Where to start self-development - a detailed plan. Imagination is your main weapon

Do you know that the 25 highest paid top managers in Russia earn 1000 times more than 25 good middle managers with work experience? Data based on forbes article.

Why do you think?

What is the difference, why do some people earn as much in 2 hours of work as their colleagues do in a year? A consultation with a famous doctor can be ten times more expensive than a regular one. Why, what is the secret of success?

The secret is in the self-development of a person's personality, in order to succeed you need to do something better than others. Remember, will you choose the worst option for cooperation? Everyone wants to get to a good doctor, teacher, employer, our whole life is a choice and everyone wants to choose only the best.

What do you need to do to get better?

- Work, this is a mandatory attribute of any long-term success;

- Good understanding of where to put effort, i.e., the vector of labor input.

And how to find out the direction where the invested work will give the maximum return? The direction of labor is determined by knowledge, i.e. self-development of a person and way of thinking. Imagine a situation from life, you need to get from point "A" to point "B", 2 people:

- First man unfamiliar with the city and in it for the first time;

- Second person, is familiar with the city and knows what transport can be used, where there are traffic jams and other information.

Who do you think will get from point A to point B the fastest? A person familiar with the city or not?

Why would there be a difference in speed?

Knowledge determines the shortest path from point "A" to point "B". In life just the same knowledge helps us find the shortest path to happiness, success, achievement, money and whatever you want. When we drive, knowing the traffic situation - traffic jams, the best route and other information allows us to get to our destination faster. In life, knowledge also helps to avoid mistakes and achieve success faster.

Now I will talk about 7 ways of personal development to gain new knowledge in your field that will help you succeed in your career and life faster. So, the plan (program) of self-development is as follows:

1. Read while waiting and transport

History from life

Now I will tell a little story about myself and share my impressions. I myself was born and lived in Samara, and when I was about 15 years old I ended up in Moscow. The first thing I noticed when I got into the subway car was that many of them had newspapers in their hands. It was about 2000, there were no e-books and smartphones then, so people read newspapers. It was unusual for me, in Samara I hardly saw people reading in transport, and therefore I remember it well.

Later, I realized how important it is to use time on the road or while waiting to good use. A huge amount of time is lost when we are waiting for someone or riding in transport. I will share my experience: When I plan to go somewhere, I always take my tablet with me to write articles or read e-books saved on the same tablet. I also always have a smartphone with me, on which several e-books are saved, because there are situations when it is more convenient to read from a phone than from a tablet. For example, if one hand is busy, then the phone is more convenient to hold than the tablet. If you are in a queue or crowded transport, then reading from a phone is also more convenient than from a tablet.

To use the time in waiting and in transport with benefit always take a book, magazine with you or download them to your tablet, phone, laptop. So you can always spend time in transport or waiting with benefit. In crowded transport, it is very convenient to read from the phone, because it is always with you and only 1 hand is required to read. You can cut pages of interest from magazines and put them in a folder with files to read while waiting.

2. Trainings, offline courses

Do you know how training differs from reading and other sources of information? Why spend a lot of time and money? Why can't I watch a webinar or read a book?

History from life

I will tell you a little story from my life. I first came to the training when I was about 20 years old. The training was about sales. Despite the fact that about 10 years have passed since that moment, I still remember the main key moments of the training. I am sure that if a few more decades pass and my health does not fail, I will still remember these skills. Moreover, the skills that I remember well, I apply in everyday life.

Another situation with books. In my life I have read a lot of business literature and I can say that the skills read in the text are quickly forgotten from memory, especially if they are not put into practice. Why do you think information is remembered better at a good training? What is the secret of trainings, why are people willing to pay money for training, which can be used to buy several dozens, or even hundreds of books?

The secret of training

Emotions are the secret to any good training.. That is why information in trainings is remembered better than when reading books. And the more you experience emotions, the better you will remember this event. Everyone knows that without an antenna, the TV does not show. If you connect a portable antenna, the signal is amplified and the TV starts to show many channels. And if you put the antenna on the roof of the building, even more channels become available in even better quality. Emotions are like a TV antenna that amplifies the signal, i.e. the transmitted information.

Trainings play a big role and make it easier to remember the transmitted information compared to reading books and magazines, especially in a field where it is important to consolidate practical skills. This is achieved due to the fact that the trainings are more involved in the emotional, visual and sound components thanks to a live storyteller.

Types of training

A) Industry training, according to your field of activity;

B) Personal growth aimed at developing personal qualities, for example, in time management, oratory, and others.

Go to trainings not only for knowledge, but also to recharge yourself with emotions that motivate you to new achievements in life.

3. Books

I'll ask a very simple question: “How many books have you read in the last year, month?” Many answer: "We have no time to read books." Let's be clear. Do you want to live tomorrow better than now? If you didn't want to, then you wouldn't be watching this video or reading this article. And if you want to live better tomorrow, then the reason is not a lack of time, but a lack of understanding or unwillingness to read books. Right?

