Personal Development Should Be Your #1 Priority

Your journey to self-actualization begins with you.

Personal Development and Self-Improvement are probably two of the most popular topics on Medium. Every other post is either about self-love, happiness, productivity, efficiency, or motivation — and with good reason.

Nobody is perfect, so when writing about these topics, you are guaranteed a large audience. I admit –– I have also begun writing a lot in these topics.

No, it’s not because I think I’m better than you (half of the time, I feel unqualified to say what I’m saying because I’m not a perfect person). Instead, when I write about personal development, I write from experience.

I’ve been on Medium for a few months now, and I think I’ve figured something out –– a lot of articles on personal development have one thing in common and that is you. It’s quite frankly surprising that I’ve just realised this (I mean, it’s in the name)!

But think about it –– all of us seek to improve ourselves, to become better, stronger, and smarter people. But how many of us are actually successful?

Not too many, I think.

There’s a reason for that. And it’s a simple one:

A lot of us are yet to realise that our journey to self-actualization begins with us.

Yeah. As hard as it is to admit, we have got to put in the work to become better. Crazy, right?

There have been so many times where I’ve felt lost. Completely out of control. Helpless. Hopeless. Whatever other adjective you want to use to express this terrible, terrible feeling.

It is in these times, when we have truly hit rock-bottom, that we need to take a hold of ourselves and get up.

This isn’t supposed to be a ‘cheery’ article. Life is hard sometimes.

But, not matter what challenge we are facing, the best thing we can do for ourselves is to keep trying. That’s why personal development is such a successful topic. People are trying.

It’s inspiring to be surrounded with people who are constantly trying to better themselves. It motivates me to do the same.

There is no escaping the ordeals of life. We just have to suck it up and take it.

The takeaway here is:

Your #1 priority should be personal development.

For those looking for more specific help, here are 3 ways to help you. And if you are finding yourself burning out, here’s how to get out of it.

This story is published in a Few Words, Medium’s publication that only accepts stories under 500 words.

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