In our mind dominated society in which many have been so beaten down to the point that they feel worthless and without value, they believe the answers they seek must come from someone or something more worthy than they are. When in fact the answers to all the questions we all seek are within us.

To find those answers, we need to get out of our heads {which are often surrounded and filled with negativity, doubt, chaos, and fear} and get into our hearts where our passions reside and the path before us is clear.

To finish, I’ll share a few lines from a poem I wrote several years ago.

Listen to your heart, it will tell you everything.
All you need to know, to live and love and grow.

Listen to your heart, and follow where it leads. Follow and believe.
Because when you listen to your heart, you are never far apart,
From the dreams you dream or the love you seek.

I think the most challenging aspect of personal growth is the fundamental idea behind them: that we are flawed.

The thing is, none of us have anything “wrong” with us. Our basic self… the person we were born into this world as is perfect. The only flaw is we’ve *added* lots of stuff on top of that perfection to cover it over… to make us not realize that we’re perfect underneath all of the conditioning we’ve adopted from others.

In that light, I would probably add a 6th premise along the lines of “Acceptance” or “You’re Okay.” So often people reject themselves or parts of themselves, and that just makes it even harder for them to progress down the path of personal development.

I would go even further and say I don’t think I’d like a fast forward button. I think the best single attitude to achieve personal development is to enjoy the process instead of aiming at an end. After all, as Keynes – the famous economist – said: “In the long run we are all dead”

I love that turn of phrase – “we can do anything if we put our mind to it, and we can do anything well if we put our heart into it.”

I have a lot to say on this subject, and a fair few of my backlog of posts is about helping people get more of the right things done. My belief is that people live and work at their best when what they are doing is an expression of the best of who they are.

I’d love to expound on that concept, but I’ll save it for a future post

Thanks for the comment, much appreciated. I have to agree with your term of “silly self-help” materials. There is a lot of rubbish available that promises the world, and isn’t really worth the paper it’s printed on.

Having said that, there are a lot of great books and ideas out there, but even the very best won’t have th effect that most people are hoping for.

@Jen,

The rule about taking action is probably the most important one – it doesn’t matter how great your intentions are, if you don’t take action, they won’t manifest.

My advice to those who take umbrage with what I suggest… If all you plan to do is sit there like a muppet and just wish for the things you want, at least make sure you’re comfortable. You might be there a while…