Personal Development? Yes Please!

Why Are You Here?

Would you like to improve a little every single day? Do you want to gain new knowledge and learn from having an open mind - become aware of opportunities all around you? Do you want to realize your full potential and learn how you can utilize it? Do you like to read? Would you love to have no limits in your life?

Do any of these questions excite some neourons in your brain? If so, read on!

My Story

I hadn't read a full book in probably close to a decade; it just wasn't something I enjoyed, or so I thought. I did however have an interest in professional development and learning new things. This was an interest because I began to learn that what I know is that I don't know very much at all, and there were ways to change that. Now, before there's a misconception here, I wasn't totally clueless. I had already attained a Bachelors of Science in Computer Science and was working as a software engineer at this time. The field of computer science is wide and vast, and growing at about the rate of the universe. Because of this, I had to have an interest in learning if I didn't want to get left behind. This lead me to things outside of just computer science, though.

Two years ago my (now) wife, Jeanna, had bought me a couple books that would fall in the personal development category for Christmas. I read a portion of one of The 4 Hour Work Week, but had failed to find the spark that would send me on a reading frenzy like I could sense I was craving... that is until one day I paid more attention to one of the books on the shelf. It was titled Do Cool Sh*t. Not only was the title a bit intriguing, but the spine of the book was also visually attractive. Basically, marketing got me! I'm glad it did!

It took a few days of thinking about the book as I went in and out of my office and saw it each time. Each time this happened, my thoughts of reading this book intensified. Finally, I decided I'd pick it up and start reading. It only took me a couple days to finish; It was way more interesting than I thought it would be! This was a good intro into the personal development genre because this particular book is written as a story. It's an easy read, and it did its job - I was extremely motivated! After this, I began to read almost every day. I had 2 full books finished in a month, and by this time it was Christmas time again. Because of this new-found passion, Jeanna decided to buy me a handful of the books I had at the top of my list as a gift that year as well.

Among this list were books like:

• How to Win Friends and Influence People
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
• Secrets of The Millionaire Mind
• The 5 Second Rule
• The Compound Effect

This was a list of a few of the books that I had gotten recommendations for throughout the year. I heard of some of these through podcasts, co-workers, friends, etc.

I had read almost the entire stack in the first few months of 2019. My life was changing, it still is, and I don't plan on changing that course of action! The lessons, tips, tricks, ideas, and motivation one can obtain from this material is PRICELESS! There are just too many awesome things to learn from people who have experience and have shared what they know. It can save you lifetimes worth of trial and error, and allow you to push the existing boundaries in the world!

HOW. EXCITING. IS. THAT?!

The thing with these books is there will be times when you're reading and you realize it is describing something that matches up pretty much spot on in your life. When this happens, you have two choices: laugh it off and decide to not reconsider your actions, or you can actually think about what the material is telling you and consider changing a behavior of yours. After all, the point in reading personal development books is to become a better human in some way, shape, or form. The difference you will see if you choose to change things in your life may not be immediate, but it will be profound. If something comes up in the material and you feel like it cannot apply to you for some reason, consider the FACT that you can do whatever it is you DESIRE. There is ALWAYS many sets of actions that you can take to get you wherever, or whatever, it is you want to be or have. The only limit in your life is the limit in your own thinking.

That means ... whoa whoa whoa. Hold up. What did I just say?

The only limit in your life is the limit in your own thinking.

Did you read that?

THE ONLY LIMIT IN YOUR LIFE IS THE LIMIT IN YOUR OWN THINKING!

Write this down on a piece of paper, and keep it somewhere you'll see it and be reminded of it every single day. Meditate on this, think about it once per hour. Once you convince yourself of this fact, your life WILL change for the better! You will start seeing opportunity where you used to see failure, or worse yet, where you used to see nothing at all.

I didn't come up with this quote, so don't let me fool you. A man by the name of Bob Proctor said this in a youtube video titled "Abundance Meditation", and it is now my favorite quote of all time. I would recommend taking 20 minutes to listen to this meditation video at least once. My first tattoo is going to be a depiction of this quote.

How can I prove this is true?

Think of this scenario: What if I told you that you could move Mount Everest? Impossible? Maybe, if you believe that. (You may be thinking, "Bold statement, Tommy")

Here's the thing - if you tell yourself that there is no way something is possible, your brain becomes satisfied. It "closes the case" and files it away in a box labelled "SOLVED!" never to be reopened. HOWEVER, if instead you ask yourself "How can I do this?", now you're on a different plane of thinking. Now your brain isn't satisfied, and because of this, it will go to work to find a solution for you. This doesn't mean your first solution is the only one, or the best one, or even a good one! But it will begin to come up with ways to solve WHATEVER you just threw at it. THAT is the magic here.

So how do we move Mount Everest?

• We could hire an excavating company to come in with backhoes and begin digging it up and trucking it off the scene, or even 20 feet away. By definition, you'd still have moved Mount Everest (No limits here!)
• We could buy an extremely large amount of dynamite and blow the mountain to bits of dust.
• We could dig around and down beneath it until it crumbled to the ground.

I'm not saying these are practical, or something you should attempt to do, but what I am saying is once you ask yourself "How can I do this?" you enter in to a new plane of thinking. The plane of opportunity and awareness. Your brain is forced to work for you and serve you solutions until you are satisfied with them. You can come up with as many as you want! There are NO LIMITS to this process!

"I Want To Learn MORE!!" - you, just now

I'm so glad you feel this way! Me too! :)

To continue on the personal development path, I would highly suggest diving into a book that sounds interesting to you on the broad topic. I'll leave you with my current recommended list and note my top two. If you find yourself strapped for time to actually sit down and read, Audible is a truly fantastic platform that allows you to listen to books instead of reading them. You can bookmark spots you love and want to revisit, and it is broken down by chapter. You also get your first book free!

Book Recommendations

Both Amazon and Audible versions of these are available

Audible is a FANTASTIC way to absorb information from these resources. It allows you to listen in the car, while showering, or just sitting and listening, etc. ALSO, you can get your first book on Audible for FREE! Once you sign up you will get a credit which can be used for any book on the platform. If you don't want to continue your subscription, you can cancel and still keep the credit or book purchased with the credit. If you haven't tried Audible yet, you've got nothing to lose, but so much to gain!

1. Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill

   • This book lays out the 13 steps to achieve anything you could ever ask for in life. This is the real deal, from back in 1937 and is still the top seller in its category today! This is my ALL TIME FAVORITE book!

2. How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie

   • Charles Manson used the techniques in this book to build the Manson Family, that's how powerful it is! I would urge you to not use it for malicious purposes like Mr. Manson, however having these skills to use for good is absolutely priceless!

3. Rich Dad Poor Dad - Robert Kiyosaki

   • This is my favorite book so far on wealth building techniques. This book emphasizes obtaining assets and limiting liabilities in your life, and will give you a sure way of becoming wealthy. This is a favorite of MANY successful people I've talked to.

4. The Science of Getting Rich - Wallace D. Wattles

   • Wallace Wattles does a fantastic job describing what the Law of Attraction is, and laying out practical steps on how to use it. This is one of my favorite topics, and is in effect 24/7/365 whether you are aware of it or not - which can be VERY dangerous if you're not aware! This is also a pretty short read.

In Conclusion

If you have any questions, or would like to talk about this topic or the resouces I've mentioned, please feel free to reach out! For now, I've got my Facebook and Twitter linked in the footer of this website.