Spiritual growth or personal development? What is the difference? What is a successful person. Levels of personal development

What is personal growth? theories personal growth. Comprehensive and harmonious development of personality Reviewed by Vladislav Chelpachenko on Jun 22 Rating: 4.5

Hello dear colleagues and friends!

In our wonderful world there are a lot of things that cannot be called unambiguous, especially when it comes to the inner world. Personal growth- one of the most important paths that each of us has to go through, or at least try to do it, or decide what we did, but in fact do not even try.

How early or how late we understand the importance of personal growth depends on our whole life, its quality, its brightness, and the mark that it leaves behind.

What is personal growth?

Personal growth - a concept that does not necessarily have to have a positive connotation for others. This is, first of all, victory over your weaknesses, over fears, over grown phobias, over everything that prevents us from being what we want to be and what we can be.

Personal growth is, first of all, the conscious self-development of a person, his desire to become better, smarter, more active, more significant (maybe more popular) and more promising.

Personal growth This is the key to success in any business. This is the work that must be done by a person on himself. Personality is a living organism that must constantly grow and develop. How to do it right? Read more...

Theory of personal growth

There are quite a few theories regarding personal growth, most of them very subtle and complex for the unprepared mind. But there are also clearer positions on this subject, the simplification of which is not necessary at all. Let's start with them.

Behaviorism- this is the rare case when the simplest theory is called the most complex word. The very essence of this theory is very simple and widespread. According to her we all initially do not have any special, and most importantly, different potential from others. We are all equal as a selection! But this is only at the beginning of the journey. Our personal growth depends solely on the circumstances and factors around us, which, in the end, guide us along the path of personal growth.

No one will pull you by the ears in this life and no one will occupy you, except for yourself ... To achieve something in life, you need to break through the walls with your head!

Existential approach somewhat similar to the previous one, but the similarities are not great. In this case, at the beginning of the path, we still have nothing, and we gain everything in the process of self-knowledge, the search for spiritual harmony and, as a result, a new perception of everything around.

Well, perhaps the most common of the theories - "inevitably positive" , let's call it that. Based on it, each of us is full of a huge amount of potential, which is torn to freedom, but finds a way out only under appropriate conditions, and not always positive ones. The latter makes this theory really positive, because no matter how you twist it, growth will still take place! But let's not forget, this is also a theory. All teachings are good, but you need to act no matter what!

Everything that will be written below is directly related to how exactly you feel about this concept and how you perceive it.

Why is personal growth necessary?

Yes, but why? Why bother if life is good anyway? If any of you asked this question, then you are probably happy, satisfied with yourself and your position. Or, you are very old and think that growth is not a word for you.

Most of us, fortunately, have dreams. Not many of us know what exactly prevents them from realizing this dream. And only a few dream, notice their mistakes, and find the way to the dream. Moreover, it’s also funny that the word “dream” only evokes associations with something unrealizable among the first. Humility is the main indicator that we are standing still, that we are not growing (meaning not the Orthodox understanding as a virtue, but the lack of desire to achieve more).

This is the answer to the question "Why?" Personal growth is needed we are like air, we cannot refuse it, and at the same time remain ourselves, we will degrade, and very soon we will take last place in line for ... no, not for a dream - for normal life, for respect and showing interest from people dear to us.

Personal growth - this modern model the truth about the survival of the fittest! Only in our case, to survive is to lose, and to live is to win. Without personal growth, we will have to survive, not live.

How to develop personal growth?

There are a lot of different trainings, there are also a lot of those who conduct these trainings, promising you a quick transformation, thereby insulting you already at the first lesson. No, of course there are those for whom the usual “kick” is enough, those who were one step away from realizing the importance and necessity of growth, but did not dare to act. But there are not many such people. Forcing this procedure is far from always good, and not rare, there is no effect, and if there is no result, then you will not only not be able to start what you have planned, but you will also take a big step back. It's like losing 50 pounds in one month. We cannot change everything that we wanted in an instant, even if that very clarity, that insight that we needed so much, came into our heads.

The first step towards development– to admit that the current state of affairs is not what we so much desired, what we thought and reasoned about so much, not what. It is not necessary to derail your entire life, because there are probably a lot of pleasant moments in it. Personal growth is rarely comprehensive, many of us have strengths, and our growth as individuals, first of all, is manifested in the recognition of the weak sides, and the actions that will be aimed at strengthening them. After all, you need to confess, first of all, to yourself, and not rarely, only to yourself. Let your progress be a pleasant surprise for others.

