I’m on a mission. My mission (over the next month) is to help people who are interested in personal development get better, deeper, more sustainable results — faster — by actually knowing what personal development is.
THE MISSION
My mission, in a nutshell, is to help you…
I have a secondary objective, too. I see people “jump in” to personal development without knowing what they are getting into. This can cause multiple issues (which we will get to later).
Before jumping at the chance to do personal development because everyone else is doing it, because it sounds cool, or whatever, it might be good to pause and to consider what it is you are getting yourself into. Forewarned is forearmed, as the old saying goes!
So my secondary objective, in a nutshell, is to help newcomers to personal development…
Know what personal development is so they can make a more informed choice as to whether to take the plunge.
It isn’t for everyone, and timing is everything.
Ergo, these two things are my two-fold mission in this series of posts:
- Know what personal development is, so you can better decide whether to go for it.
- Be more effective at it, if you decide to give it a go!
APPROACH
The Least You Need to Know
First of all, know this: this will be a primer. It isn’t intended to cover every detail. I will refer you to various resources if you want to go deeper. This is more in the vein of “the least you need to know about personal development.”
Three Parts
As this unfolds, there will be three parts.
- Part 1: The What and Why of Personal Development
- Part 2: Understanding Personal Development (Four Models)
- Part 3: A Personal Development Strategy (and Resources)
Let’s zoom in on each part quickly to give you a view of what lies ahead.
Part 1: The What and Why of Personal Development
In Part 1, we will define what personal development is. A nice simple working definition. We will also talk about why it is important to understand what personal development is. Remember above where I said that doing personal development without knowing what it is may cause some issues along the way? Here, we will dive into the why of that.
Part 2: Understanding Personal Development (Four Views)
I think Part 2 may rock your socks. That’s what I’m going for, anyway. I’m super-excited to share it with you. Imagine an object that is so large and amazing that you can’t start to understand it or appreciate it unless you walk all the way around it, viewing it from different perspectives. Imagine, for our purposes here, that the large and amazing thing is personal development.
What are these four “scenic overlooks?”
1. The Adult Development Model — Here, I will be sharing the basics from chapter 2 of An Everyone Culture by Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey of Harvard University, and sharing my own perspectives and insights. I love their work because it is research-based, and it clearly shows what happens as you develop as an adult. Rock solid. That’s scenic overlook #1.
2. Levels of Development Model — When you leave the above scenic overlook, you will leave with the understanding that “adult development” involves “moving up levels of mental complexity.” (That doesn’t mean what you are probably assuming it does, by the way. Stay tuned!)
This “moving up levels of mental complexity” parallels very closely the work of Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson, internationally acclaimed scholars, teachers, and authors of the Enneagram (a tool for understanding one’s self). In chapter 4 of their book Understanding the Enneagram, they describe the “levels of development.” At scenic overlook #2, I’ll give you an overview of their nine “levels of development” model. You will appreciate what you saw at scenic overlook #1 in a more expanded way!
3. Five Attributes Model — Overlooks 1 and 2 help you understand what is changing. Overlook 3 helps you understand how you will experience the change — and how all that gets expressed in real life!
When we are at (or temporarily operating from) lower levels of development, we express five attributes that could be described as “negative.” As we successfully “do” personal development and move “up” through the levels, these five attributes are transformed into attributes you might describe as “positive.” Understanding these attributes and their expression makes it easier to observe — in-the-moment — the level of development from which you are operating. And what you can observe, you can change.
4. Four Aspects Model — Overlooks 1 and 2 tell you what is happening, what is changing as you “do” personal development. And overlook 3 helps you understand how you will express and experience the change via the transformation of five attributes. But where is all this changing… happening? Welcome to scenic overlook #4!
First, we will look at this from a high-level neuroscience standpoint. Then, we will broaden our view to include the four essential aspects of human beings: our physical aspect (P), our emotional aspect (E), our mental aspect (M), and that aspect which is beyond all three of those and is able to influence or guide them. This fourth aspect can direct our physical actions, our mental activity, and work with our emotions. Call it what you will, but here we will just say it is our “higher self” and mark it with a capital “S.” Personal development involves working with your PEMS in very specific ways.
We’ll be drawing on the works of Richie Davidson, Lou Cozolino, Eckhart Tolle, Machaelle Small Wright, and chapter 7 of Understanding the Enneagram.
- Scenic Overlooks 1 & 2: What is it that is changing when you “do” personal development?
- Scenic Overlook 3: How does the way we feel inside — and what we therefore express outside — change as we “do” personal development?
- Scenic Overlook 3: Where is that change occurring, and in what way?
Part 3: A Personal Development Strategy (and Resources)
You Need a Plan, Stan.
Part 3 will help you no matter whether you are participating in a personal development program in your organization (such as DDO work), participating in one of our courses or consulting with us, or are free-styling your own personal development efforts.
UP NEXT!
In the next post, we will stop by REI before we drive up towards those scenic overlooks. We will get our basic gear… Gearing up means we will clearly define what personal development is… and what it is not.
Make it a good week!
Otis
P.S. Know someone that might be interested in this? Pass this along!