Getting to Know Yourself

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It is safe to say that life is not as simple as it used to be. This is because there are far too many choices in virtually every area of life. At one point in time if you didn’t like where you were at then you just had to push through it and do the best you can. In this day and age you can make a few changes to pursue one of the myriad of opportunities that are available to each and every person - Lovers, Career, Schools, etc.

In the not so distant past the plan of life was quite simple: you went to school and then you either got a job, or started a business, got married, and stayed there for forty years until you reached retirement age.  There were fewer opportunities so it wasn’t that hard to decide which way to go in life; you simply took one of 2 or 3 paths that were available to you at the time. These days you have to get some kind of idea what career path you wish to take by the time you get to high school. By doing so your high school guidance counselor can plan the best course of action as to whether you sign you up for vocational or college prep classes so you can further your education before or while you are entering the workforce. 

Too Many Choices?

Today, a lack of satisfaction with the decisions that people make may have led to the sudden rise in mental illnesses which range from anxiety to depression and even bipolar disorder.  Many people who suffer from these chronic illnesses are rendered unable to work - They enter into a state of paralysis - Is this due to a world that is overwhelming us with too many decisions?  Still many more suffer from various physical illnesses with the root cause being stress and anxiety. These symptoms are often triggered by the pain and complexity of life and the stress that we are constantly placed under in our efforts to keep up with the ever-expanding level of complexity in our world.

Not Present?

The almost superhuman demands within the marketplace have led some people to develop a negative attitude that is best exemplified by the statement, “I hate my job”. They are missing out on the joy that having a vocation is meant to bring - Indeed a joy that vocations in our simpler past may have brought. Now, people are seen avoiding the present moment as they count down the days untill “Hump Day” and even Friday (TGIF), they are actually working to make their lives pass them by even faster.  Are they in that much pain that they can't stand to be alive for Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday?  Where are they?  Certainly not present and appreciating life - But what is the cause of this?

How do you escape this trap of simply working for just a paycheck and dealing with mental and physical illnesses that are often are the result of excess stress and anxiety caused by heavy work-loads in a world filled with seemingly better alternatives to living our lives? The answer is a detailed self-assessment to help with your personal growth. Many people struggle through life because they never really find themselves - They just choose the first career path that is placed before them and don't look back. Nowadays it is more crucial than ever to spend some time getting to know what you really want to make you happy. That is the stated goal of the “American Dream” in the United States: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. 

Personal Growth

The process of personal growth begins with an assessment of what you are good at, where your strengths lie as well as what weaknesses you need to work on so that you can achieve your goals. This does not have to be complicated and take too long; it just depends on how motivated you are to make a life for yourself and not just a decent living.  Go ahead - Write it down.  What do you really want from life, and why do you want it?

Once you begin to get an idea of your strengths and weaknesses, you begin to slowly figure out what types of jobs are the most attractive to you, as well as whether or not they require further education at the university level or even graduate school.  Next, as you progress through the various stages of your own personal development, you start to look for a market for your talent and look for opportunities to gain experience and confidence which helps you to sell yourself. 

What Decisions Do You Make?

It is also safe to say that this explains why the divorce rate is so high in America; people want to make money and settle down with simple middle class virtues, from a nice home to 2.5 kids and a dog, but they never take the time to get to know themselves and find out who they are before they marry and begin a career. The end result of not pursuing personal growth is that life becomes a constant struggle where you end up simply trying to make ends meets and never figure out what you want out of life.  You can also be certain that if you are not happy at the place you spend half of your waking life, then you will most likely not be happy anywhere. This includes in your family life as well.  Why?  Because you can't very well expect yourself to spend 8-hours per day in a form of hell and go home with a sense of joy and happiness that you can bring to your family.  Rather, you will likely feel a combination of exhaustion and relief from the burden of your day.  Let's be clear - A mixture of EXHAUSTION and RELIEF is often not a sense of joy, happiness, peace, laughter, fullness, and freedom.  To experience these things at home, you must experience them throughout every fiber of your being through a combination of vocation, relationships, and personal growth. 

Summarize the basics of your self-assessment, determine what level of personal growth is required to achieve your objectives, and look at what areas you are skilled in. Next, begin to search for a market that will employ someone with your skills and then learn how to sell yourself effectively.  Financial guru Dave Ramsey is quoted as saying that we all work in sales to some degree. Success comes from how hard you work to achieve what you want out of life, and this flows from how passionate you are about what you want to manifest into your life.  The biggest part of personal growth is knowing who you are as a person. This is essential before you can move forward in any area of life, such as settling down and starting a family.

- Erwin Wooten

The Daily E Blog

http://www.ebishopwooten.com