Wherein an introduction is made
The purpose of this blog is to track the progress of my personal development. It’s here primarily for me; to plan the steps I’ll take, to notate my experiences along the way, and to keep a record of the milestones I’ve reached. I can’t honestly say how much content will be of interest to anyone else, though it’s likely that any interest will be limited at the start. However, if anyone else is going through a similar evolution, sharing the experience will be nothing but rewarding.
My primary motivation is simply the desire to improve myself, but I also want to start seriously producing web content, with a view to one day producing something which is of use to other people. My major inspiration was Steve Pavlina’s persuasively motivational personal development blog.
The content of this blog will be all things related to the progress of my personal development. Is that a little egotistical? The creation of a blog solely focused on myself? Perhaps, yet I have to start somewhere, and the one subject on which I have the greatest degree of knowledge is myself. Do I intend the blog to be purely self-centred *forever*. No, of course not, I hope that as I improve my experiences will help others attempting to do the same. Eventually I intend the blog to be something of greater use to others.
Do I also intend to continue to narrate by asking myself a question then answering it? No, I assure you I’ll stop that. Someday.
I have a long path ahead of me. While it is a path I’ve been heading along my entire life, up until this point I’ve been meandering back and forth across the path, never holding a constant bearing for long. I haven’t been happy with my current situation in life, not because I’m suffering in any significant way, but simply because of a growing feeling of dissatisfaction with the degree of progress I’ve (not) made. That dissatisfaction stemmed from comparing myself to others around me; an activity which I’ve come to realise is wholly unhelpful. Everyone has different internal and external influences thus two people may not reach the same station in life, even if they start similarly. On the flip-side, because there are so many possibilities for everyone, two vastly different people *could* eventually reach a similar station in life. While understanding this is useful, it’s not enough; it would still lead me to compare myself to others, and since there will always be people who are in some way more accomplished than myself, I would always feel inferior.
What I really needed to understand is that I would make progress in a much more positive way if I focus solely on goals I create myself. Set realistic goals and measure my progress against those markers. In this way I can readjust if necessary; if a particular goal is too difficult I can move the goalpost. I couldn’t do that if the goal was another person’s shoes.
I’ve intended to do this for a while, but I’ve continually made excuses to put off making a proper start. Work was too hectic so I’m too tired now. I’ll just finish reading this chapter then I’ll sit myself down and make some plans. I have to cook dinner. I have a headache. I’m not motivated enough. I’ll have more free time tomorrow. Etc, etc. So this blog is here to keep me on track. At this point I have no idea how much content I’ll be able to produce, it all depends on how active I can be in making progress. Slow and steady has worked best for me in the past, though I haven’t tried very much in the way of fast and dramatic changes. Sounds like the opportunity for an interesting experiment.
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
