When I say that my hobby is self-development, people typically either directly ask what I mean by that, or look at me with a blank stare and remain silent, drawing no conclusions for themselves.
My definition of self-development:
āSelf-development is any action aimed at changing a person themselves in a positive direction for them.ā
This concept of self-development is directly connected to such things as Growth Mindset, Internal Locus of Control, the philosophy of Stoicism, and the teachings of Stephen Covey.
What this means in practice
For me, self-development reflects more of a global focus in life on achieving something through changing yourself. For those who donāt understand abstract concepts, a simple example:
A person who enjoys self-development and one who doesnāt both have 4 hours of free time available, and both have a goal to become a writer for their own benefit.
The first one gets pleasure from self-development, so they will enjoy spending 4 hours watching courses on writing craft and literature to become better as a writer. The second one might spend this time looking for blogging partners or participating in text-based role-playing games, because they enjoy the external manifestations of their art, the process, or the social component.
Another example: a person who enjoys self-development and one who doesnāt both decided to buy themselves clothes because they want to be attractive to the opposite sex. The first one buys clothes because they want to become better as a partner and be more attractive. The second one buys clothes so that others perceive them as an attractive person.
Why this is so difficult to understand
Some of you here will have the question āHuh?ā, and I donāt blame you for that. I myself find it difficult to understand sometimes.
First, yes, buying clothes has now become self-development. Second, I canāt fully explain what exactly makes me put self-development as a way to achieve a goal or enjoy the process.
Like all people, I have an ordinary earthly goal behind most of my actions, and itās very easy to start getting confused in these concepts, because self-development is not a goal in itself, and can never be one. Self-development is only a method or tool.
What falls under self-development
One can identify quite an extensive list of things that I understand as āself-developmentā. These are those ways of achieving any goals that are oriented precisely toward the subject.
- Physical culture, when the goal is to improve yourself (weightlifting, bodybuilding, fitnessā¦)
- Beauty and health, when done for yourself (proper nutrition, intermittent fasting, vegetarianism, fashion and styleā¦)
- Learning, reading, consuming developmental content with the goal of gaining new knowledge (books, podcasts, blogs, videos, documentariesā¦)
- Improving your professional qualities (training, courses, soft skills, new fields of activity, productivity, personal managementā¦)
- Home arrangement, organization, when itās directed at improving something in yourself (maintaining cleanliness for your health or productivity, minimalism, automation and smart homeā¦)
- Anything whatsoever that you achieved by changing yourself
I hope I was able to clarify for you what self-development is.