ITT Year In 2015 - All The Christian News & Events | Page 6

A Journey to Becoming the Best You
In world of so many demands there are times we find ourselves lost; asking ourselves the question
‘What is my purpose for being on this earth?’ The topics of Purpose and Destiny cover our bookshelves providing self-help tools for answering this question. Over the past ten years working with individuals in counseling and coaching sessions, I have found this question to be present. This prompted me to search various resources to better understand what it means to know your purpose. Through
this quest for further insight it became apparent that a major component of our purpose involves recognizing our God given talents and optimizing those abilities to fulfill our life’s potential. A term which
seems to effectively describe those who have become satisfied in life through their pursuit of becoming
the best version of themselves was “self-actualized.” I asked myself the question “How do you get to a
place of self-actualization.” With time I realized these questions not only arose to assist my clients in
answering but I found myself as a professional questioning my true purpose and am I really as actualized as I say that I am.
I want to go on this journey with you…
Let’s start off by exploring some definitions and as we progress through this journey we can unveil
what they mean to our individual lives.
I found in my studies and observations some key points. First let’s define personal development; to
become self-aware, improve awareness; learning new skills to overcome bad habits. I gathered from
this multi-facet definition that personal development is evolving. We are constantly increasing our
awareness as we become exposed to new things. Therefore comparing our progress to someone is
irrelevant because our exposures come differently and ultimately the pieces of your life are specifically
designed to fit together to make a whole YOU. Personal development in short means to be whole;
putting together the pieces of YOUR life.
What are these pieces and components?
In further observation and study the term self-actualization came to surface. This psychological term
seemed to fall into the life development stage for those of great maturity, 70 and older; having a good
sense of self and purpose. The definition of self-actualization is the process of establishing oneself as a
whole person; able to develop one’s abilities and understand oneself. Again we hear the term being
‘whole’. The question came to mind why does this phase of life come so late? What if I could be
‘Self-Actualized’ in the prime of my existence; truly understanding ourselves and operate as a ‘whole’
person.
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