Professor John Hills of the London School of Economics makes some scary but true statements about the reasons why the gap between the rich and the poor is wider now than it was 40 years ago in the United Kingdom and why having new laws to close the pay gap between men and women (suggested by Harriet Harman) wouldn’t make any difference because there would still be a yawning chasm between poor women and rich women. (Culled From The Mirror)
He believes these gaps exist because:
- The society is increasingly unequal because of class and not gender.
- There is a lack of education and opportunities.
- People are not taught the value and dignity of work and as a result have little or no aspirations.
- Children don’t really take their eyes off the television long enough to look at the stars.
I kept thinking about what I had read for a few minutes and then proceeded to ask my colleagues several questions.
I must stress; the responses received were centered on THE FAILURE TO DEVELOP AN INTEREST IN PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT which is classified as a roadblock in the context of this post.
According to the Staffordshire University website, personal development is a structured and supported process undertaken by an individual to reflect upon their own learning, performance and achievement.
It also refers to several activities that improve or increase various aspects of self knowledge: this relates to knowing who you are, personal identity, talent building and further enhancements of the qualities of your lives. (Aubrey, 2007).
ROADBLOCKS
The Free Online Dictionary defines a roadblock as ‘something, such as a situation or condition that prevents further progress toward an accomplishment.’
This post highlights the various barriers or roadblocks obstructing your personal development. It attempts to explain how acquiring a set of personal development skills, contribute to your personal growth and also looks at ways of resolving these issues in order to enhance productivity.
In no particular order, here is a list of things that could pose as roadblocks to your personal development
- The sudden claim to know it all.
- The fear of the unknown.
- A constant display of inconsistency in all you do.
- Having no focus; lacking a sense of purpose and direction.
- The need to keep making excuses.
- No commitment to the things of life that would aid your personal development.
- Lack of resources
- The failure to accept or bear responsibilities for all your actions
- A continuous exposure to negative thoughts.
- Having no dreams visions or goals.
- Limiting Beliefs
- Constant distractions
- The inability to take calculative or constructive risks
- Having no ambitions or aspirations.
- Making no attempts or efforts to do anything.
- Procrastination
- The nervous feeling and anxiety that creeps up when trying to make constructive changes.
- Pessimism
- Jealousy
- Showing little or no interest to learning or getting educated at any level and on any issue.
- Emotional or domestic issues
- Time constraints and poor time management
- Improper planning
- Living a life of self denial
- The inability to communicate effectively
- Failing to develop or build positive relationships
And many more……………………………….
There are a few ways to overcome such barriers to your personal development and growth.
They are as follows:
- Maintain a healthy level of optimism.
- Show maturity when it comes to handling success.
- Build positive relationships with friends, family, colleagues etc.
- Get to meet and network with people of the same interest.
- Have mentors and learn from the experience of those who have gone ahead of you.
- Live a principled life guarding your emotions and expressing them when appropriate.
- Cut down on your procrastination.
- Monitor your progress.
- Take time out to evaluate all your achievements, shortcomings, plans etc.
- Celebrate who you are, your achievements, success, milestones…..
- Manage your time properly giving preference to things that are of high priority
- Be open to making positive changes.
- Try experimenting new things, different personalities, till you find out one which comes to you with ease.
- Set realistic goals and objectives in order accomplish several tasks related to your purpose.
- Build up a reasonable level of self confidence.
- Do something you love and resolve to be good at it.
- Have dream, but don’t just stop there, believe and visualize your life filled with your dreams coming into existence.
- Never lose sight or focus on your dreams.
- Pursue your passions and interests with so much enthusiasm.
- Live through life with a purpose not drifting about aimlessly. Your life must have a meaning and a mission for progress.
- Aspire to make a difference in the life of anyone you come in contact with through serving.
- Develop a plan for your life taking into accounts your passion, career, family, skills etc.
Are you facing any roadblocks?
How have you dealt with them?
You could encourage someone by sharing your own experience.
I look forward to your comments and suggestions.
Ayo Olaniyan is a certified Unitive Life Coach, an Accredited Professional Counsellor with the Counselling Society and the editor of The Life Skills Magazine. For further information, please complete this form.
