In this short read, you will discover the common errors to avoid when you are on your personal development journey.
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Personal development offers many benefits, from boosting your self-esteem to lowering your stress levels and helping you manage your thoughts and emotions.
Moreover, it provides you with a sense of direction while improving your focus and effectiveness. It’s no wonder that the self-improvement book sales stood at $18.6 million in 2019, as Americans seek to improve their lives.
However, it’s best to go about it the proper way to reap its full benefits. That said, here are some errors to avoid when undergoing the personal development journey.
Not Focusing On One Area At A Time
You may realize several areas of your life you wish to change as you journey towards self-development. However, you’d be making a mistake to change all at once.
You wouldn’t only be ineffective, but you may be discouraged when you don’t see results. Therefore, it’s advisable to tackle one area at a time for the best results. Experts advise that you avoid different approaches and instead focus on an aspect of your life.
For instance, you can apply the principles you learn from a book to your weight loss goal. This would be more effective than reading so many books without practicing them.
Furthermore, focus on one approach that brings results, as changing your life is more beneficial than chasing the wind doing so many things.
Striving For Perfectionism Is The Biggest Error Within Personal Development
You’d want to avoid perfectionism if you wish to become a better you. According to Dr. Andrea Brandt, perfectionism can make you count your failures instead of embracing the process.
This will eventually lead to unrealistic expectations, causing anger, frustration, depression, and other emotional disorders. What’s worse, perfectionism causes you to be highly critical of yourself, building self-hate and low self-esteem.
Fortunately, you can avoid perfectionism and its adverse effects with the appropriate steps. You can start by forgiving yourself whenever you make a mistake and embrace your humanity.
It’s also prudent to view errors as stepping stones towards development instead of an unforgivable failure. Furthermore, set attainable and measurable goals to ensure success, and enjoy the process.
Suppose you seek professional help in setting your goals. In that case, you can connect with professional coaching organizations like Hello Coach for the best results.
If you’d like to learn more about overcoming perfectionism, have a look at this inspirational video:
Thinking You Need To Be Fixed
It’s not healthy to consider yourself an object that needs fixing. Furthermore, it would help if you didn’t let your past mistakes define you, irrespective of how grave they are.
Fortunately, you can break this unhealthy mentality and achieve self-development. You can start by loving and accepting your uniqueness and flaws. According to Jack Kornfield, embracing your imperfections diminishes their power over you.
It’s also prudent to practice self-improvement because you love yourself, not because you want to fix yourself. Consequently, avoid fighting your negative emotions, as they would come back with demoralizing force.
Instead, draw your awareness to them, and watch them fade away. Also, your negative thoughts don’t define you, so keep this in mind.
Personal development is a beneficial process once done correctly. Hopefully, you’ll avoid these mistakes to reap the full benefits of going on a personal development journey.