Why read books

Publishing a printed book is a costly business, because you have to invest in layout, preparation, printing, and to get on the bookshelf of an offline store, you need useful content, otherwise they won’t buy it and, accordingly, will remove it from the store. In connection with such difficulties, only the best ones, as a rule, end up on the shelves of bookstores. Therefore, reading industry books is the foundation of your knowledge.

4. The 30 minute rule

We know a huge number of stories of entrepreneurs who have gone from poverty to the number of the richest people in the world. How do you think, what principle lies in the growth of the entrepreneur's well-being? The principle is very simple - investing in a business. The entrepreneur invests part of the profit in equipment, premises, renovation, etc., so that these investments pay off and bring more money in future. If there is no investment, then there is no growth.

Why do you think you need to spend time on self-development? The contribution of personal time to self-development is an investment in oneself, the scheme is the same as in business, the more we invest, the more profit can be expected in the future. When you spend time on self-development, then your further actions become more thoughtful, more accurate and faster, which means that your investment of time begins to pay off.

In some cases, the time will pay off immediately, in some in a month or even a year. But the payback principle is inevitable sooner or later. For example, having sharpened knives in the kitchen in 5 minutes, in a week you can recoup the time spent, because sharp knives will cut faster. Also in self-development, having spent time studying information, you can recoup this time through more effective and thoughtful actions.

Set aside at least 30 minutes every day. for self-development: reading books, magazines, viewing thematic videos. The time of daily self-development depends on the existing baggage of knowledge and the specifics of your industry. But in many areas, it may take more than 1 or even several hours of daily self-development to achieve success.

For maximum efficiency, engage in self-development during the period of time when you are at the peak of activity. Usually, many people have a peak of activity in the morning, because after sleep there is a lot of energy. If you get up early, for example, at 5 am, then there will be no distractions and you will be able to use this time to the maximum benefit.

5. Fast reading

Think back to your most recent book you read. I’ll make a reservation right away that the book should be non-fiction, it can be business literature, a book on a specialty or other informational orientation. Do you remember the last book you read?

And now question: “If you were asked to write the content of the book you read, that is, to retell the book, in your own language, then how many pages would it take to write everything that you remember?” Guess this figure at least approximately. Look no further until you mentally estimate the number of pages you will need to retell the contents of the last non-fiction book you read.

Appreciated? Let's say you read a 300 page book and memorized 3 pages. That is, from memory you can write 3 pages of text from this book. And this means that you remember only 1% of the information you read from the book. And there is nothing strange in this, because our brain can remember only the most important, the secondary does not even make sense to read, because we will soon forget it anyway.

Reading books in full is very unproductive. Reading books in their entirety is an old habit from the times when there was a lack of information. My parents told me about times when books were in short supply. But now in the world, on the contrary, there is an overabundance of information. It is better to read the most important of 3 books than to read the whole book.

Now I will tell you how to find the most important information in any books so that you can read only it. The method consists of the following 4 parts:

Stage 1. General information about the book. Read everything on the front and back covers, abstract, introduction, author information. Read the entire table of contents and start reading all the headings and subheadings as you flip through the pages, also look at the pictures and read the captions. Treat this stage with attention, act at an average pace. Duration: 10-15 min. for the whole book. Having studied general information, then it will be much easier to understand which chapters and sections to read in full, and which quickly.

Stage 2. Reading the most important. Always read the title and subtitle, if they hooked, then the first paragraph. Often it is in the first one or the first two paragraphs that the summary the content of the subsequent text of the chapter. Therefore, it is worth reading the first paragraph almost always and sometimes also the second. If the text in the first and second paragraphs and in the headings didn't catch you at all, move on to the next heading.

Also always read bold, italics, image captions. If there are brief conclusions at the end of the chapters, then read them too. Additionally, you can read one random paragraph on each page. While reading, move your finger under the sentence you are reading, this simple action will help you better focus on the text.

Stage 3. Don't read everything. If you feel that the text is useful - read everything in a row at a normal pace. Some books can be very useful and can be read carefully from cover to cover, but do not neglect the rule of speed reading in other cases. If the first one or 2 paragraphs did not hook you, feel free to turn the pages to the next heading, in extreme cases, read an additional random paragraph at a time. There is no point wasting time on minor things, it is better to read the most important of 2 or 3 books than everything in a row from one.

Stage 4. Reading vertically. If you read and understand that this is not a text, but solid water, but still you are afraid to miss something important, then read vertically. Mentally draw a line across the text from top to bottom and read one word from each line that crosses the mental vertical line. The rule is: "1 word - 1 line". This rule will increase the speed of your reading at times and you will not miss the important.

