Take It Personally

How often have you heard someone tell you “not to take it personally”? This is often the disclaimer given when negative or insulting comments are being spoken about you. You may be tempted to dismiss negative comments simply because they conflict with the image you would like to have of yourself. While you can’t mindlessly believe everything a person says about you either, you might want to selectively absorb pieces of information and use them as fuel for motivation. If several people in your life have mentioned that you seem to be lacking in purpose, or you’re too timid, shy, unconfident, or any other unflattering description – ask yourself why they might have this impression of you. If only one person feels that way the idea may not hold merit, but if several people all seem to have the same impression of you, there may be something worth looking at there. Think about these comments objectively and ask yourself whether they might contain a grain of truth. Make a list of the unflattering things people have said to you (or you frequently say to yourself). Then go down the list and honestly assess whether they hold merit. Some of them probably won’t, and you can cross those off the list. The others, however, hold a big key to your personality – and you are in control of those things! If you discover areas of your personality or habits that could use some improvement, use the feedback you’ve received to make positive changes in your life. You don’t have to remake yourself in one fell swoop – just start working on changing them little by little. If you’ve got a pessimistic attitude, begin trying to see the best side of each situation or opportunity. If you lack confidence, begin building a stronger belief in yourself and your potential. Not only should you take your personal development seriously, take your goals and aspirations personally! It’s helpful to be objective while defining your goals and preparing your strategy, but the importance of your goals in the big picture of your life should be a very personal matter indeed. Take it seriously, and take it personally. If you experience a setback, question why it happened. Did you try to take a shortcut instead of giving your full effort to a task? Did you make mistakes that caused a setback to occur? If so, internalize those insights and use them to avoid similar mistakes in the future. Personal development and goal achievement alike are very much a process of evolvement. You first must open your mind to the possibilities, learn through self-discovery, take action and continually test your limits. If you take both of these processes personally, you will hold them close to your heart and place immense importance on them, which means you’ll keep working toward them as long as it takes to make them a reality. The more you work on yourself, the more motivated you will become to keep doing so. And as you improve as a person, so will your goals and dreams begin to grow larger and fuel your motivation to continue.