Psychology of personality development

We all want to see positive connotations in all directions, even those where it is not entirely appropriate. It often happens that personal growth occurs against the backdrop of not at all positive moments. The same envy can become a strong impetus, and, as a result, a positive incentive, this is a fairly common practice.

It just so happens that those who ask this question rarely want growth from a good life, no, of course, there are some, but we will not talk about exceptions. Often, the question of personal growth becomes relevant when we are dissatisfied with something, when for years we are being eaten by the memory of some kind of personal failure, of something that we could achieve, but did not have time, or we were prevented from doing it. Or something less significant, but no less unpleasant.

Be that as it may, the desire to grow, in practice, always gives rise to discontent. It's quite normal. After all, they recycle garbage, make beautiful things out of it, so why don't we recycle our spiritual garbage into something more useful and necessary for us. It is very important to admit to ourselves that, sometimes, the desire to become better is suggested to us by one of the strongest failures. This is exactly the case when we can safely count on the capture of two birds with one stone. We can become better, and as a reward for this, get a conquered problem.

If you are going to be a less significant person than your abilities allow, you will be a deeply unhappy person!

Abraham Maslow

It also happens that personal growth is due to the emergence of a new goal in your life, on the way to achieving which you will inevitably have to. This goal may be a higher position at work, or your interest in a particular person. Love can be a very serious stimulus on the path to personal growth, it will be a great helper, and even an escort, if everything goes as you planned. If you do not agree, write in the comments, I will be glad to hear your opinion!

There are also those who grow up not for the sake of some goals, not for the sake of love and successful work. These are people who strive to live in harmony with the outside world, they put an emphasis on self-knowledge. For them, it is more important to rethink the approach to life's truths, to change the perception of everything that seems too sharp and alien, so that in the end, even problems seem to be part of success, or at least interesting and useful material for reflection. First of all, such people seek to get rid of internal contradictions, considering them the basis of all problems. This is one of the most competent and painless beginnings of the path leading to personal development.

Self-development of personality

In this case, to put it simply, self-development is the offline mode, the one most of us live in. We develop without controlling the channel, and we grow only in those places where our needs are directed. There are cases in which a person lived his life, and at the same time he never put emphasis on the question of developing himself in any of the directions. Everything just worked out by itself, everything worked out. But these are, of course, regular exceptions, and in percentage terms, there are very few such people. Therefore, it turns out that there are areas in which we are a kind of guru, and there are also those in which we remain small children who cannot even connect a couple of words, not to mention actions.

Not infrequently, self-development is facilitated by the problems that we are experiencing. Often these problems remain unresolved, but the very fact that we went through them either breaks us or makes us stronger. The path of personal growth is full of problem areas, and in order to grow, we must learn not only to receive, but also to give, to lose. There will never come a moment when the problems completely cease to concern us, but we can learn to accept them differently, as part of the path to a positive result - this will be the best indicator of personal growth.

Methods of personal growth

There are so many varieties that it probably does not make sense to list them all, the format of the article is somewhat different. One way or another, they all imply an action, or a series of necessary actions that need to be repeated at regular intervals. It's like a complex exercise they are only aimed, first of all, at strengthening the weak areas of your psychological state. Someone often repeats the right set of words to gain additional confidence, someone forces himself to change behavior in the situations necessary for this, thereby tempering the spirit. Examples and visual aids for various methods development of personal growth - mass. Most of them, oddly enough, act, but also the majority are of a local nature, and can help solve only some petty weaknesses. However, a competent set of such techniques can lead you to a qualitatively new level. But this will definitely require the participation of a professional, at least in the first couple.

Comprehensive personal development

IN modern society it is very difficult to develop comprehensively, and at the same time not make conscious efforts. No matter how hard we try to live correctly, there will always be lagging directions, this is normal. Although, almost each of us sees in this his own little tragedy, which, it seems, only we had to feel.

If you do not delve into all the subtleties of this issue, then there are not so many sides:

- Desire to be successful at work.

- The desire to be able to love and be loved.

- Desire to be healthy and strong in spirit.

- The desire to feel the determination and strength for any accomplishments.

All of these directions can be interchanged, depending on your personal priorities, but none of them contradicts the other. They are quite compatible, which means that it is possible and necessary to strive for their implementation. Another thing is whether you can attack on all fronts at the same time, or not. It is very important to assess your capabilities sensibly and objectively. An unsuccessful start to work on yourself can deprive you of the desire to develop this idea further, and for an indefinite period will make you stagnate.

