A personal development journey requires deliberate actions.

It is something you consciously sit and decide to do.

At a point in life, I think most people get on that journey because they want more out of life and themselves.

It’s not just enough to have a job that gives you good money. You want to know how to relate with others.

You want to have real conversations. You want to answer the question “Tell us about yourself” so effortlessly.

All this becomes easier when you begin on a personal development journey.

For any journey to be a success, there should be a strategy and things to avoid.

Simply put, you have to come up with sort of a roadmap.

It doesn’t have to be perfect but some things are a must.

These are some that top my list

1. Never lie to yourself

Your gut feeling will always betray you. Deep down we always know what decision to make.

Sometimes we just ignore it and it really bites us in the back.

Being real with yourself is something you don’t want to take chances on as you work on yourself.

I heard someone saying that life has no rehearsal.

Every other thing in life can be replayed.

You can start another business from scratch if the first one does not work.

You can get another job when you lose one.

Money can be lost and gotten back. But life cannot be rehearsed.

If you decide that you want to take things seriously, you have to know that it comes with being honest.

You don’t want to make major decisions based on a lie.

Eg: If you know you want to pursue a passion, and you pick something you are not genuinely interested in, chances are it will not end well with you.

Such decisions can be influenced by comparison.

Just because your best friend succeeded in a fashion business doesn’t mean it will be the same for you, simply because you have the same personality.

This leads me to my second point

2. Never compare yourself to others

This is a top killer for any progress.

You are doing yourself a lot of injustice by comparing yourself to others.

Every person’s journey is so unique.

Imagine if there was no diversity. I don’t know about you, but what a boring life to live.

Journeys begin at different times and places. And by place, I mean where you are in terms of your growth.

A classic example: We have persons A and B who begin a blogging business.

Person A’s reason is to make money while person B’s reason is to educate people on something he/she is passionate about.

If money doesn’t come through, person A is likely to be discouraged and quit.

Person B will keep at it whether money comes or not.

The end result is one person will still be blogging even 10 years down the line while the other person will quit in their second year.

Do you see what I mean?

Your journey is different. Stick to it and see where it leads you.

3. Never underestimate baby steps

A journey of a thousand miles starts with a step.

I like what Earl Nightingale said “Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.”

This means that if you are working on being patient, you have to start somewhere.

You won’t one day wake up and all of a sudden out of nowhere you are patient.

You take baby steps towards that.

You start with being patient in one thing, the next day something else and then eventually, you are more patient now than when you began.

4. Never chase perfection, chase taking action

The danger of chasing perfection is procrastination.

Don’t wait to have all the equipment before starting your YouTube channel.

Don’t wait until you have gym clothes to start working out.

Waiting for things to be perfect will only slow you down.

Take action today and give it your best. (I didn’t say to be perfect at it, there is a difference).

E.g If you want to publish your first video on YouTube, and you just started an editing class, if you have the basics right, the other things you can perfect as you go.

If a home workout is within reach to you, don’t set yourself on fire to raise a gym membership fee, in the name of being fit.

I say these things with a lot of love. I have to say it this way to myself most times so that I stay in line.

Take action today as you work towards perfection.

5. Never talk yourself down

In case you are not aware of this yet, your mind is your arsenal.

This is where everything you need for success is, of course next to God, because He is the one who created it.

You become what you think about.

I can never overemphasize listening to ‘The strangest secret’ by Earl Nightingale.

Talking yourself down is the undoing of everything you have worked for.

Sometimes we indeed feel discouraged. But the secret is not to dwell on it for so long.

Gather the strength to dust yourself up and press forward.

The brain helps us create a reality of our thoughts.

So if your thoughts are somehow retrogressive, the actions you take will pretty much be pulling you backwards.

The opposite is equally true.

6. (A bonus)

Never waste your time!

And I know the concern for many people is usually, “You need to reward yourself, you can’t make it about growth always, sometimes you should just chill.”

My response is to schedule that relaxation time. ACCOUNT FOR IT!

This way you have no regret if you take a minute to lie down on a vacay and reflect on your journey.

You don’t want to be thinking about that assignment you haven’t submitted while having lunch with a friend.

Plan for your time.

I like to think of time as money.

Consider using statements like

– Spending my time

– Saving my time

– Redeeming my time e.t.c

Earlier we said that life is not a rehearsal and this is because of the time factor. We can’t turn back the clock.

I won’t say much about that.

I’ll leave it at that

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Thank you so much for taking the time to read.

If by any means some points sounded harsh please know that I mean well and I aspire to us all become the best version of ourselves.

Which point did you relate with the most?