Everything that happens to us happens for a purpose.  We can choose to lock ourselves in a cage of fears, weep over past heartaches, breakups, embarrassments and failures, or we can treat these various ills as our tools for both self-development and success. In my last post, I encouraged you to forget about the evils or dramas of yester-years and to focus on the joys of then and NOW. It’s a clique we have all heard…but it really is the truth. All we have is now…the past is gone and tomorrow is not yet here!

Today, I want us to answer the following questions: When does self-  development become synonymous with success and where do we start? Let’s consider the following points:

*Refuse to continue to think about your failures and internalize yourself as a failure.  We all make mistakes, but instead of allowing the mistakes to fester in our souls, we must forgive ourselves and keep it moving.    Love yourself.

*Walk in gratitude at all times and focus on seeing and/or finding the silver lining in every situation.                                                                      Love yourself.

*Recognize that each day is new for new and exciting opportunities. Wasting time on regrets is a WASTE OF TIME! Focus on moving forward and purpose to put forth more effort on your goals.                               Love yourself.

*Set realistic and achievable goals and work on them. Set personal goals based on your unique identity and desires.  Your purposes and hopes are for an improved and better YOU.                                                                                        Love yourself.

*Get up and put feet (actions) to accomplish your goals in order to reach the success you desire.                               Love yourself.

*Choose to smile each day and greet/treat others with kindness. Remember in order to be successful you need to build relationships. Building relationships begins with a smile.                                                                                                                       Love yourself and others.

*Self-development is just that…SELF-development. Others may or may not appreciate your efforts to improve in all areas or your life. However, in order to succeed, sometimes we have to stand alone in our beliefs and continue to move forward to accomplish our goals.

Self-development which can be synonymous with success is a process.  The decision and the efforts to improve can be an enjoyable decision, if we choose to embrace the journey even when detours threaten or take us off on side excursions.  When we choose to open the doors of self-development through forgiveness, grit, and consistent actions, we exponentially increase our chances for success in all areas of our lives.                                                                                             Choose to love yourself, others and embrace the journey!

Decide today and begin.

To your success,

Dr. Dee