Is self-development important? And why is self-development important? These are two fundamental questions. These are essential questions, and when I Started the LYG brand, I wanted a clear-cut understanding of why. So to begin self-development is so crucial because, without it, you can’t grow, and you can not attain the finer things in life without the ability to develop. You will be stuck in a rut, and your mental health may be compromised. Humanness is to evolve, and just think about your transitions through life from fetus, baby, toddler, child, pre-teen, teenager, young adult, adult, middle-aged adult, senior, back to dust. There is the explanation of physical development where your body, cells and skin transition with your hormones. That occurs naturally, but we are centrally in control of our minds, and even though it transitions, it doesn’t cycle through the same formation. And arguably, once you turn 25, your pre-frontal cortex has been developed, which is the rational part of your brain, which is why you make better decisions than when you were a teen. The point is that our brain, unlike our bodies, does not starve for food, our bodies provide us with physiological indicators our minds need to be nourished, but most of us ignore it. This shows up in stress and tension, such as migraines, back pains, stiff neck, muscle aches, etc.

Now that I have given you a brief overview let’s answer the question. Self-development is essential and relatively easy to attain. All you have to do is read articles like the one you are reading now. Or buy/rent books, listen to audio recordings, listen to YouTube, etc. Alternatively, you can enrol in classes, change careers, practice mindfulness and become woke. I just made it sound easy because it is straightforward in theory. However, this may mean less sleep, cutting down on TV time, cutting down on leisure activities, and rearranging your schedule to fit this in. But I promise you it is worth it; all you really need is 30 minutes to an hour a day to just work on yourself. You could even unplug; you could simply write down your goals tomorrow that you would like to achieve, reflect on an experience you had earlier in the day, and what you could do differently. While all the tools I mentioned are fabulous, you could start by reflecting, whether you journal it or type it. You could take an appraisal of your current life, your direction, and how you would like to improve it or tweak it. Self-development is really stemming from reflecting, reflecting and taking accountability. Followed by a commitment to do something better.

To answer the second question, why is self-development important? The answer is simple it elevates your quality of life. Keep in mind that we are all products of the environments we were raised in. Whether your environment was terrific or not, most of us went to school, and our personhood was crafted at school by socializing with others and our home lives. All of us live in our own bubbles, and the more we learn or get exposed to something, the more we develop (listen to CHANGE). For example, social cues are a great example of something that requires exposure; this is common in behaviourism. Some people can not pick up on social cues naturally and have to be taught how to behave depending on the environment. The issue with many working environments is that growth gets stifled and stale for someone because many companies don’t provide training, growth seminars, or personal development weekends. Unless you work at Starbucks, notorious for workshops and leadership retreats. As they understand, it is not about the coffee. The coffee is only 10%. It is more about the service, which people can provide fantastic service when they take pride in their work. Just like people can get creative when they are allowed to do so. Again this goes back to self-development, people learning new skills, and tapping untapped potential can give people a fresh zest for life they did not have previously.