Personal development is one of the essential things you will need for life, as every stage of life requires a better version of yourself. Personal development involves engaging consciously in activities that build your personal lives as individuals. It’s a way by which you improve your qualities and skills, achieve your goals as well as maximize your God-given potential. You need personal development in all areas of your lives, i.e., Relationships, Careers, Finances, and so on. Personal development comprises some vital stages. Most times, ignorance of these stages limits us and makes our progress slower. So let’s get started on these various stages.

The Big Question: “Where am I?”

Have you ever slept in your room and woke up in another location. At that point, several questions begin to attack your mind. One of the most dominating thoughts would be: “Where am I?” This question is more about location, destination, stage, and places. Most people are virtually unaware of their current location in destiny. They live life as it comes without asking significant questions about their progress. Where am I, is a question of your progress on the earth. It also bothers around, why did you arrive in this world at this time? Have you ever thought about: What am I living for? Where is my final destination? When can I conclude that I have arrived?

Discovering and Making Progress

Unfortunately, our society is a victim of a world system that does not encourage people to know where they are going and live consciously. Instead, the system wants to control people and rule them for its own purposes. People often are only “parts of a system.” That is why they got used to living automatically, working from morning till night until they are old, just spending their lives like this. It is easier to control these people as if they are a herd. A person who  knows the calling and purpose of his life reflects on the question, “Where am I going?” Here are the different stages of self-development in order to help you discover where you are going and make progress;

Awareness of Self:

Most people are at this stage. They are not aware or conscious of their life direction. They live in total self-denial, lack of self-discovery, and ignorance. Those who are not aware of themselves are not ready to make any conscious personal development about themself. There are the good and bad sides of this stage as it could be the awakening of some people while for some, they may remain in this stage as they fail to see beyond here; they get comfortable wallowing in self-denial, pity, and ignorance. The most remarkable feature of this stage is unfulfillment.

Consciousness/Awakening:

This marks the beginning of awareness. Conscious Personal development begins here. One of the features of this stage is self-discovery. At this discovery stage, you become more aware of who you are, your strengths, faults, qualities, and environment. Another feature of this stage is taking responsibility and facing your challenges rather than running away. Here, there’s a willingness to learn. However, fear, inadequacies, and lack of belief in self can make one stuck in this stage.

Reprogramming:

This involves a shift or a change in our mindset. You begin to realize that certain beliefs or programming hold you back, and you will begin to reprogram your minds. You upgrade your thinking patterns. This is vital in personal development because it determines how much progress you will make. It’s not enough to be awakened or conscious; you must change your behavioral patterns and systems of belief. As a Christain, you can reprogram your mind by the word and Spirit of God: “Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think.” (Romans 12:2 TPT)

Self-Acceptance:

One of the strong foundations for personal development is self-acceptance. It is the total approval of oneself regardless of strengths, weaknesses, faults, and experiences. It involves accepting what you cannot change and doing what you can about the things you can. One feature of this stage is being Authentic and not comparing but being true to yourself regardless of how you feel—creating room for forgiveness of faults and building strengths. Self-acceptance is a test to measure true change and thus personal development.

Being Responsible:

Here, you totally realize that you are responsible for the outcome of your lives, that your actions determine your personal development, and you must consciously work towards it. At this stage, you must be proactive and not reactive. No one is going to help you take charge of your life. But, you must take charge and face the challenges you face, plan and focus.

Plan:

This involves deliberately and carefully planning the steps to take to improve or become better. Have a vision of where you want to be in your personal development. Smart goals can come in handy here. Set your goals. Build systems around you to help you achieve them, create room for mistakes, and plan for every hour you spend. Be strategic and take it one step at a time.

Applying/Putting to Practice:

Here, Knowledge and information gained and skills acquired are put into practice. This is the most experimental stage in personal development. At the start, one might get pumped up about applying or practicing what has been learned, but feelings alone will not sustain the continuous practice. Here, one must be consistent, disciplined, focused, and keep in mind the vision they want.

Maximize your Potential:

Don’t get comfortable with the progress you make that you relax. Understand that there’s still more you can become. Personal development is a journey for life. Keep learning, improving, and becoming a better version of yourself. Consistency is key. Continue to upgrade your vision. Live purposefully, maintain consciousness, self-acceptance, responsibility, planning, and practice.

In conclusion, people who don’t know how they are created, where they are going, and where they are, live their life making grave mistakes, losing their peace, destroying their mentality, and failing to fulfill their callings. However, with personal development, you will be able to trace your step and start living your best life once again.