Personal Development, at its basis, is anything that allows us to grow into a lifestyle of our choosing. This is one of the most cherished goals among self-improvement practitioners.

There are some excellent methods available for achieving it. However, it is easier said than done, so here are a few hints and tips to get you started.

Clear the clutter from your life:

There is an excellent saying in the personal development field, “a tidy desk is a tidy mind”.

Is your living or working space always cluttered?

Your outer environment is a reflection of the way you think and feel and will give you strong clues about the state of your mindset.

It’s important that you start to order your environment to reflect the ordered life that you are building. Clear away unnecessary clutter from your surroundings. This may sound like a meaningless task, but you are sending a very clear message to your subconscious mind that you intend to get organised. When you begin to organise your living and working environment it allows you to develop the basic skills needed for re-organising your life.

This can be achieved through creating specific goals. Aim to structure your goals in such a way that each one builds on the other and ensure that they are not in opposition to one another.

Don’t be too set on achieving your goals in exactly the manner you planned.

A major factor in the non-attainment of goals is the inability to restructure plans and change direction when circumstances dictate these should be done. Remain flexible.

Focus on what’s going well not on the mistakes or failures:

Simply analyse any mistakes and learn the lesson they are trying to teach you. By staying focused on your failures or problems you are unconsciously creating more of them, or at least keeping them in your experience. Focus on the solutions or at least focus on the fact “you’re still in the game”. Consider any mistakes you’ve made as life lessons. Apply what you have learned from them and use them as references (of what not to do) in the future.

Make sure you follow through on your plans:

Persistence can accomplish things that nothing else can. How many times were you close to the end of the rainbow, and without even knowing how close you were, you quit?

You may be someone who has drive at the start of a venture but finds your enthusiasm waning as you progress, lacking the motivation that is needed to “keep you going”, during times of hardship. Those who persist, especially in times like these, are those who ALWAYS win!