One of the more important skills one needs is to develop is the skill of self-development and improvement. It is also one of the more difficult skills to acquire, unless one happened to be born with the deficiency need for growth. Without the skill of being able to develop and improve oneself, one cannot reach one’s full potential (something that, as far as we can tell no human being has been able to do, all of us having a greater capacity than we can possibly imagine).
Comfort Is the Enemy
One of the reasons it is so difficult to develop the skill of self-development and improvement is that one becomes comfortable. Comfort is the feeling that one has when we are avoiding pain, struggle, strife, or exertion. Comfort is the feeling of having enough, and not being driven to be more, do more, have more, or contribute more. Comfort is the enemy because it leads to complacency, and complacency is the recipe for standing still.
There is something to be said for the idea of “enough.” There is also something to be said for being pleased without being satisfied, especially as it pertains to one reaching their full potential.
Desire
If you want to develop the skill that leads to all other skills, self-development and improvement, it starts with desire. It’s the desire to be more than you are right now and recognizing there is some area where you can and should produce better results. It might also start with the desire to have more than you have now, even though that idea is not popular in some quarters. You may also desire the ability to do something you presently are incapable of doing, or something you want to master. Or maybe you want to make a greater contribution, and developing yourself into the person who can make that contribution is what drives you forward in developing some new skill.
Will and Self Discipline
Those with the skill of self-development have certain character traits and attributes that allow them to develop new skills and to improve themselves. The primary character traits are the will to act and the self-discipline to do so over longer periods of time; those who do not develop themselves never develop those traits. Like a great martial artist, they are willing to practice the same thing hundreds or thousands of times until they gain mastery. They’re able to stay on the mat and do the work without any loss of enthusiasm, and without giving up. Where others dabble, those with the skill to develop other skills and improve themselves go deep.
What one person is capable of, so are others. This is the belief of those with the skill to develop other skills. There are not very many things that appear to be out of the realm of possibility for those who have the mindset and the skill set to improve themselves. Most, however, believe that what one person is capable of, is too difficult for them. When they are infected with a negative belief system, they believe that natural talent is the difference, or that some individual’s achievements are the result of luck. Nothing could be further from the truth. Those who develop themselves pay the price in full for the skills and abilities they develop before anyone recognizes their mastery.
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