Drivers of Personal Development

You can sum up some results, and identify the main factors that contribute to the growth of personality. I would also like to indicate a high proportion of subjectivity in the arrangement of determining factors. In my opinion, the main stimulants on the path to personal growth are:

1. Dissatisfaction with the state of affairs, sometimes one direction of your life, sometimes a whole group of them.
2. Target. It can be a person you fell in love with, or a job that you have long dreamed of - for example. The goals may be different.
3. Outside factors. Circumstances of a different nature, which in a relatively short period of time can make significant adjustments to your life.
4. Conscious desire to become better. Alas, this is extremely rare. Such is the nature of man, we are in no hurry to change anything, if everything is not so bad. But there are those in whom the desire for development lives constantly.

Moreover, the sequence of points is not random. The power of the driving force decreases starting from the first point. Consistency also lends itself well to measuring the "popularity" of the reasons many of us think about this question.

The impact of personal growth on success

Only strong personalities can be successful! Everyone can succeed, but not everyone can be stable, and often, after the ascent, a long and painful descent follows. Without personal growth, we will never achieve meaningful results, and at the same time not lose ourselves somewhere along the way to our goal.

Success is a product of personal growth, not its cause!

Every quality improvement we acquire results in a tangible result. The more we work on self-improvement, the greater the chances, and the less the distance to the goal that we have set ourselves. Speaking about goals, it should be understood that one single, even the most significant goal in your life, will not be able to help personal growth, because in order to fulfill it, you will develop in yourself only the qualities necessary to achieve it. It is very important to have accompanying aspirations, they will allow us to become more universal and help us move closer to uniform, all-round development. Haste is rarely useful, and in our case it is also useless. A complex of local, diverse aspirations, much more important than the pursuit of a ghostly dream.

Useful books on personal growth

There are a lot of books related to the issue of personal growth. Some of them are more useful and informative, some are less. Here are some (in my opinion) excellent works of different authors:

Morgan Scott Peck - "OFF THE ROAD"

“Our whole life is a “road” that we ourselves blaze. And it is very important that this blazing goes in right direction." - Enough interesting job which affects many aspects of personal growth.

Jim Rohn "SEASONALITY OF LIFE"

The book is about the fact that life is seasonal, like the course of the year. It tells how to find ways to resolve internal contradictions.

Alan Lakein "The ART OF PLANNING"

A book about how to master the ability to plan your life. Very useful information, since planning for further actions is very important in personal growth.

Paul Tillich "COURAGE TO BE"

The book is about how to learn to live, no matter what, despite all the difficulties and hardships.

Bill Newman "Soar with the Eagles"

The book is about how to maintain pride and calmness under any circumstances, how to live life without lowering your eyes.

And as a bonus another book by Jim Rohn

This is just a small part useful literature on this issue. Each of you will be able to find the right recipe for success, the main thing is the desire to grow, the rest will come by itself. Good luck and growth!

Elizabeth Babanova

There are thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of practices that we can apply in the process of our realization and personal development.

In this article, I will share with you five effective technologies that I use in the personal development category.

1. Implement at least one improvement in your life every day.

For example, get up 10 minutes earlier until you start getting up between 4 and 5 in the morning. Make your exercise harder. Do work that used to take 1 hour in 40-50 minutes. Eliminate idle time as much as possible from your day and constantly look for opportunities to improve what you are doing now.

If you are serious about personal development, then every day you let in a huge amount of information.

Unfortunately, 99% of knowledge just passes through us without settling deep. So without applying the recommendations from previously read books or listened to lectures, without feeling changes in ourselves, we continue to look for new knowledge that will improve our lives.

It is very important not to chase after new ideas if we do not feel a change in life from what we have already learned.

In order not to stagnate, apply the principle of continuous improvement in all areas of life. Thus, you will be a practitioner, not a theorist of personal development. 🙂

2. Set goals for yourself and confidently, step by step, realize them. You can read an example of how you can set goals in.

3. If your financial situation allows you, find a mentor who will help you move forward faster.

If you can't afford to work with a business coach or a top consultant in your industry yet, create a mastermind group of people of your level and help each other in the implementation of their projects.

4. Work with an accountability partner. It is very helpful to engage with an accountability partner when you decide to make a major change in your life. For example, if you have taken up a new diet and sport, very often you will have the idea to skip a workout or stop following. proper diet nutrition.

To significantly increase the chances of success, arrange with your friend or acquaintance from a sports club that you will help each other to maintain a given regime every day.

