From:
Christopher B. Jeffers
Just Down The Road A Bit
North by Northwest of Hickory Junction
Friday, 2:34 PM
Hello Friend!
Many people, whether they will admit to it or not, have a deep-rooted bias about the topic of self-improvement.
Call it self-help, self-care, empowerment, or personal growth, they view it all somewhat condescendingly as a narcissistic hamster-wheel of self-centered self-flagellation, seeking to overcome some mental and emotional shortcoming, weakness, or experienced trauma from the self-helper’s past.
There are entire sections of book stores and libraries devoted to every possible nuance of the genre. Thousands of books and tens of thousands of articles are published every year, variously written by academic experts, pop-culture “influencers”, and flat-out rank amateurs, each claiming to have positive insight into how broken people can “fix” their own situation, and themselves.
This is generally a good thing, overall. None of us are perfect. We can all use a little work. Some more than others. Unlike Mary Poppins, we recognize that we are NOT “practically perfect in every way.”
Personal DEVELOPMENT
I prefer the term “Personal Development.”
Why?
It’s really just a personal preference. You can certainly make the argument that all of the other words and synonyms related to “self improvement” mean exactly the same thing.
I find the word “development” to be a more positive and encouraging word, that doesn’t (subtly or not) imply that one is somehow broken or lacking, and in need of repair.
Similarly, “personal” is almost the same as “self,” but in a culture where the whole “self” thing has become ubiquitous and over-used, it feels to me to be a more forward-looking and less narcissistically-focused term.
So, “Personal Development.” We – you, I – are always learning and developing our knowledge, our skills, and our understanding.
Obstacles to Development
“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goals.” [1]
As if our own insecurities were not enough, it seems to be a common element of human nature for those people around us to denigrate, criticize, caution, discourage and generally throw up psychological and emotional barriers to any plans we have or efforts we pursue to develop ourselves, improve our circumstances, and become a better, more capable person.
While sometimes well-intentioned, reasons for this lack of encouragement, lack of support, or sometimes outright interference with our plans may include jealousy, fear, or a desire to maintain control over us.
Life Is Growth
“When you stop growing you start dying.” [2]
In the physical and biological world, growth is recognized as a fundamental sign of life. Cells divide and replicate, an organism becomes bigger. A seed becomes a tall tree. An embryo becomes a full-formed organism. Even an ocean reef adds to itself and expands … as long as it is alive.
Personal Development can be thought of as occurring in five distinct areas of our life and existence:
- Mental and Intellectual
- Physical
- Emotional
- Social
- Spiritual
You will ultimately discover each of these areas to be intertwined and essential to each other. Continued development and growth in all of these areas is important to the whole of yourself as a well-rounded, mature being.
You have to start somewhere, of course. Most people can focus on one or two areas at a time, but neglecting the others in the long run only works to your detriment.
What Is Unseen
How does one succeed?
Most often, success happens gradually at first … until suddenly, it all comes together at once.
Think of any great success story you’ve ever heard of. Inventors. Business owners. Celebrity movie stars.
What you see now are the results and trappings of their success in whatever their endeavor may have been.
Thomas A. Edison famously once said, “I have not failed 10,000 times – I’ve successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work.” It took him almost two years of failed experimenting before he succeeded in constructing the first viable electric light bulb.[3]
Jeff Bezos, the developer and businessman behind the modern marketing behemoth Amazon.com, wanted to be a theoretical physicist (like Albert Einstein), but instead graduated from Princeton with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree in 1986.
One of his first jobs was for a telecommunications startup, where he was tasked with building a communications network for international trade. In 1988 he transitioned to banking as a financial products manager. In 1990 he joined a hedge fund startup where he worked with mathematical financial modeling, and became one of its corporate Vice Presidents before he turned 30.
In 1994, Bezos read that usage of the new Internet web was growing at a rate of over 2300% per year. Deciding to establish an online bookstore. He and his wife left their jobs and founded Amazon in a rented garage.
