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The Personal Development Blog recently posted a group writing project asking other bloggers to define personal development. If you’ve spent any time at all in the personal development blogosphere, you know that this term is very loosely defined. It can encompass things like productivity, personal finance, relationship advice, and physical health. All of these topics are great and very important for living a happy and fulfilling life. However, in my post, I really want to get at the heart of the issue.

Over the course of several days of noodling and struggling with a frame for this post, I realized that real framing question for me is…

What is the Purpose of Personal Development?
It seems to me that personal development is a means to an end. I’m not all that interested in developing myself just for giggles. In fact, I often find personal development painful and difficult. I realized that I persist at it because I have an underlying motivation. It should come as no surprise, given the topic of this blog, that, for me, personal development is…

A collection of tools, philosophies and disciplines designed to help individuals respond proactively to change.

What IS Personal Development
The underlying premise of this blog is that rapid change is widespread and persistent in our current society, and that it can wreak havoc on individuals and organizations that are not centered and focused. For me, personal development is all about helping individuals discover their true selves, or whatever Truth has relevance for them, and helping them gain the strength and insight needed to hold onto that unchanging center, even in times of chaos.

This isn’t a new concept at all. The Stoic philosopher Epictetus wrote that human being don’t have any control over their external circumstances. All that we can do is control our reactions to those circumstances. The Buddha taught his followers to maintain perfect equanimity – balance – regardless of external circumstances. For these teachers and other, True Happiness lies in honoring the True Self.

Personal development is just another way to find what is Real.

If you are interested in reading more definitions of personal development, check out the Personal Development page at the Million Dollar Wiki. Also, be sure to visit Gleb Reys’ great Personal Development Blog.

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