When you come across a very useful thought that can greatly change your life. Read it 5-10 times and say the same amount from memory so as not to forget. Then circle it and in the margins of the notes at the end of the book indicate the page number where you circled important text, you can also fold the corners of the pages. And after a few years, you will be able to very quickly recall all the important thoughts of the book in your memory by quickly flipping through it and reading the previously selected fragments. If the book is electronic, then make a text file with the most important notes and store it in the same folder as the book.

Circle the chapters that you have read completely and sign. Also sign the chapters that you skimmed over, i.e., using the speed reading technology. It is important to sign the chapters you have read so that after a few years, do not read again what has already been read if you need to. Additional Information. Also, if you need information from a book you read, you knew where to look for it.

Do not use speed reading in fiction, because the classics are read for pleasure. Fiction should be read at a pace that suits your relaxed state to rest and unwind. Don't spoil your fun fiction fast reading.

6. The 50/50 rule

We live in an era of consumption, words such as: shopping, shopaholic have taken root in our lives. I very often see among friends and relatives how many people buy completely unnecessary things and only because they are cheap. And then these things are moved to the attic or to the pantry and lie there until they are thrown away. How to call it: Buying junk you don't need.

Think about how much money we spend on unnecessary things? Now think about how much money you invest in yourself to become better, in your self-development? Buying junk and unnecessary things is a bad investment and it reduces both your financial wealth and your free time. And investing in self-development is a good investment in your future, which pays off and helps you achieve success faster.

When you develop and gain new knowledge, you understand how to quickly achieve success in the chosen direction. Feel the difference? Excessive consumption leads to degradation and stagnation. And investing in your education leads to growth and success. That's the difference.

I'll ask a very simple question: Estimate how much money you spend every month on car maintenance, unnecessary shopping, restaurants, entertainment, clubs, alcohol, etc.? Don't read any further until you estimate the cost of your entertainment for the month.

Appreciated? Now estimate how much money you invest in your self-development in order to achieve your goals and achieve success? How many books did you buy and read? How often do you go to trainings, seminars, seek advice from professionals in your field?

In order for life, in addition to pleasure, to have a movement towards success through self-development, a balance is needed. How to balance entertainment and self-development? Apply the simple and effective 50/50 rule. The 50/50 rule means that when you have money for entertainment: Restaurants, new purchases, improved quality of life, spend as much on your education as on entertainment, i.e. 50% rest and 50% development. This rule can greatly accelerate your career and personal growth.

Are you going shopping? Visit the training. All expenses in half - 50/50. Did you go to a restaurant? Attend a seminar. All expenses in half - 50/50.

7. Audiobooks

Do you know the advantages of an audiobook over an electronic or text book? It is enough to go to the ozon.ru online store to understand that audiobooks are not in demand. Many do not even realize the benefits of audiobooks and therefore do not buy them. Now I will tell you more about when to listen to audio books and their advantages over text books.

Benefits of Audiobooks

There are 2 most informative channels for obtaining information: visually or through speech. Visual information requires a strong concentration of the gaze, i.e. read, watch and simultaneously perform some physical actions difficult. After all, most actions in life require a look to make them correct, accurate and fast. And audio information does not require any concentration of the gaze, you can perform the usual physical actions and simultaneously receive information through hearing. Therefore, they listen to the radio in the car, and not the TV, because in order for the driver’s actions to be correct, concentration of the gaze on the road is needed.

Here's the difference between audiobooks and textbooks: When you're reading, there are very few things that can be done in parallel, because most physical activities require a look. BUT when you listen to an audiobook, you can do a lot of physical activities at the same time. Thus, you can combine 2 things at once: physical activities and listening to an audiobook.

For example, you can cook food and listen to an audiobook. You can disassemble the table and listen to an audiobook. Any physical activity: cleaning, repairing, cooking, playing sports, etc. can be done in parallel while listening to an audiobook.

How to listen to audiobooks

The question may seem very simple, but I'll ask it to you anyway. The question is: "How to listen to music when you walk down the street?" Answer: “you put on your headphones and walk while listening to music.” With audiobooks, do the same as with music - if you walk, you can also listen to audiobooks through headphones by downloading them to your player or phone. Question two: "How to listen to music in society, so as not to disturb others?" Answer: Through headphones. Do the same with audiobooks. When people are around you, you can listen to audiobooks with headphones in order not to disturb them.

Text to sound

And now I will share with you a unique idea that few people know about. Do you think it is possible to turn an electronic text book into an audio book, i.e. translate text into sound? You probably know that pieces of music are played by notes. You can also make an audiobook from text. You will have a question: “It turns out that you need someone to read the book aloud?” I will answer: “No. The computer will read the book at a speed hundreds of times faster than human reading speed.

And now, how to make an audiobook from a text. You need to install 2 programs: Balabolka and Talker. You copy the text into the program and it creates music files that you can listen to. Thus, it becomes possible to listen to all recordings in electronic form. Personally, I create audiobooks from text using the Talker program, but first I install the Balabolka program, because it has the engine necessary for the Talker program to work.