{ 5 trackbacks }
{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
hi ayo
i loved this post and from my experience losing focus has been paramount and it made me miss a few opportunities in life. i must mention that your posts in the last 3 months have been based on facts and data you either read or come accross. Is that a new style?
keep it up
hi emmanuel,
how are you?
i have lost several opportunities based on silly mistakes, wrong choices, bad judgements but things can only get better when i learn from my mistakes, improve and not be too hard on myself.
as long as you are willing to grow in your personal development, you will come across new opportunities.
take care
Very interesting and eye opener post Ayo and it looks like most of the points have been well covered….. and fact and figures simply provides a form of and validation for the information provided .. keep up your good work
Fatima Da´s last blog ..The Charismatic You ?
Hi fatima
thanks for your comments and kind words.
Hi Ayo,
How are you?
Thank you for compiling a comprehensive list of potential roadblocks and ways to overcome. With coaching clients, I’ve found limiting beliefs in scarcity vs. abundance to be toxic — especially in recent years. Our complex nature and creativity gives us no shortage of ways to solve life’s puzzle. It’s great to facilitate and watch positive transformation.
Personally, I’m inspired to know others who encourage self-empowerment and to have the support of like minds — master minds and communities are vital to my growth.
Cheers!
hi kim
i am doing well thank you.
i agree with what you’ve said on limiting beliefs in scarcity vs abundance being toxic and one of the ways we can embrace change in such situations is establishing networks with people of similar minds, drive & aspirations in order to foster ones growth and development.
hi ayo,
do you think the gap between the rich and poor will ever close up.
the professor has a lot to say here and it makes sense.
in my expereince i have found personal development or improvement as a leverage to my growth.
hi kenny,
you are right about personal improvement acting as a leverage to your personal growth and development.
Hello Ayo,
How are you doing?
I was going through a difficult time in life and I stumbled upon an article about ‘Confidence’ and have never looked back. That was the moment for me.
As always the post is excellent and you have captured all the road blocks and how to overcome those barriers.
Cheers,
Cheryl
hi cheryl
thanks for stopping by and i am glad stumbling on the article about confidence marked a turning point in your life.
take care of yourself.
This is another powerful post. You have such valuable content I return to read often. We are at a time when people regard work as a bad thing. If you have a job you have failed the passive income test. Work is healthy. There is dignity in work.
Television has been a major distraction and has also changed the fabric of our relationships. Humor on television involves bashing or tearing down the value of men, women, family, work, co-workers, spirituality, religion, physical health, emotional health, and many things we should hold dear. Thanks for sharing your wisdom.
Erin´s last blog ..Night Vision
wow erin!
that cut right through the heart of the matter.
we seem to have lost a lot of values, ethics, morals…….but there’s hope for anyone willing to experience constructive change in the right direction.
take care
Hi Ayo,
I really enjoyed this list as you summed up some of the roadblocks and the ways to blast through those roadblocks on the way to grow as a human being.
Reading about personal development is not enough. Having the courage to take actions on what you have learned is the key, in my opinion. This is not rocket science and anyone, in any situation, can learn to make changes in their life so that they can better themselves in any area that requires it.
Thanks for the thoughtful post,
Karen
hi karen,
how are you?
i love that line blast through those roadblocks……. I could rename the post as blasting through your personal development roadblocks lol!
on a serious note you make a great point about taking action.Of what use is it if you’ve acquired so much knowledge and cant demonstrate what you’ve learnt.
thanks and take care of yourself.
Dear Ayo,
Nice post on an important topic! I have personally found that although I have spent my life engaged with personal growth (I’ve always wanted to learn and grow) it seems to come in spurts.
Sometimes I’m really actively engaged in growing and other times I am RELAXING. I think for me this is about the ebb and flow of life. Our focus changes from time to time.
Maybe it is partly, too, that I am not a Type A. While I like to be productive and can be linear, my main “style” is more relaxed and receptive.
It’s all good, though. I think the important piece for me is to always remain open to learning more – about myself, about life. And to recognize that life is such a gift and to enjoy it.
Thanks, Ayo, for more thought-provoking material!
Lauren
hi lauren,
how are you?
thanks for presenting a different perspective to this topic and also emphasizing on the need for self awareness and the experience of personal growth in a state of relaxation .
take care
Hi Ayo – I agree that there is a pervasive “work is drudgery” mentality that stops people in their tracks. I like what Erin says about that. But I also think that when there is a lack of education and opportunities, and parents are just struggling to scrape by, with TV as the babysitter, well then it’s pretty hard to overcome such barriers. Don’t get me wrong, your strategies are great, but without a mentor or guide or someone to light the way, change is going to be hard.
