What is Your Greatest Need for Personal Growth?
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Written by Jimmie Burroughs – Email this article to a friend
The answer for the question “What is your greatest need for personal growth” is given by a reader of Yahoo questions and answers: “To stop psycho-analyzing everything and just be happy with things the way they are…” Is that the answer to something as important as personal growth? I do not think so! I think it is important to be content with what you have materially, but in terms of personal growth, we should always want to become our very best and not to be satisfied with ourselves as we are. Every person has the potential for personal growth far above his or her present status.
I have been involved for a long time in teaching personal growth, teaching many different topics that encourage personal growth. I have come to believe over time that the greatest need for personal growth is first to understand yourself, or know yourself. Tony Robbins said, “All we need is already inside us.” How true, but we must be able to know what is inside us; in other words, knowing yourself.
There are three things that you need to know about yourself:
- Your inner self
- Your strengths
- Your weakness
Knowing your inner self:
It is far easier to know your outer self, which you can see and touch. It is easier to see the improvements that you would like to make to your appearance or understand ways to improve your health, but the inner self is abstract and intangible and therefore harder to understand.
The first need is to understand how we are made; we are a triune being, or in other words made up of three separate parts, which are the body soul and spirit. The soul, also three parts, is made up of the mind, will and emotions. The mind is the least trusted because it is the product of previous learning, much of which could be in error; it is the seat of established patterns of behavior, which also could be wrong. I know you have experienced the need of unlearning something before you could learn it the right way. I play the guitar, and I am learning that the configuration of some of the chords I learned are not the best, but to change to a better configuration is very difficult.
Knowing that we cannot allow the soul to be in control is the first step in understanding ourselves. Your mind as well as emotions has been influenced by outside forces that are not always in your best interest. Therefore, to be controlled by either the mind or the emotions will lead you into making emotional or intellectual decisions that are not the best for your well-being.
The question is from whence comes our best direction? If it is not the mind that we are used to thinking with, the emotions that we feel with, or our will to do certain things, then what else is there to guide us. That is where the third part of our existence comes in. Our spirit is the essence of who we really are, and it alone can be trusted to lead us in the right direction. The Spirit is also the dwelling place of God’s Holy Spirit, in believers. The Holy Spirit communes with our spirit to guide our decisions.
The spirit is the essence of our inner self and needs to control what we think or feel and how we make decisions. The next question is how then does a person get in touch with the spirit or inner self? Some claim and teach that it is through meditation. I think meditation is good if it is applied correctly, but getting in touch with your inner self is allowing your intuition to speak to you. Some say let your heart tell you. Our intuition, or our heart, has God’s laws of right and wrong stamped upon it. If you really allow your heart or intuition to speak, you will know without a doubt what is right from what is wrong. Some refer to this as a gut instinct. It is hard to define, but we all have it, and we can develop the skill of listening to it.
Discerning you inner strengths:
We all have our differing inner strengths. Some are inclined to be leaders, although leadership is a skill that must be developed. Some are strong at encouraging; some are brave and courageous; some have a strong love for others, etc. You decide what you feel are your best inner strengths because they will become the foundation of your future personal growth. Do not be discouraged if you cannot immediately identify them, it usually takes time. Also listen to others; sometimes they can see your inner strengths better than you can.
Knowing your weaknesses:
Not knowing one’s weaknesses often results in trying to do things for which you are not fitted, which results in failure. Knowing your weaknesses is not to be an end in itself but a beginning. When you know your weaknesses then you can strengthen them through personal growth. When I was young, I was very shy and backward. That was a weakness I had to overcome; I needed to strengthen my ability to be confident and to be outgoing. It took years to accomplish it but accomplish it I did, because I realized its importance.
It may be easier to discover our weaknesses because they have been things we have been struggling with all our lives. Your strengths may be dormant. They are waiting to be revealed and be developed. We need to understand both in order to realize the greatest benefits from personal growth. Both strengths and weaknesses are included in personal growth, strengthening weaknesses and developing strengths.
Conclusion:
Take some time to think about yourself. Find a place to be alone and yes meditate on it. Clear the other thoughts from your mind and focus on just your inner self. Sort out your strengths and your weaknesses.
I would be remiss if I did not also tell you that my own greatest advantage in allowing my spirit to be in control has resulted from having the power of God’s Spirit inside my spirit to guide and strengthen my spirit. Anyone who so desires can invite God into their life and have a living ongoing relationship with him. There is no better life coach than God!
About the author: Jimmie Burroughs is a motivational speaker and author who has been involved in teaching Christian Personal Development for more than 30 years. There are hundreds of articles to help you on this website (Website Contents) in your personal growth.
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