I have been a student of personal development for over 30 years. It is something we must take PERSONAL responsibility to commit to, in order to get the results we are seeking. I attribute 100% of my success as an entrepreneur, and my success in my personal life to what I have learned through my commitment to studying personal development. Successful entrepreneurs must development the very specific mindset that creates success. It is very different than how employees think, but, it is something that anyone with the willingness to learn can develop.
I became an entrepreneur 30 years ago to be home with our infant children. I knew nothing about being an entrepreneur, or, the mindset necessary. I learned and I studied successful people and started applying what I learned to my own business. I started out as an entrepreneur simply because I wanted to be home with our children as they grew up. I remain an entrepreneur 30+ years later because I fell in love with the many business and life benefits it has given myself and our family.
As I look back over 30 years of entrepreneurship and personal development study, I can’t help but recognize the many benefits it has been to my family. It goes past the monetary, and more importantly I recognize the people we have all become as a result.
Our son has become totally independent as an insurance agent & mortgage broker. He has studied independently to get all his certifications and has learned through real world experience. He took a different path than traditional education but has been committed to lifelong learning and personal development has been a part of his whole life. I look at the man he has become and see a successful young man, well beyond his years that takes full responsibility for his future, creating success for himself and all the people he serves in his business. A true win/win relationship in business.
Our daughter is a successful independent graphic designer running her own business from home. She took the traditional educational route to get her degree and has been involved in personal development her whole life as well. She just had our first grandbaby and what I witnessed through her pregnancy and birth is truly remarkable. They decided to have a home water birth with 2 midwives, and a Doula. Growing up, and up until the time she gave birth, she had an extreme phobia of needles. She had a successful home birth, just as planned, and gave us a beautiful 9 lb 9 oz baby girl, with no medication. I went to the room she gave birth afterward, and on the walls were colorful affirmations she had made up to help her mindset throughout the delivery. I was overwhelmed to recognize how being exposed to personal development her whole life had led to this. A powerful reminder how personal development affects every single aspect of our lives, not just in business.
My husband has been an employee his whole life. Recently we had an opportunity to launch a new business, which we thought would be great for him in retirement. It has blossomed, he has left his full-time employment and is now enjoying being an entrepreneur himself. It is something he would never have done if I hadn’t been self-employed for so many years, and encouraged, assisted and supported him in getting it off the ground. I would not have been able to do that 30 years ago with the mindset I had back then. Thankfully I have developed the mindset necessary. Successful entrepreneurs see opportunity when it is presented, and more importantly, take action on that opportunity, moving through perceived obstacles and do what it takes. This mindset is present in every successful entrepreneur.
I recognize that although personal development is something we each have to take responsibility for ourselves, it can’t help but overflow and help those around us. It is absolutely life changing and the key to living the life we truly want to be living. Although it is something we take on personally, it is a gift to ourselves and everyone in our lives.
Personal development is more important than ever now that I am retired from the daily employment. It is also much tougher to find the authentic, the reliable, the genuine sources of development opportunities. I have now spent money on resources that I thought was an investment in development and every one of them proved to be a waste of my very limited funds to add revenue to the ‘coach/consultant’. Your success story is a joy for me to read. You are proof that it can be done.
Whether or not the self-development must ultimately lead to cash flow largely depends on what other sources of income one has. If you have enough financial security then self-development can be simply something you do to improve yourself. If you need income to support yourself/family then I agree with Chris. Any self-development had better lead to income.
Again I respectfully disagree Ken. Self development will often lead to improving income, however, one may be focused on improving another area of life through the study of self development. For instance, quitting smoking, saving a marriage, anger management, compassion, personal responsibility, leadership…etc. etc.
All very true, Debbie. However, those improvements can be addressed best when there is food on the table and a roof over it. I would also suggest that your partial list of self-improvement with no economic gain often leads to economic gain whether or not that was the primary reason at the beginning of the effort. No money spent on cigarettes, no divorce lawyers, leadership-related promotions, and the list could go on and on. I agree that self-improvement is always a plus, and when there are spin-off benefits that just sweetens the pie.
Personal development can become very addicting. The challenge is that we must build something apart of ourselves; such as a business, book, or idea that contributes to cash flow. If we don’t then we’ll be prone to develop ourselves for the sake of developing ourselves. That’s okay to do in the short run, but not in the long term.
I do agree Chris that it becomes very addicting…reason being it feels great to learn and grow and discover our true potential. I respectfully disagree that it must lead to cash flow. It often does, however, one can be committed to personal development long term without focusing on building a business, book or idea focused on cash flow. Personal development excels all areas of our lives, and it is up to us personally to apply the knowledge to the areas we most want to flourish.