8. Choose the best books

To get the most out of reading, give preference to only the best books. How to choose the best book? Take a look at a large online store, for example, ozon.ru, there is a rating of books from readers, sort the books by popularity and proceed with the further selection:

- Read the table of contents(for most books, the first pages are posted on the site for informational purposes);

- Read book reviews;

Try to find out how long does the author write, the bigger, the better

Make sure that author familiar not only with the theory, but also in practice, he himself studied this issue well. If the author has no practical experience, then think about it: Can a trainer who has read 1000 books on martial arts, but did not participate in competitions, be able to teach you karate?

- Assess if there practical advice in the book. If there is no practice, then such a book may be useless. For example, imagine you want to open your own business and you have 2 books in front of you: One is an economics professor who has never been an entrepreneur, and the other is written by a real entrepreneur and contains practical recommendations. What book will you buy? There are many areas of activity where, without practical experience, it is impossible to understand the real order of things. Theory without practice is like learning karate from a book on the couch.

9. Speed ​​reading courses

The skill of speed reading becomes more important every day, as the amount of information in the world increases. The principle of speed reading is to choose what is important and not read the rest. The point is that there is not enough time to read all the books of interest, so it makes sense to learn the most important from several books than to read everything from a single one.

Of course, it is possible to master speed reading without courses, but compared to courses or training, individual study can seem boring and difficult, and you will abort this initiative. The courses will be more interesting than studying on your own. The use of speed reading makes sense in non-fiction. Therefore, if you read classical works for pleasure, you should not disturb the harmony by speed reading.

10. Exhibitions

Visit all thematic exhibitions, where you can meet the most successful companies and learn from their experience. Come up and be interested in the technologies used, you can not even hide that you are doing the same, but consider everyone as a partner. because if you cannot complete the order, you can recommend your partner or cooperate as a subcontractor on mutually beneficial terms.

The peculiarity of the exhibitions is that in one place you can communicate with the first persons of the enterprises. Many directors and heads of companies personally attend exhibitions and communicate with visitors. In addition to invaluable experience in conversation, you can find a business partner.

11. Coaching or personal consultations

This is individual training from a specialist in a particular field. If a specialist can really teach something, then this is one of the most effective methods self-development, because you can learn details that are not described in books and magazines, i.e., reveal the topic of interest to you more deeply.

And what is very important, to get a competent view from the outside, because a person makes many mistakes, due to excessive self-confidence in his rightness, because in many situations it is harder for us to admit our mistakes than to go the wrong way. From the side of the error is always more visible.

12. Read the most relevant at the moment

Gone are the days when books were in short supply and information was scarce. Now, on the contrary, there is an overabundance of information. Many people have a huge number of unread books on their bookshelves. Do not read books or magazines from beginning to end. Choose only the chapters that interest you and read only them. Our The brain is designed in such a way that it better remembers the information that we need now.. And the more we need information in this moment the better we will remember it.

There is also feedback, many people read all sections in books and magazines, with the hope that perhaps this will be useful in the future. But remembering the principle of the brain, we can say with confidence that such reading is not productive, since we do not remember information that we do not need now and, moreover, we will not apply it in the near future, i.e. we will not fix it in practice. It is like a container of water with a hole, no matter how much water is poured into the container, it will still flow out and the labor will be in vain.

A particularly large surplus of potentially unnecessary information is found in glossy magazines. It should be remembered that by reading an unhelpful article, we miss the time that could be spent reading another more useful one.

13. Conferences, seminars, master classes

Conferences, seminars, master classes are regularly held in many areas of activity. Participation in such events may be free of charge. Information about upcoming events can be found on the websites samopoznanie.ru and vsetreningi.ru

Additionally, you can type in the search engine phrases:

- “Conferences + class. Phrase"

- “Seminars + class. Phrase"

- “Master classes + class. Phrase"

Where "cl. Phrase" can be the following: "the name of your city", "the subject of your activity". For example, “conferences on psychology” or “seminars in Samara”.

14. Trade magazines

These are magazines dedicated to your activities. They can publish new ideas, successful examples of implementation. Interviews with other experts will help you gain invaluable knowledge very quickly. Subscribe to industry magazines to keep up with new ideas and opportunities in an ever-changing world.

You can find out what industry magazines exist by visiting an industry exhibition, which usually has pavilions with thematic literature. And they can also be found on the Internet by typing the phrase “magazine” + key queries on your subject in the search, for example: “construction magazine”, “fireplace magazine”, etc.

15. Video tutorials

There are now a huge number of training courses on the Internet, which are a series of lessons in text or video formats. These are the so-called tutorials. The advantage of training video courses is that the information is prepared by a specialist in their field and structured, so there is no need to waste time searching from different sources.

