The ultimate in personal development: help others develop
I’ve quoted this one before but it’s actually a huge reason for me to have this blog:
- To learn: read
- To know: write
- To master: teach
There is only so much you can do for yourself by reading self-help books, blogs on personal development and other sources. Most people who realize this quickly become bloggers themselves in order to put to writing what they have learned. Over time -months or years- these people become experts of sorts in their fields. They know what they write and they practice what they preach.
Take Jonathan Mead over at Illuminated Mind for instance . I don’t believe could have quit his regular job and gain his freedom if he didn’t blog about it. The same goes for Darren Rowse aka Problogger. Although there was little on blogging in the early days when he started (so he couldn’t read much) he quickly took to writing about it and thus really getting in to the know of blogging.
And now there is me. I’m a zen enthusiast but it’s hard to grasp what zen is about. By writing about it and time and time again trying to put to words what it means I’ve gotten a far better idea on what zen actually is. Hopefully the same goes for you. Through reading you get to learn things that others write about and thus know.
It’s personal development on a new level. Helping others by writing about your experiences will steer them in directions they didn’t know existed. Although truly conveying and experience is impossible you can get people to look in a certain direction.
Not only does personal development this way help you develop yourself but in doing so you help others who are willing to read what you’ve put to words. You get feedback through comments (your readers start writing/knowing) and you all gain new insights. A repeating cycle where eventually you -the writer- gains so much knowledge that you start to teach others. You mastered what you learned.
Again, Jonathan and Darren are perfect examples. They set out to achieve something and now that they are there they want to help others get there too. Darren teaches bloggers how to build a better blog and Jonathan teaches you how to reclaim your dreams and cut the cubicle umbilical cord.
Two prime examples of writers who know so much they now teach to master their field. The very tip of the personal development pyramid.
So it’s up to you now…. do you want to learn? Keep reading. Do you want to know? Start writing. Do you want to master? Read a lot, write about your passions and teach whatever it is you want to master.
It’s a long way up, but from everything I’ve read, it’s awesome up there! It’s the ultimate in personal development.
Couldn’t agree more!
The best way to learn is to teach. As a teacher, you always get that student that asks, “why?” so you need to have a pretty good idea of all the answers. That forces you to really think and consider all the possibilities.
As a student you can fake knowledge with a couple of well placed facts. But a good teacher knows they need to constantly find better and clearer ways of presenting ideas and have to be able to meet any questions or disagreements that arise.
Blogging is a great way to teach, and giving public presentations is even better. Then you can’t edit endlessly. When it is live you have to make sure you prepared far in advance. In addition, you have all those extra presentation elements that come into play.
Start giving regular speeches about your favorite topic and watch your knowledge soar.