Self Improvement and Personal Development

If you have ever heard of or been a part of the NC conference and personal development initiative, you’d very much appreciate how that the self improvement movement in the United States is such a vast industry at this time, and one that has profoundly influenced a million and one lives already, and then some; constantly doing so on a daily basis. Someone said a couple of centuries ago that ‘life is a petty thing unless there is pounding within it an enormous desire to extend its boundaries’; and added to that reality is that in many occasions, the best way to realize that personal development is through self improvement.

It is an industry that perhaps has been alive for ages, but one that only came to prominence during the early years of the last century. It was Samuel Smiles who in 1859 published the first self consciously personal development “self-help” book, and stated very clearly that he believed ‘heaven helped only those who help themselves. An entire world and way of life has grown around that belief, and today the self improvement movement in the United States rakes in well over ten billion dollars annually.

Naturally, there are proponents of the idea, and of course, there are a lot of those who think that the link between social development and personal development is not a clear one, and certainly not sufficient to base ones entire life and livelihood on. Statements like ‘the only way you can get rich from a self-help book is to write one,’ and claims that asserted that there was no such thing as self help or self improvement have come and gone, and there have been people who went either way with their ideas; but the truth remains that there are people who have made a living from both professional and personal development, and who continue to do so every day in the United States.

I personally have my questions and doubts about the fad, but I also believe that self esteem and personal development are so intricately entwined that one cannot dwell outside of the other. I do also believe that the total human being is only made complete by the fact that there are other humans around who contribute to the success that they make of their lives. It all boils down to the fact that no human can exist as an island; self improvement or whatever else there is out there may work to some degree, but you need the contributions that other people make into your life.

So what, I have a lot of respect for the center for plastic surgery and what they are doing with personal development in the United States, but I think people all around need to realize the truth. I am a self-made man, and in many areas of my life I do believe that ‘if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.’ But this certainly does not apply to every area of my life. I don’t know it all, and when I need help I call on the professional who really is versed in the ways of the specialty I am at a loss of, and I let them get to work with me. That is how self improvement and personal development have always been meant to work.