Personal Development Resources – How to Make Them Work For You
With so much personal development material, it’s easy to jump from one thing to another without first mastering what you have learned. You probably already know that going through any personal development material, from articles to videos can leave you feeling good and uplifted. You also know that feelings does not last.
You may be hopping from one piece of material to another looking for the next feel good factor, but ask yourself why you decided to invest your time to read that article/book or watch that movie, etc.? Was it for entertainment or to learn something so you can improve some areas of your life? If the latter, below are 5 steps you can take to help you make what you are learning a habit.
1. Read for understanding instead of speed I used to belong to a book of the month club. The aim was to read at least one book per month. Some people even boasted about how many books they could get through in a month. When you decide to read any personal development material, be mindful of why you’ve chosen to read that particular book and, take your time to ensure that you understand what you are getting from the book. What good is it to you to speed read material if at the end of it you are none the wiser. It may even serve you better to read every book multiple times. Each time you read the same material, you’ll gain something that you did not gain the previous time.
2. Make notes Do you read your personal development material like a novel or like an instructions manual, with pen and note pad to hand? From my own unscientific survey, most people cannot recall most of what they read unless they involve more of their senses as they read. As you read, take note of any thing that speaks to you. It could be a phrase that motivates you to take action, it could be an idea that you can use. Even if your mind wonders as a result of what you are reading and in that wondering you come up with an idea/concept, write it down. This is how most good ideas come about and if you don’t capture it as it occurs, you may never get it again. The same applies if you are listening to audio material or watching a movie.
3. Make a list of things you can do to implement what you’ve just learned Most personal development resources you’ll come in contact with will deal with concepts and very few will give you a step by step guide. So as you read, listen and watch, you may get an idea how to implement the concept. Write it down. Let suppose you feel you want to become more confident.
