Why Self-development is a Worthy Investment

Sounds selfish right? Well maybe but I’ve always said for you to be able to give to others, we must first be emotionally in a place to be able to give.

Before we can help others, we must learn to help ourselves.

The simple fact is that we are now being asked to do more, in the time we have available, especially in business where the lines between work and rest have become blurred, resulting in increased levels of cortisol production, the stress hormone, and it effects our mental health.

The real world is that we do have to take our work home, we often have to do things that are urgent and yet not important, in our private time, but we also should be scheduling time to work on ourselves, so work doesn’t access all areas and become what I call an always on culture.

We all want the graph of life to be heading in the right direction, to feel that we are improving in whatever area we choose to, whether it is health and fitness, education, moving up the employment ladder, financial compensation and security or spirituality and emotionally wellbeing.

As parents, all we want for our children is for them to develop, grow and become the best version they can be, whatever that is, to realise and maximise their potential. We feel they are falling short of this level, then it brings about a sense of disappointment, the same goes for ourselves and overtime that can manifest itself into different emotions and actions as a result.

There is a proven link between self-development and happiness, when we learn a new skill or develop a new habit the neural circuits that are formed, or strengthened, within our brain release chemicals that make us feel good, simply, when we feel we are improving we are happier.

More and more of my time is now we spent online with client’s life coaching, helping individuals to re-identify their interests and strengths and develop goals relating to them.

Professionalism doesn’t equal robot. You are not a robot , show your human side

At times it takes acts of selfishness to put yourself before others and these can be the trickiest to manage but, like in every other area of life, there has to be a balance. Too much in any area of life will ultimately lead to unfulfillment and a feeling of dissatisfaction.

Having been a professional sportsman for nearly 2 decades, the need to exercise is now ingrained in my DNA, I am institutionalised in the need to create endorphins and look forward to a dopamine fix daily.

A selfish act?

Most of the time . . . . No!

However, undoubtedly some of the time and an unequivocal Yes!

Holidays and Christmas are examples where compromises have to be made, and obviously I don’t exercise 365 days a year, at 48 years old, my body like everyone else’s needs brief respite from time to time, but really do many days go by but I choose not to put my trainers on and go for a run or jump on my bike and go out for a spin.

My wife of 15 years is unbelievable in understanding this, she knows that I need that fix, and indeed by her allowing me to get that, even at times when it may be inconvenient, we all benefit because time spent together subsequently is of a better quality.

Even after a long day of coaching, or on Christmas day when there is lots to do with family coming over, the faithful Nike Pegasus Trail running trainers will be placed by the back door as a sign of, just go do what you need to do get back and we can enjoy time together, selfless slept from her, from my point of you, selfish yes, necessary 100%.

Exercise is my fix but self-improvement can involve working on new hobbies, fostering new skills and developing new habits.

Our body is our support vehicle for life, if we don’t have it we don’t exist, neglecting ourselves is letting ourself down.

Personal development is a lifelong process, it is a way for us all to assess where we are currently at, our qualities, strengths, and weaknesses, consider any changes we want to make and set goals towards achieving them.

There’s more to it than simply improving ourselves, setting goals and adhering to a plan helps us to create new habits, increases motivation and takes us out of our comfort zone, something we should do on a daily basis.

Creating a routine and time management are both fundamental to creating a new habit that will undoubtably be required to begin working on self-development.

This is a lifelong process, and the times when we are struggling with the burdens of life the most, times when we have given up on working on ourselves, stopped doing the things that we know help us, these are the times that are most important for us to follow the process to prevent us falling back to a starting point or worse.

Making time for you, to work on you, could be the smartest thing you do today, this week and hopefully, for the rest of your life.

For advice on how you can work on yourself, contact me for further information nicky@nickyforster.com