Patty – Why Not Start Now?´s last blog ..Eight Black Shoes
hi patty,
how are you?
you describe current situations with so many people.
thanks for pointing out the need for mentors or people we look up to in our lives.
take care
Hey Ayo,
I really like the roadblocks you mentioned. Like Karen mentioned above, I’ve found the biggest roadblock to be in simply not taking action. Whenever I’m afraid to do something, my first reaction is to do more “research”. Too often we’ll keep consuming information as opposed to taking more action. It’s in taking action, messing up, learning, and repeating the process that we truly grow. It’s not that hard- just scary and uncomfortable!
Take care,
Ben
Ben Weston´s last blog ..The Definitive Guide to Attracting Relationships with the Law of Attraction
hi ben
how are you?
you are quite right with not taking action and just spending time being scared hiding under the guise of researching or collecting information. however there must be a balance and i dont advocate jumping blindly into certain situations with a bit of research.
take care ben.
Ayo,
You mention many great solutions to the roadblocks in personal development. I am glad to see that the majority of these solutions come from within each person and it is always up to the free will of the indvidual to make these choices that you mention here for the best results. These are great, thanks!
hi baker,
how are you?
thanks for your contribution and yes we need to try as much as possible to make the right choices or decisions inorder to achieve personal growth and were we make mistakes or things didnt go a planned we need to make the right choices to resolve the mistakes.
have a nice weekend.
Ayo, another wonderful post and list, thank you. We truly can be our own worst enemy in setting ourselves back, even when we undertake a task that we enjoy.
When I sense that I am encountering a roadblock, whether self-inflicted or imposed from without, I find that stepping away and out from it can really help. Of course, for me that always means reconnecting with the outside natural world, because that’s the fastest way for me to refocus myself. But I think that stepping back mentally allows anyone to see the bigger picture again – the roadblock no longer looms directly in your face – the slight distance can create a new perspective that perhaps lets you see another way around.
Since such roadblocks are mental constructs, I would like to invite you and your readers to come and try a simple but interesting exercise I just posted on my blog a short while ago. It demonstrates the link connecting the mind, the real power of your intention, and redirecting your energy flow. And it might just help with roadblocks!
Ayo, if you have time, please come and try it for yourself (no dancing around trees) and tell me what you think. Greetings to you again from Japan – Catrien Ross.
Catrien Ross´s last blog ..Catrien Ross on Stretching Your Potential Through the Real Power of Intention to Direct Your Energy Flow
hi catrien
how are you?
thanks for your contributing to the topic. it’s alway a great pleasure to have your wisdom on board any post on this blog.
i will check out your post and give you my take/feedback on it.
take care
Nice Ayo!
Hope you’re keeping well.
I wasn’t surprised when I read the beliefs of John Hills. We don’t encourage kids to dream anymore. We let them sit in front of the TV and numb their brains. We need to also be positive influences in our children’s lives so that do feel like they can achieve.
Roadblocks are all around us when we’re trying to be successful. You’ve give some great tips here Ayo thank you.
Ben´s last blog ..Friday’s Personal Development Homework
hi ben,
i am fine thank you
i couldnt agree more about making sure we encourage our children to have dreams & aspirations.
enjoy the rest of the weekend.
What a great post Ayo. I think there is something for us all to look at here and on a larger scale with how we are progressing as a society.
Personally I realised recently I need to work on taking criticism. Sometimes I take it well but at other times I can feel my shutters coming down and that I get defensive.
hi jen,
thanks for your contribution.
it’s really important we take on board constructive criticism and trust me you aren’t alone when it comes to being defensive lol!!!
Professor John Hill makes some great points and I especially agree with the points he make about people having a lack of work ethic and kids barely tearing themselves away from the T.V. long enough.
I definitely agree that lack of aspirations a definite roadblock to become a better individual. Aspirations are an open door to opportunities which could lead to a higher class status in my opinion.
Great post Ayo!!
hi jarrod,
thanks for stopping by and contributing to the topic.
i couldnt agree more with positive aspirations leading to a positive change in status.
i hope to see you again.
take care