What is Personal Development All About?

I sometimes get very frustrated (it doesn’t last long!) when I see the extent to which Personal Development is hijacked by people whose sole focus is on money. Go on, Google ‘Personal Development’ – the number of sites that talk about becoming a millionaire, trebling your income, achieving financial freedom! Check out Amazon and there’s a plethora of books on the same thing. Sure, people worry about money and the irony is that if you worry about money, money worries you shall have – in abundance. Surely, that’s not the kind of abundance that we want – but it’s the kind of abundance you have in mind because we manifest what occupies our mind and most normal minds are preoccupied with the kind of nonsensical thoughts that bring about the very thing that they don’t want to happen! After all, that’s how our world works – energy in : energy out!

Personal development has absolutely nothing to do with money. Sure, money and lots of it may well be a consequence of using your mind the way God intended – but it should never ever be the goal that you have in mind. As John Lennon said, money will not buy you love, nor will it purchase happiness for you – and surely personal development is ultimately about being happy. If you think otherwise, you’ve missed the point – the purpose of life, of your life, is to be happy.

In browsing the internet I’ve recently come across one article that said that your quality of life depends on how much money you have. Rubbish. Another highly ranked video on personal development said that personal development won’t work if you don’t have a compelling reason in mind. What kind of reasons did the speaker offer? Buying a new car or a new boat! I’ve been that soldier! I’ve had the BMWs and the Jaguars. But I grew up. It strikes me that most people grow older but never actually grow up. Until you grow up you simply will not be happy – you will not find inner peace, nor will you find the true inner power that you have to get anything – absolutely anything – that you want out of life, including money. But money doesn’t come first – it’s a by-product of a happy, fulfilled, focused, committed mind.

The problem with all these personal development websites and books is that they prey on the vulnerable. The normal mind is vulnerable, lost in useless thought, trapped in a vicious circle of self-doubt, worry, anxiety, fear, stress – you name it! Given the opportunity to learn ‘the secret’ of wealth, how are these vulnerable minds going to react? Hey, they’ll waste their money, learn nothing and, in the end, become even more distressed and more vulnerable. Perhaps that’s why the average personal development customer buys something new every eighteen months on average. They’re like Bono, they still haven’t found what they’re looking for! Because they are looking in the wrong place.

You don’t have to look far for happiness and real success. Look in the mirror – the gateway to effortless living is staring you in the face. It’s you, it was always you – you may need a little help, inspiration, pointing in the right direction – but ultimately you and only you can make you happy. And with happiness everything flows – money, boats, cars, whatever turns you on!

However, when you look in your mirror, you don’t see you, you see who you think you are. And you’re mistaken because the useless, negative, self-sabotaging thoughts that we all have are clouding your subconscious mind and it’s through the cloud of nonsense that you see your world. It’s very difficult to see the light if you’re looking through a cloud! However, the wonderful news is that the cloud is not real – there is no cloud! You’ve got to stop letting your mind choose its thoughts for you – because research proves that, given the choice, your subconscious will choose self-defeating thoughts. In fact, you’ve got to stop thinking altogether! (Positive thinking won’t do, it’s still only thinking!) Instead, you’ve got to start doing.

Doing what? Doing what you’re actually doing right here, right now – no matter what it is. You’ve got to wholeheartedly do what’s in front of, wholeheartedly be where you actually are. This attitude is in marked contrast to the normal state of mind that sees and experiences the present moment through that cloud that I mentioned a moment ago. That cloud of useless thought leads you to believe that, perhaps, you don’t like what you’re doing (apparently the majority of people don’t like their job) or, again, that you wish you were somewhere else – like looking forward to the weekend! This endless stream of nonsense stops you doing.

If you truly immerse yourself in whatever you’re doing, you’ll enter a mental state of what psychology calls ‘flow’ – and not only do you flow but things start flowing for you (including money). Doing what you’re doing is the gateway to wisdom and the path to happiness.