Truth Is the First Principle of Personal Development

By Teboho Polanka

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Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash
Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Life has no other discipline to impose, if we would but realize it, than to accept life unquestioningly. Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy and strength, if faced with an open mind. Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such.— HENRY MILLER

Now doesn’t these words serve to explain why so many go through life defeated? I mean people live intimidated all the time, because things are seen as beyond repair all around us. Take a look at the life-threatening rate of unemployment and you’ll see a great number of people who show signs of despair owing to such.

We know the reality, but for some reason we don’t seem to want to take a stand against what we deem as unlikable. We live embittered lives, full of frustration because we don’t want to even think of a different future in any sense.

But for those who would have, a promising personal development is the surest way out of our present reality. Which is why we cannot be cavalier about personal development, it has become a non-negotiable issue.

 

We grow by discovering new truths

Bear in mind that truth is the first principle of personal development. We primarily grow as human beings by discovering new truths about ourselves and our reality. You’ll certainly learn some important lessons no matter how you live, but you can accelerate your growth tremendously by consciously seeking truth and deliberately turning away from falsehood and denial.” – Steve Pavlina

A lot of us are on denial, we hate our reality. But we can’t be numbed by fear we’ve got to take initiative and change things around us. Growth was never meant to be an easy thing, it’s is costly and only by embracing the cost can we truly grow.

Steven further insists that genuine personal growth is honest growth. You can’t take shortcuts through the land of make believe. Your first commitment must be to discover and accept new truths, no matter how difficult or unpleasant the consequences may be.

You can’t solve problems if you don’t admit they exist. How can you achieve a fulfilling career if you won’t admit that your current job is wrong for you?

How can you improve your relationship situation if you refuse to accept that you’ve been feeling empty and alone? How can you better your health if you won’t accept that your current habits don’t serve you?

 

Reality is the ultimate arbiter of truth

If your thoughts, beliefs, and actions aren’t aligned with truth, your results will suffer. Positioning yourself in this way isn’t enough to guarantee success, but siding with falsehood is enough to guarantee failure.

When you align yourself with the truth, your troubles won’t fix themselves overnight, but you’ll be taking an important step in the right direction. When you deny your problems, you turn away from the truth.

The lies you tell yourself spawn more lies, infecting your mind with falsehoods that weave themselves into your identity. You become disconnected from your true self, living as a mere shadow of the brilliant being you were meant to be.

You aren’t here to endure such an existence. You’re here to learn how to create a life of your own choosing. It’s not for me to say what that life should look like, but I’ll do my best to help you figure it out.

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Teboho Polanka
Teboho is a Social Worker, Writer and Inspirational Speaker. He is in pursuit of MSc. in Managerial Psychology. Graduates are able to apply psychological principles and methods to tackle challenges in the work environment and provide effective practical solutions. Acting as industrial-organizational psychologists.