Since then, Amazon.com has grown into a publicly-traded online global sales, logistics, and distribution company selling just about every product and service imaginable, and which in the second quarter of 2024 alone reported revenues of over $147 BILLION dollars (US), employing over 1,521,000 people world-wide.
Now 60, Jeff Bezos is currently one of the wealthiest people in the world, coming in second only to the 53 year-old Elon Musk.
Not too bad for a boy from Albuquerque!
What Is Your Burning Desire?
We won’t all soar to the heights of a Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk. Frankly, most of us don’t want to (the ultra-wealthy have their own sort of problems to deal with, and most of them are not all that happy, in spite of all their wealth.)
Still, that doesn’t stop us from seeking to make the most of the life that we have. Personal development is a constant, life-long process. It is through this constant development of yourself that you will achieve the things you want and desire.
Life is a journey, and most people never realize the full measure of their potential.
Successful people do not start out successful. BUT … they had a vision, and a dream, and the PERSISTENCE to follow those dreams as far as they can take them, using the tools they have at hand, until new tools and additional resources became available to them.
That’s why I’m currently writing a book.
My goal and purpose is to share what I’ve learned, and what I continue to learn about Personal Development, and how I continue every day to develop my visions and my dreams, in order to achieve the things I want.
It is a book that I hope will help others – perhaps you – learn how to pursue a life-long path of personal development, find their true path, and achieve the things in life they most desire.
You see, there exists dormant in most people a power … a power that most people don’t even suspect they have. As a result of this not knowing, or even suspecting, they wander aimlessly through life, wondering why things just never seem to work out for them.
Such people don’t actually lead their own lives, they passively accept the limited life that is handed to them by others … and wonder why they aren’t happy.
My Goal
The goal of the book I am writing is to INSPIRE you to action … to show you how you can tap into and UNLEASH that now-dormant power within yourself, and use it to achieve your WILDEST dreams, faster than you ever thought possible!
My book is rolling off my typewriter now (okay, actually it’s a Logitech keyboard) and will be released in print (according to my plan) in mid- to late-February 2025.
As a regular reader of these emails, you will have the first, exclusive opportunity to get a real, actual printed copy of my book – a copy that you can actually hold in your hands (and underline the best parts of) – for just the bare cost of printing and mailing it to you.
This book won’t be available on Amazon (where independent writers go to see their manuscripts die) and you won’t ever find a copy of it remaindered in the clearance bin down at your local bookshop. The ONLY place where you’ll be able to get a copy – at any price – will be direct through me and my publisher.
In the meantime, I’ll be keeping you up-to-date with more exclusive insights and sneak peeks, PLUS a lot of related material that I won’t have space for in the book and will only be shared here.
That’s it for now. Until next week … remember to Keep It Awesome, my friend!
Warmest regards,
Christopher B. Jeffers
“A Man Who Is Committed To A Path Of Personal Development & Growth!”
P.S. – Early in 2025 I will be releasing my latest book, a deep-dive into how you can unleash your inner power and talents to achieve your goals and wildest dreams, without making irreparable mistakes! Be sure to keep reading these emails for updates, sneak peeks, and early notification (with a special shipped to you at-cost price exclusive for readers of these emails!)
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Amaze Your Friends!
[1] This quote is variously attributed to both the American industrialist Henry Ford (1863-1947), and to American and British author Henry James (1843-1916). Certainly, both Henry’s agreed with the statement, whoever said it first!
[2] American novelist and painter William S. Burroughs (1914-1997), Junkie (1953). The quote has also been attributed to mathematician and theoretical physicist Albert Einstein (1879-1955) as “Once you stop learning you start dying.”
[3] Various sources cite the number of failed experiments in developing the first viable electric incandescent light bulb as 1,000 to 10,000. Some sources mention that Edison tried 2,000 different materials for the glowing filament, before finding one that would produce light but not burn out within a few seconds when an electric current was passed through it in an airless vacuum.