Tutorials are free - as a rule, this is a small demo version so that you can evaluate the level of a specialist and paid ones, they contain the most full information. The courses are distributed on dvd disks or downloaded from the authors' websites.

Training video courses differ from books in that they focus on practice. For example, a photoshop course contains video tutorials in which the author shows on video all his actions on the computer, which is much easier to understand than reading such information from a book.

Here are examples of sites where you can find a huge number of training courses, including free ones: info-hit.ru, video-kursov.net. You can find other sites if you type in the search engine: "Training video courses."

16. Blogs, websites

Many leading experts maintain their own blogs in which they share their opinions and notes. Find and browse the blogs of experts on your subject, many of which have the ability to subscribe to updates.

17. Forums

If you have questions about your field of activity, then many of them, especially of a technical nature, can be solved by writing about them on the forum. Thematic forums on the Internet - a great opportunity quickly resolve issues of concern in many areas.

18. Online consultations

To get an advanced answer to your question, you can use a paid consultation. There are special services in which a huge number of specialists in various fields are represented. There you can get both free and paid consultation.

To find such sites, type in the search engine the phrase "online consultation". The advantages of such services is that you can quickly find an authoritative specialist, see reviews, his past answers, work experience and much more, which you agree is very important. An example of online consultations: liveexpert.ru

19. Mailing lists

Many may have associations associated with spam. In fact, mailing list directories are not associated with spam. To receive emails from the mailing list, you need to subscribe. There will be no letters without a subscription, and if you need to unsubscribe, this can always be done very simply by clicking on the "unsubscribe" link in the letter or in the personal account of the mailing list.

A lot of reputable specialists conduct their email newsletters. A large number of these authoritative specialists conduct thematic mailings on special services. Namely, on these services you can find and subscribe to a huge number of industry mailing lists in just one evening. There are 2 most popular services email newsletters with a huge number of reputable specialists: smartresponder.ru and subscribe.ru. Just go to the "newsletters" section on these services, then "catalog" and subscribe to the most interesting ones for you.

You can even subscribe to all thematic mailing lists. And when I receive letters from the authors, it will be very easy to refuse - by clicking on the "unsubscribe" link in the letter or in the personal account of the mailing list. By receiving thematic newsletters from experts, you can keep abreast of new trends in your field of activity, as well as gain invaluable knowledge from experts in their field.

20. Social networks

Almost all bloggers and influencers have accounts in in social networks. Social networks will allow you not only to learn about the latest publications of the author, but also to follow his life. The lifestyle of successful people will help anyone to learn from this experience and improve their own lives faster.

So that you have a guideline to strive for - subscribe to the news of the most authoritative specialists in your field on social networks, add them as friends. And now you will have the opportunity to learn in much more detail from which bricks success in your activity is built.

To find authoritative experts in your field, go to an online bookstore, you can use the same ozon.ru and find books in your industry, list the authors of these books. Now, by typing in the search engine, the full name of the authors, you can find their social accounts. networks. Subscribe to all reputable specialists in the social. networks.

There are also social media thematic groups. You can find thematic groups using the group search, which is available in almost all social networks. networks. Enter keywords related to your field of activity in the search box of the social network and join the most interesting groups to keep abreast of interesting materials and the latest news.

21. Youtube

A huge number of authoritative specialists create videos. The video format in many areas of activity allows you to better convey the essence of the matter. There are authors who make excellent educational videos, but do not write articles, so the information on the video hosting may be unique and cannot be skipped, because it may not be available elsewhere.

You can find reputable specialists in the same way as in social networks. networks by typing keywords related to your industry in the youtube search. Video will allow you to combine several things at once, for example, you can watch and do something else at the same time. For example, watch a thematic video and eat. Or play sports and watch videos. Find and subscribe to channels of reputable specialists in youtube.

P.S. If you have any difficulties or questions on the article you read, as well as on the topics: Psychology (bad habits, experiences, etc.), sales, business, time management, etc., ask me, I will try to help. Skype consultation is also possible.

P.P.S. You can also take an online training "How to get 1 hour extra time". Write comments, your additions;)

Subscribe by email Add yourself

Inner changes never happen on their own - they are either the result of long work or a response to external events. But, if a person's self-consciousness is not developed, at first he may not even notice what is happening to him. Sometimes we do not even see our own changed behavior until others tell us about it. Therefore, the changes that we have been striving for so much sometimes seem unexpected to us.

For many people, turning events come as a real surprise - and after all, they have been going to this for so long. And only an individual with a developed self-consciousness sees all the small stages of his path, notices the slightest details and progress. Everyone who strives for self-improvement should be able to do this - consciously develop their personality, see even the smallest changes in themselves, programmatically approach the development of new qualities, skills and abilities.

