A couple of years ago I started blindly reading every book I could get my hands on. It didn’t matter if it was business management techniques from two decades ago, or data visualization techniques for financial analytics. As you can see I was all over the board, and unfortunately, some of it didn’t help move me in a forward direction for my self-improvement, or my general future.
Yeah so I’d like to be first on the record to say this sucks. But, pick yourself up and keep going, sir!
It turns out there are three phases of failing at self-improvement, and one of them just happened to be aligned with my blindly going ahead into the information over load. I want to take this opportunity to give you these three phases, so that you can avoid them, get direction, and know the next step you need to take.
Number One: Not Knowing You Are Needed
This phase is before anything starts, this is the people that don’t believe or don’t even know that self-improvement can benefit your life. They don’t feel that there is any reason that they need to grow, or there is no motivation to go on a path that would provide any type of personal development, or professional development in their life.
This is tough because they really need to be informed, and their beliefs changed to be in line with growth. It is hard to do, it is very much worth it but most of the times you just end up having to wait until their life changes so much that they finally become aware that there is more to it than their current path and routine.
Number Two, Not Knowing Where To Go
This is people who have figured out that “yeah I do need to grow, and I do need to do more in myself growth journey”. But they have no direction on where to go. This is the phase I was at; I was blindly jumping into everything so that I could hopefully, by chance, run into the secret answer that would change my life.
I know better know, but at the time it seemed like diving into as much as I could would guide me to information that would lead me down the right path. There is so much more to it than that. When you can find people that have done what you already want to do, they can give you and guide you to the direction you need to go. Find those people and don’t waste your time like I did.
Number Three: Not Knowing What To Do First
This is a bit of a good problem and a bad problem to have. It is good because you have made it this far, you know you need to do things, and you are committed to doing things. Unfortunately you don’t know what to do first. Do you need to build this skill so you can move to the next level? Do you need to go over to this opportunity so you will have more experience?
Or do you need to commit to a full time mentorship with someone that has already been down the path? These are the things you have to consider when you figure out what to do first. But the effort and time you can put into figuring out this first step will set you off on the tracks you need to get to the next station in your life.
You’re Done Failing – Succeed Now
Understanding the three phases of failing at your own growth and self-improvement helps you align your future with where you really want to end up. When you figure out where you need to go, what you need to do, and what to do first, this path becomes a whole lot clearer, when you cut the weeds away you start flying through the fields with purpose, and determination.