The personal development space is very exciting but also deeply misunderstood.

The exciting part is that a lot of people have changed their lives for the better, the sad part however, is that there are lots of people that are never going to realize their true potential.

But wait, how is it possible that one can consume a lot of personal development material like, books, seminars, coaching, mentoring, and God knows what else, and still never to be able to realize their potential?

It's because they don't work with themselves, they try different things just because they're cool and trendy, and become very surprised when they cannot stick to their new shiny habit they found on some influencer's page.

Self-development junkies are people who do personal development just for the sake of it. They are the furthest away from realizing their potential because they're going everywhere and nowhere. They read a lot of books, accumulate a lot of information , but never get to use it. They know a lot about others and little about themselves. And they collect knowledge they never get to use.

What we currently mean by personal development is in fact general development. Let's read a bunch of books, adopt a bunch of habits, do and try a bunch of cool new things, and we call that improvement. That's good, it's definitely better than nothing, but you know what's better?

Work with yourself, start by knowing where you are and where you want to be. Ask yourself how can I bridge the gap between those two, and then go out and find the best tools that will get you there. The purpose of personal development is personal transformation, it's to successfully transition towards better, in a personal context.

Best way to start your self-improvement journey is by knowing yourself, because then at least you know what you are working with.

Personal development is a set of tools but before you get down to work you need to understand what you're building. And once again, you are building yourself.

Now go, get better but please remember: personal development is very... well, _personal_.

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I plan to write an article every day this year so thank you for your support. Alin.