To do this, it will be useful to use the system of personal self-development, which will help improve your "I". It consists of five consecutive steps:

1. Goal setting - the "I" you are aiming for. We draw in front of us the image of the person we want to become. It should be a carefully thought-out, drawn to the smallest detail portrait of the future self - work, personal life, physical and intellectual development, getting rid of bad habits and the acquisition of useful ones.

This image is needed not only to see the goal, but also for inspiration. Thinking about our future improved self, we activate internal energy, fueling our actions with positive emotions.

AT this case It is very important to get out of the trap of expectations of others. All our lives we have to push back our dreams under the pressure of other people's ideas about our life - parents, teachers, society. Over time, we ourselves do not understand what we want - we are so used to obeying external thoughts. And first of all, it is necessary to weed out the raid of other people's beliefs and see the ideal self in front of you the way you represent it.

2. Analysis of the current "I" - what kind of person are you at the moment, what are your strengths and weaknesses, how others see you. By comparing your goal with the real state of affairs, you can understand the path that lies ahead.

One of the important tasks of this stage is to compare the perception of your own personality with how others see you. Why? The human psyche is characterized by one trick - it justifies the negative character traits and bad deeds of its owner, eventually creating a distorted image of itself. This is done to protect the psyche from stress and damaging ego factors - no person likes to put up with their shortcomings.

The way out is to pay attention to the shortcomings of your friends, because most often we communicate with those who are close to us in spirit.

3. Drawing up a plan for self-development. To do this, you need to consider your strong and weak sides , understand the actions through which you can become better.

At this stage, it is important to focus on the process of self-improvement itself, and not on the results. Otherwise, you will perform all the necessary actions without joy, with inner tension. It is much more expedient to organize the work in such a way as to enjoy not only the consciousness of one's progress towards the goal, but also the movement itself.

Find the factors that make you unhappy and try to get rid of them - this is the first step towards a perfect personality, because a dejected person is not able to make efforts for self-development.

Remember: in order to achieve results, you need to give up activities and habits that slow you down, be able to overcome yourself. For example, stop using social networks or drinking beer on Fridays. Bad habits take up a lot of time and energy that could be spent on good things.

Identify several aspects of development for yourself and move in different directions at the same time so as not to get hung up on one. Then the pain from failures will be less, and the joy from achievements, on the contrary, is summed up. Read " Wheel of Life Balance».

4. From theory to practice. We begin to implement the methods that we prescribed for ourselves in the previous step, develop good qualities, get rid of bad ones, train new skills and abilities.

Well, you have made a plan to improve your personality and now it remains only to implement it in life. To do this, you need to constantly practice, consolidating new skills so that they turn into habits. Your new style of behavior and communication should become part of your personality, infiltrate you to the state of instincts - and for this, at first you will have to constantly control yourself. But do not be afraid - the first successes will inspire you, you will be inspired and motivated to continue further.

Useful advice: before going public with new skills, practice well in comfortable conditions - for example, at home, where no one sees you, there is no fear of failure, embarrassment, distractions. Many people think that since behavioral models are aimed at interacting with people, then it is best to work them out right away in “combat” conditions. This is not so - it is not in vain that the actors first rehearse the performance without spectators. A well-established system of actions will not let you down if you find yourself in a stressful situation or forget from embarrassment what to do.

5. Establishing personal contacts with people, searching for partnerships and mutual support. Personal development is impossible without maintaining strong social ties with the group you aspire to belong to - whether it be a business environment, sports colleagues or like-minded people looking for a path to spiritual enlightenment.

Alone is always difficult, so you need to find a person or even a whole company that shares your views on self-improvement. Together it will be much easier to overcome this path, share opinions, give each other advice. It is very helpful to connect with people you would like to be like.

In addition, when another person is involved in your cultivation process or whole group, this increases the degree of responsibility, and it will be more difficult to deviate from the intended path.

***
The process of self-improvement is sequential - in order to become what you dream of, you must gradually overcome all five steps of development. It is very important to be optimistic about everything that happens to you, because positive attitude is a kind of fuel that helps to move forward despite disappointments and setbacks. Remember that nothing comes easy and nothing comes easy. On the way to improving your personality, many actions will have to be repeated over and over until you master new skills and develop good habits.

No less important are the inner qualities, with the help of which bridges of mutual understanding with other people are built - sensitivity, compassion, goodwill. Positive communication with others is the second component of the force that moves us forward.

The third component is awareness, meaningful actions, each of which is aimed at achieving the goal. By intelligently following one's path, one develops consciousness. And the more it is developed, the easier it is to notice your shortcomings and eliminate them, as well as to see positive changes and continue to work in the right direction.

These three qualities are obligatory - they will help to maintain a good emotional mood, build friendly relationships with people, develop consistently and deliberately. But in addition to them it is necessary stock up on purpose and patience - and then nothing can stop you on the way to your new perfect personality.

If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.

Step one. Self-development plan for the year

in front of you rough plan how to change your life in 365 days. Of course, this is just a template. Each person is individual, so this plan can be shortened or, conversely, supplemented.

