Why I decided to neglect self-development

I'm going to start this blog with two very important quotes.

The first is from James Baldwin, which states, 'The paradox of education is precisely this - that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated.'

The second is from Akala, 'What a weapon that your brain is, get educated'.

Recently, I read a life-impacting book called 'The Little Voice'. I highly recommend it. But...this is not a book review! If you want to know more about the book, you can find it here:  The Little Voice.

 For me, this book highlighted the fact that we have so many voices in our lives - so many people offering their opinion. I had/have many! It also highlights the impact these different voices can have on us.

It's great to be in a place where you have lots of advice around you when you are facing a crazy world, but too many cooks spoil the broth, right?

When I was young, the voices around me encouraged me to do well in education and get into a good career. So, what did the young me do? I did well in education and got into a career. What's the problem with that? Well, nothing. But where was my voice in all of this?

I decided to neglect self-development because I depended on all of the voices around me - in a sense I trusted that, that was what I needed to do - do well in education and get into a good career. As much I trusted the voices around me, I also trusted that my education was teaching me everything that I needed to know. Naive right? Right.

Discovering my voice, helped me to discover the things that I actually wanted to do and I soon realised that I didn't have to rely on the education that society provided (as I wasn't going to learn all I needed to learn this way). We must be willing to learn and teach ourselves new things. We must be willing to grow and invest in our self-development.

Self-development is about you growing as a person. If something isn't growing that means it is not alive! Therefore, while we are alive, our development must be at the top of our list. 

I encourage you to find your voice. Know what you want to do. Then ... get educated.