is directly related to the information and knowledge you have access to or go after. What specific knowledge do you need to take you from average and regular, to phenomenal and extraordinary? You can learn from social media. Start searching for and making a list of people to follow on social media that you can learn from and be inspired by. You can also learn from good podcasts. Then there’s YouTube. Oh my goodness, it’s a school on there! If you’re using YouTube only for entertainment, you’re not maximizing it at all! Whatever field or industry you’re in, whatever you want to succeed at, there are people teaching and sharing how they did it, via YouTube videos. Learn from seminars and webinars. If you select the right ones you will come away with incredible knowledge which, if applied, can change your life. So, whether you choose to go back to the class or not, the bottom line is, never stop learning. Books, seminars, courses, motivational audio materials and blogs abound. Even the Twitter timelines of respected professionals in your field are treasure troves. Have you added them to lists yet? You owe it to yourself to constantly upgrade. That’s how you can make 2018 truly your year.         Featured Image Credit: Pixabay

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This article was first published on 27th December 2017

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