So let's get started! You have 365 days before you to change your life.

Dedicate the first month to working on self-knowledge.

What is self-knowledge? Self-knowledge is the understanding of oneself as a person. It begins in infancy and continues throughout life, being formed under the influence of the external world and the knowledge of the inner "I". Self-knowledge is unique to man. It helps to answer the questions: “Who am I?”, “Why do I live?”, “What is the meaning of life?”, “Why do I not develop relationships with loved ones?”.

Self-knowledge is more inherent in creative and thinking people. Without the torments of self-knowledge, there would be no brilliant scientists, actors, artists. But ordinary people also turn to self-knowledge when they find themselves in a crisis situation. Assessing the circumstances, a person tries to understand himself, to understand what could lead him to this problem, looking for the motives of his actions and, as a result, finds a way out of this black life band.

To find your true self, honestly answer the following questions:

What do I know about myself?

What do I think of myself?

How do I rate myself?

How do I feel about myself?

My real self-image: what am I really?

My ideal self-image: what would I like to be?

Mirror image of me: what do others think of me?

Study the Jogari Window: Looking Inward exercise. Find your strengths and weaknesses. Make a plan for what you need to change about yourself.

The second month is goal setting. Human thinking is different from animal thinking based on instincts. A person thinks about the meaning of life, tries to find his destiny. Therefore, in order to make your life meaningful, filled with meaning, you must set true goals for yourself. Goals will be your guiding light. And a separate chapter of our book will help you in setting goals.

The third month is getting out of your comfort zone. To change your life, you need to acquire new knowledge, new life experience and skills. All this can be mastered only if you leave the usual comfort zone that limits personal growth. In our book, an entire chapter is dedicated to how to change your comfort zone.

The fourth month should be devoted to mastering the science of time management - time management. To achieve your goals, you just need to learn the correct distribution of time. The life of modern people has become like an endless race: a nervous and long road to service, study, production, emergency work, part-time jobs. The time for personal life never comes. As a result, at the finish line of this race, instead of tempting prizes, the runners will experience nervous breakdowns, fatigue, and depression. If this life scenario does not suit you, then listen very carefully to the chapter of our book on time management.

Changing your life, you should change your image. Dedicate the fifth month of your work on yourself to this. Change your personal space so that it is comfortable and pleasant for you. Using the teachings of Feng Shui, put the "material" and "energy" order in the house. Learn image theory and work to match your insides with your outsides.

When changing your image, ask yourself questions: why should you change your image? Why are you no longer satisfied with your appearance? Perhaps you have already changed your social status, made a breakthrough in your career. Or, maybe, on the contrary, it is worth changing the image in order to position yourself more expensively, to create the necessary reputation, name? A correctly set goal or motive will help you find the right way to change your appearance.

You can use another exercise.

Take a sheet of paper, divide it into three columns. In the first column, write down what qualities you want to have (for example, you want to become a brighter personality, more relaxed, or, conversely, businesslike). In the second column, write down what you need to look like this. In the third column, write how this can be corrected. If your knowledge is not enough, you can contact the stylists.

But don't make superficial changes. A business suit will not turn you into a businessman or a business person, but a Gucci dress will turn you into socialite. You should not enter the image without having an internal mood for this.

The sixth month - we study material on creating positive thinking. The ability to think positively is the path to freedom, success, new life, personal growth. Each person can be loved, successful and happy. What we have today is the result of our yesterday's thinking. Our future is the result of our thinking today. That is why, if we want to change our lives for the better, we just need to learn positive thinking. After all, it is the positive, optimistic mood of our thoughts that causes positive emotions and feelings. And those, in turn, have a great effect on our health, energy, help to put into practice even the most, at first glance, unrealizable desires.

Learning to think positively is a lot of work. Both our ancestors and our contemporaries wrote about how to master this science. Even religions teach a person not to indulge in despondency, considering it a great sin. A lot of useful information about the development of positive thinking is presented in the books of José Silva, Elizabeth Haych and Roberta Dilts. Read them.

Seventh month. So six months of your training have passed, allow yourself to rest. Rethink what you've learned. Relax and enjoy life, pleasant moments.

Eighth month. Review your personal relationships, evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, maybe it's time to change something in them?

Relations between people can be compared to a living organism that needs constant care. This is the area of ​​life where responsibility for what is happening is valued exactly in half between partners. There can be no struggle in a relationship. If you win, then the partner loses, therefore, the relationship remains the loser. But if the relationship wins, both partners win.

You have to learn how to build relationships by working on yourself. It is impossible to make your partner happy or unhappy, because not in all areas of his life you will influence him and help him, and even more so, you cannot change a loved one. Some still manage to fashion their idea out of a life partner, but this does not bring happiness to a partner, therefore, it does not bring happiness to relationships either.

