Categories of Self Improvement
- Physical Fitness
- Health
- Skill Development: Creative Skills
- Skill Development: Life Skills
- Skill Development: Mental Skills
- Skill Development: Physical Skills
- Skill Development: Social Skills
– Drawing
– Graphic Design
– Music
– Photography
– Writing
– Software Development
– Website Development
– Action Management
– Information Management
– Critical Thinking
– Decision Making
– Languages
– Optimism
– Problem Solving
– Dancing
– Hiking and Camping
– Martial Arts
– Parkour
– Rock Climbing
– Motorcycling
– Mountaineering
– Yoga
– Conversation
– Body Language
– Dating
– Relationships
Ways to be more effective at achieving self improvement goals:
– Measure progress (as in a workout log)
– Plan effort (as in a workout log)
– Have regularly scheduled, finite times to work on goal (i.e. workouts)
– Have a strong belief that the process will produce the desired results
– Have a clear vision of the desired results
– Have a strong desire for the results
Be willing to do things badly at first. Allow yourself to make multiple passes at getting something right. Like overlays in drawing or versions in files.
Some people say, “Climbing mountains is difficult and dangerous, why would you want to do that?” But it’s because it’s difficult and dangerous that people want to do it. They want to prove to themselves that they can do difficult and dangerous things.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_development
Date: 09-May-2013
At the level of the individual, personal development includes the following activities:
improving self-awareness
improving self-knowledge
building or renewing identity
developing strengths or talents
improving wealth
spiritual development
identifying or improving potential
building employability or human capital
enhancing lifestyle or the quality of life
improving health
fulfilling aspirations
initiating a life enterprise or personal autonomy
defining and executing personal development plans
improving social abilities
Origins
Major religions, such as the Abrahamic and Indian religions, as well as New Age philosophies, have used practices such as prayer, music, dance, singing, chanting, poetry, writing, sports and martial arts. These practices have various functions, such as health or aesthetic satisfaction, but they may also link to “final goals” of personal development such as discovering the meaning of life or living a good life.
Michel Foucault describes in Care of the Self the techniques of epimelia used in ancient Greece and Rome, which included dieting, exercise, sexual abstinence, contemplation, prayer and confession — some of which also became important practices within different branches of Christianity. In yoga, a discipline originating in India, possibly over 3000 years ago, personal-development techniques include meditation, rhythmic breathing, stretching and postures. Wushu and T’ai Chi Ch’uan utilise traditional Chinese techniques, including breathing and energy exercises, meditation, martial arts, as well as practices linked to traditional Chinese medicine, such as dieting, massage and acupuncture.
Two individual ancient philosophers stand out as major sources of what has become personal development in the 21st century, representing a Western tradition and an East Asian tradition.
Aristotle and the Western tradition
The Greek philosopher Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) influenced theories of personal development in the West. In his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle defined personal development as a category of phronesis or practical wisdom, where the practice of virtues (arête) leads to eudaimonia, commonly translated as “happiness” but more accurately understood as “human flourishing” or “living well”. Aristotle continues to influence the Western concept of personal development to this day, particularly in the economics of human development and in positive psychology.
Confucius and the East Asian tradition
In Chinese tradition, Confucius (around 551 BC – 479 BC) founded an ongoing philosophy. His ideas continue to influence family values, education and management in China and East Asia. In his Great Learning, Confucius wrote:
The ancients who wished to illustrate illustrious virtue throughout the kingdom, first ordered well their own states. Wishing to order well their states, they first regulated their families. Wishing to regulate their families, they first cultivated their persons. Wishing to cultivate their persons, they first rectified their hearts. Wishing to rectify their hearts, they first sought to be sincere in their thoughts. Wishing to be sincere in their thoughts, they first extended to the utmost their knowledge. Such extension of knowledge lay in the investigation of things.