The four words that everyone once said in their lifetime.
“Isn’t it pathetic that grown adults still feel the need to get help?”
NO and YES.
It’s not pathetic. And we all still need help in our lives even with 30 years of life experience under our belts.
Try to deliver a baby on your own. Or build your own house. Or don’t ask for directions the next time you visit a different country.
Self-help includes using your GPS by the way and browsing the Web for information.
Like you, I never understood the need for these mojo-voodoo instructional CD’s and courses until I gave it a go.
It wasn’t as if I couldn’t quit it.
I would try it out for 3 months and if it was truly a waste of time, I would tell myself that I was absolutely right and preach it to all my friends that this industry was a scam.
But it wasn’t.
How I View Self-Development
In a nutshell, self-dev is self-education on all fronts.
I’m a fan of self-dev because it provides me with the insights to hack life and gain knowledge from those who have been there and done that.
For gamers, having seen a walkthrough prepares them for the next step.
Reading biographies and books on your industry does exactly that.
Self-dev is mostly concerned with 3 big topics – health, money & relationships.
Health
Cookbooks and fitness DVD’s are just the tip of the iceberg.
Mental health and spirituality also covers this.
Money
Career, personal finance and business books are abundant.
Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, used to read just one book until he internalized it. That book was Made in America by Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart. His estate was worth $160 billion at his time of death. His wealth was split among his children. If he held it all to himself, he would be richer than Bill Gates and Warren Buffett combined.
Imagine the sheer convenience of having the world’s richest man’s lifetime experience perfectly binded and to be consumed in 6 hours or less for $20.
Best. Deal. Ever.
Relationships
Both personal and professional.
There is a disturbing fact of life that we learn later on:
“The older you get, the less important your technical skills and the more important your social skills.”
More often than not, the more likable and the more well connected a person, the more likely that person will succeed.
There are books and courses that break the art of interaction down to a science.
The same goes to personal relationships – friends, family and romantic ones.
Romantic relationships are the bane of our existence.
Ever met people who are not good looking yet they have multiple suitors?
They know it – consciously or subconsciously – that they possess & apply the skills of seduction.
Social skills are skills. And skills can be learnt and mastered.
All it takes is patience and effort.
Self-development, believe it or not is a mindset that most CEO’s are looking for. For the simple reason that they got to where they are as a result of constant learning.
So if you are reading this and you just graduated college, you are in luck.
Continue to learn and you will reach the top in every aspect of your life – health, wealth, love and happiness.