For the longest time, I have been pondering on this, Is self development a journey or a destination?
Why does everyone have something to say about it, is it really as easy as we have been made to believe?
Is it something I can choose to do at will because I want to do it?
And then I remember the story of Peace, my next door neighbor.
She is a young lady who struggled to find her place in the world. She is mostly confused and lost. Life had no meaning when it comes to her because she doesn't even know what to do with her life!
For years, she was in that same state, until she met a young man who was really doing well for himself.
He knows how best to manage his time, he is making money legally on the social media space, he is developing himself and the results were so palpable.
She kept watching him from afar for a very long time and she finally decided to get close enough. She ended up paying for one of his consultation session atleast, she just wanted to see if something can change with her also.
Oh dear!
That was the beginning of Peace journey.
It was like a veil was removed from her face, and now she can see.
She did some introspection and self reflection and then set some goals for herself and she intentionally started working on them.
This lady started reading books, not just ordinary books o, self help books, something you can never find her doing before.
She started paying for online courses. It was really weird, because Peace use to be the one who see all courses as expensive and a waste of money (even the not so expensive ones).
In months, we started seeing a drastic change in her behavior, she looked more rested, she seems to know exactly what she wanted and she is going for them fully.
Her confidence level rose to another degree and the future looks more beautiful from her lenses.
But that is to not say she was without challenges, there were times when she kept questioning if she had really changed or if everything was just a facade.
There were times she cried herself to sleep because she doesn't even know what the next step is all about.
She had fear of failure, but In all of these, she still continued unwavering.
When it comes to self development, it is more about the journey than the destination.
It is the the journey of discovering who we are, what we stand for, where we are headed that matters.
There is no finish line with self development, it is an ongoing process of growth and improvement.
Most time, it is the process of growth that brings about fulfilment and not a specific destination.
And even when we reach our goals, there is always more to learn and explore.
Peace journey continues, even as she hit some major milestone in her self development schemes, and this just confirmed that self development is more of a journey than a destination.
Image by me.