Personal development, self growth, self improvement, self help or whatever you may like to call it-it refers to something of higher plane. I love to call it ‘Personal Development’ and would like to help you contemplate what actually ‘Personal Development’ is?

The so called life skills training companies want you to believe that it’s all about different skills-analytical, logical, leadership and communication (by communication skills they mean how fluent you are in English, as if the people who don’t speak English are not good communicators)

And yes, they also want you to believe that personal development is about group discussions, conflict handling, facing interviews and what to wear when going for one (You know-what color underwear gels with what kind of trousers kind of stuff), getting a job and that’s it!

The Truth of these (so called) ‘Training Companies’
Let me tell you something that happened with me while I was trying to get into coaching business.

I was amongst the ‘chosen few’ for the post of freelance personality development trainers and was supposed to attend a one day training and orientation program in a life skills training company in Noida.

I went there with a lot of curiosity and optimism because those people use one of the most respected and sacred word from Hindu philosophy as their company title. Considering the sacredness of that word, I had pretty much high expectations from them.

As soon as the session began, I found that they are not only disgracing that beautiful word but also making students believe that the shit they are teaching is ‘Personal Development’.

And this is not just about that company, it’s the story of most so called training companies. They are creating some useless curriculum which they call unique and selling it to the students and colleges in the name of personal development. It’s pathetic.

Here’s my take on this.
The people who are running these companies have no clue about personal development whatsoever, and these companies are operating as puppets in the hands of college authorities.

By college authorities I mean the people sitting in the chairs of directors, deans and chairpersons of colleges. They have got everything in place like land, money and political power but lack common sense and emotional connect with their students. They have only one thing in mind-How to make money out of students? Rude it may sound but that’s the truth.

The Myth of Positive Thinking
Next comes our positive thinkers, you know the new age people-who believe that positive thinking is the end of the world. They say “personal development is all about positive thinking”

Well, again-positive thinking is not personal development. Yes! The path to personal development passes through it but it’s just a milestone in the journey and not the destination.

Personal development is serious business. Only those who are willing to take the risk and that too without any guarantee of success can walk down this path.

So what actually is Personal Development?

Personal development is-BEING YOUR OWN MASTER.

It means that you are able to use your mind as a tool, you are able to think when you want. You are able to stop thinking when you want. You have TOTAL control over your mind.

Right now, your mind is controlling you. It is thinking negative or positive whenever IT wants. You have no power to stop it, it has made you impotent. It’s driving you crazy like a car that you have no control over. You are at its mercy. It runs when IT wants to, stops when IT wants to, goes wherever IT wants to.

It has become your master.

Personal development is reclaiming your mastery over mind.

Here is a straightforward route map to walk down this adventurous path.

Step One
You become aware of the fact that mind has become your master and realize the need to reclaim your position.

Step Two
You start working to convert your thinking from negative to positive.

Step Three
You start succeeding in thinking positive and gain a little control over your mind. At this stage you get glimpses of a higher world. A world you never knew existed.

When you get stuck and need to make a choice between option A and B, you ask for guidance-Should I take this job or that one, should I marry this person or not, should I become a doctor or a golfer?

You get to know what is right for you. You never go off track.
It feels awesome, but wait, you are still not there.

Step Four
You start watching your thoughts instead of getting identified with them and they start disappearing. It’s called ‘Meditation’.

You keep watching your thoughts, and then a day comes when there is none left. All of your thoughts disappear. Now you don’t think negative or even positive. You don’t ask which path to take. Now you can ‘see’ what is right for you. The need to think and analyze cease to exist.

You become the cosmic intelligence itself.

You become your own master.

That’s personal development.

Do you have it in you?

The guy who wrote this post is Avdhessh Arya: Avdhessh Arya is a personal development coach and voice actor from New Delhi, India. He writes about personal development, and living life on your terms. As a voice actor he is responsible for voicing documentaries, radio spots, television commercials and more - you know, the cool voices you hear on National Geographic Channel, History Channel, Discovery Channel and stuff like that. He's one of them.