5. Find a way for yourself to express what you have learned. It can be blogging, even if it is closed, i.e. your only reader is you. Sometimes it’s enough just to keep a diary for yourself with your observations and experiences. When you express acquired knowledge in your own way, you pass it through yourself, and it becomes “yours”.

It can also be connecting with family and teaching loved ones what you have learned. However, it is very important when dealing with people to be sensitive and be 100% sure that they share your interests. Imposing your worldview will never cause respect and perception of your knowledge. 🙂

It was very difficult for me to choose the top 5 methods for this article, since I use dozens of different approaches in the field of personal development.

In future articles, I will continue to share technologies that I have tested on myself. I will read with interest the comments about your favorite techniques and practices.

Surely every person asks this question at least once in his life. What is personal development? And this whole system events that help a person to know himself, express himself, develop his own talents, increase competitiveness in the labor market, improve the quality of life and make any dreams and expectations come true.

If you have ever looked for a job using print media, the Internet, or ads, you probably noticed that reputable companies are often interested in getting an employee who is purposeful, serious, proactive, who knows how to work in a team. Employers make a big bet on the personal skills of the employee, and, consequently, personal development is, first of all, in our interests, since we are all sellers in a sense, and our skills, skills, time and experience for money are the goods, and from that how much you know how and know, will directly depend on the remuneration of your work.

And, nevertheless, personal development is purely your personal choice, and it is up to you to decide in what area you will develop, and whether you will develop at all. For one it's learning foreign language, for the second - sales manager courses. Today, everyone can find something interesting and useful for themselves. But, first of all, you should clearly define for yourself what exactly you want. Personal development opens up so many facets that you should not rush to make a choice. Here are some simple questions you should answer.

1. What is most important to you in your life, what is your main goal?

2. Why is it so important to you?

3. Why is THIS so important to you?

4. What are you willing to do to achieve the most important thing in your life?

5. What happens if you don't reach your goal

Think, reason, try to make a plan to achieve a particular goal, figure out what you are willing to sacrifice for it. Remember that personal growth is daily work on yourself. You will have to clearly realize that some things just belong to the category “because it is necessary”! If you are ready for this, well-deserved laurels await you ahead. And one more piece of advice: learn to be calm about criticism addressed to you. Often people around do not like those who stand out from their gray mass.

Personal level is a serious indicator today. The leaders of many successful companies are well aware of this and practice staff training in the organization, using a variety of psychological and educational tools. These are corporate trainings and seminars; thematic role-playing games, round tables. All this, of course, contributes to the increase professional qualities and, consequently, personal development.

Throughout life, a person should never stop in his development. In addition to intellectual and professional development An important component of human improvement is personal development.

The word "development" means a change in qualitative characteristics. Each person may have their own paths of personal development and their own stages of growth. It all depends on what level a person had at the beginning and what he wants to achieve.

Development personal qualities may be influenced by internal and external factors. External factors personal development can change a person, regardless of his will and awareness of the process. This includes upbringing, heredity, Environment. Internal factors are under the control of a person. Best Option development are internal factors, intrinsic motivation and desire to change oneself.

Books for personal growth and development

For personal growth and development, they help a person to reconsider his views and choose a new direction of personal movement. For your development, you can read the following books:

1. Stephen R. Covey “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Powerful tools for personal development.
2. Nikolai Kozlov "Philosophical tales for those who are thinking about life, or a merry book about freedom and morality."
3. Richard Templar Rules of Life.
4. Robert Bets Throwing away old shoes! We give life a new direction.
5. Covey Steven R. “The Eighth Habit. From Efficiency to Greatness.
6. Vyacheslav Krasko "The Year of Spring. Trip around the world a year long."

As briefly as possible about the most important

Today all over the world a large number of seminars and trainings on personal development. But what is personal development? It seems that the question is extremely simple. Indeed, if today I know more or can do something better than yesterday, then I develop. You can talk about intellectual, professional, physical or other development.

It is unlikely that anyone will doubt my development if I say that over the past three years I have learned Swahili and the geography of Africa, learned to shoot a rifle professionally and received a black belt in judo. In turn, this helped me develop financially. I made very good money Last year, working in the special services, I live in Africa and destroy those people whom my superiors point out to me. Moreover, I love my job very much - it allows me to realize all my knowledge, skills and abilities!

You say the example is extreme and rare? To give other examples: hundreds of thousands of officials are making careers in the government, which allows them to take more and more bribes and use the position for selfish interests. Hacker programmers master all new programs and break into bank accounts, create and launch destructive viruses. Motorists are developing more and more powerful models of cars, and everything dies in accidents more people. New industries are opening, and the environment is deteriorating. The list can be continued for a long time.