Relationships between people are an indicator of the inner world of a person. If the relationship began to go wrong, it means that the breakdown has occurred within you. Your partner is your mirror. Before making claims to your companion, look at yourself from the outside. If a person is harmonious inside, it means that he has harmony in relations with others. While working on your qualities, observe the reaction of your life partner. If it starts to change, then your work on yourself is going in the right direction.

And remember, do not transfer career problems into personal relationships. If the negative received at work is vented in the family, then as a result there will be problems in both areas of life.

Devote the ninth month to the study of meditation. Every second in our wide world there are millions of events. New stars light up, the wind drives waves across the ocean, birds flutter from branch to branch, or just snowflakes fall from the sky. All things, both large and small, become part of the moment and merge into a single whole. And we are also part of this moment. Learn to live in the present moment. Don't miss it. Only by appreciating every second lived, we will realize the fullness of life and get a chance to move forward.

Learn simple meditations this month to get a taste of life. For example, if time starts to run away from you, breathe. Just take a deep breath, exhale. Feel the air fill your lungs. Pay attention to other senses: sight, hearing, touch. Listen to the world around you. How many sounds in it! This is the noise of engines, and the singing of birds, and the splashing of water, the creaking of trees, the rumble of aircraft. Learn to appreciate every second of your life!

Tenth month. During this period, it is worth practicing generosity and learning to forgive insults. Many of us associate the word "generosity" with material donations. But this is far from true. Let's think, maybe generosity is love?

If a person loves, then he is generous in his actions. He sees who needs his money, time, attention, care, and shares all this. Generosity originates in heart desire, openness, compassion, in the ability to listen. Giving gifts to others, we thereby show how much we appreciate and love them.

You can give not only something material, but also your time, your care, just a kind word. Often the other person just needs to be heard. And you, having spent your time talking with him and saying kind words at the same time, give the person hope and help.

Without generosity, there can be no good relationships in the family. And do not think that when I get rich, I will be more generous and attentive. Don't live for tomorrow. Your care is needed by your loved ones today and, perhaps, right now. Spend more time with your closest people.

And if it so happened that you were offended, then learn the art of forgiveness. Many of us do not understand why it is necessary to forgive traitors, offenders, liars. But forgiveness is the liberation of oneself from the burden on the soul. While resentment sits inside you, it has tremendous power over you, makes you suffer, constantly turns on unpleasant emotions inside you, and does not give you the opportunity to enjoy life. And if a person bears resentment in his soul for many years, then his body is in constant stress, resentment destroys a person from the inside, causing strokes, heart attacks, diseases.

Your offender will dominate you until you forgive him.

What does it mean to forgive? Forgiveness is the acceptance of the situation that has occurred, sometimes contrary to one's own attitudes. After all, you cannot change what happened, but it is in your power to change your attitude towards what happened. By forgiving the offender, you forgive yourself, and do not recognize the correctness of your opponent. This does not at all impose obligations on you in the sense that your relationship should remain at the same level. By forgiving, you are freed from the grievances of the past, finding energy for a new life.

Try this exercise. Sit in a comfortable position, close your eyes. Imagine you are on the beach warm sea, sand under your feet, and waves splashing nearby. Relax and, without tension, remember the old childhood resentment that still sits in your soul. Remember that little offended kid. Mentally take this child in your arms and try to calm him down, convincing him that you will always be there now and will not let him offend. The baby will begin to smile more and more. But he smiles inside you, freeing you from a long-standing childish resentment. Say goodbye to your baby and open your eyes. Repeat this exercise several times, and you will feel that it has become easier for you.

And for the future, take on board the rule: you need to live without offense. Moreover, a person cannot be offended, he is always offended himself.

So the eleventh month has come, it's time to start studying financial literacy. Although you comprehend the science of self-development, financial well-being is still a necessary thing. Without money, a person cannot fulfill not only his desires and dreams, but also purely physiological needs. It is not worth comforting yourself with thoughts that you live no worse than others. Achieving financial independence is a very difficult matter, especially since parents do not teach it, do not pass it in school, and there is no single recipe for success and wealth. Start learning financial literacy by compiling family budget. This will give you the opportunity to spend your budget with the maximum benefit. Draw a table and indicate in it a list of items of your income, in another column - expenses. Compare numbers. It may be worth somewhere to cut costs or optimize them. Think about where you can invest the rest of the money. Read the literature on personal budgeting and spending. Once you have a schedule, learn to stick to it.

Ahead is the last, twelfth, month of your training. Month of summing up and drawing up a plan for the next year. Evaluate your achievements, what did you achieve, what is still worth working on, what can you learn?

Escape plan The prisoner constantly felt like a plaything of fate, and this feeling - the readiness to rely on the will of fate - combined with the ever-increasing apathy that seized the man in the camp, deprived him of initiative, forced him to evade his own decisions,