These are all examples of the development of man and society. Do not just think that I am against economic development or technological progress. But still you will agree that something is wrong here if the development of society makes people's lives more and more dangerous. What's wrong?

What is missing in order not to jeopardize the life of your own and other people with your development? In my opinion, the most important thing is missing - the understanding at the cellular level of the INTERDEPENDENCE of people from each other, people and nature as a whole. Slow and difficult process understanding of INTERDEPENDENCE is otherwise called moral or ethical development.

It is ethical development that is strategically and fundamentally important for a person and humanity as a whole. It is the moral level of a person that ultimately determines the level of development of society and the entire civilization.

At the same time, it is difficult for a person to see the rational benefits of moral development. What is in general moral development? Kindness, patience with each other, respect for other people's values ​​and opinions, compassion, generosity ... Well, but what does this development give me? And how can I develop morally? I understand how to develop intellectually, physically, professionally, but how to develop morally is not clear.

So two simple questions- what is the practical use of moral development and how is it - to develop morally? The questions are simple but difficult to answer.

Will a seven-year-old child understand the explanations of adults why he will need to study and develop for 10 years? Hardly. So, I dare to cautiously assume that the level of moral development of the vast majority of people - including politicians, businessmen, scientists - those who form the modern social paradigm, is somewhere in the age of twelve. But you must admit - and this is a huge historical progress! If we were morally a couple of years younger, we would have already destroyed each other with our precocious intellect.

Ethics, like life itself, is not a static concept, but a dynamic one. Just as physiologically, morally, a person goes through three main stages of development:
(1) Dependence - the first years of his life a person is physically dependent on his parents, his environment. Otherwise, he simply will not survive.
(2) Independence - puberty is accompanied by a desire to separate one's Self from the environment, "to gain freedom." Now everything that prevents the realization of one's desires is perceived as an encroachment on the freedom of the individual. (In this period, humanity is now).
(3) Interdependence - awareness of the unity of people, nature, space.

When the awareness of interdependence and unity saturates the cells of the human body like oxygen, then service to people as the main motive of activity is essentially compared to service to oneself. And that is what brings joy and satisfaction. But if this awareness has not yet come, a person sees and recognizes himself as separate from everyone and everything, then naturally, his value system is concentrated around his individual desires; serving others is seen as a stupid whim (in fact, like this article). Thus, the indicator of moral development is our values ​​and desires. Most often, these are very specific desires: call a sick friend, give up a seat on public transport, let a hurrying car pass, give alms, feed a hungry kitten, remove garbage from the lawn, etc. If these are your sincere desires, then realizing them, you experience joy. Is this not the practical benefit of moral perfection?

But let's not be naive. We live in an era of total freedom. The subjective desires of a person determine the value for him, and not some universal values ​​determine his desires. The desire to receive pleasure and benefit are the main incentives that influence our choice today. Which of these motivates moral development? Subjectivism, by its very nature, is poorly compatible with the idea of ​​universality. ethical standards.
And any conversations and sermons about what is good and what is bad have a very insignificant effect, and sometimes even the exact opposite.

I'll give you another example. What do you think - what would a normal twelve-year-old child choose, if he was free to choose for himself - a new electronic toy or going to school for new knowledge? The question is rhetorical. Only adults still decide for children. But “adults” decide for themselves and therefore ... acquire toys. Few people care about the moral component of these toys, the main thing is to make it interesting. Movies, books, shows, computer games can cultivate violence, but at the same time attract the attention of millions of people. Why? Because they are filmed, written, made bright and attractive, and sometimes, to be honest, talented.

And yet, is it possible for the satisfaction of subjective desires to lead to the development of universal values ​​in a person? In other words, what can stimulate the moral development of a person?

The answer follows logically from our previous reasoning is that:
a) performed with talent and beauty;
b) people are interested and attracts their attention;
c) might be helpful.

The only thing, in addition to everything else, it must contain a deep moral sense.

There is such a sphere that lives a parallel life with us, into which we often dream of diving deeper, because it attracts us, but most often there is no time. This area is called Art. At all times next to ordinary people the Creators lived and live - talented people whose "moral age", in our terms, was much older than the average. With their ethically mature and aesthetically beautiful creations - prose, poetry, paintings, music, architecture, directing, acting - they, without realizing it, developed a person morally. I think, to a large extent, humanity owes them the fact that so far they have not exterminated themselves. Studying, comprehending, penetrating deep into the recognized masterpieces of world art is the right way to develop the aesthetic and ethical.