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How Personal Development Changed My Life

Whether you love to hate personal development or hate to love it, there is no denying how popular the topic is, I know I’m interested in it! In fact, I’m sharing how personal development changed my life.

I assume that if you are reading this you love personal development as much as I do. We talk a lot about this topic here at GenTwenty. Today I wanted to share with you my personal development story. Maybe you’ll identify with my story, or maybe it will inspire you to start exploring personal development for yourself. 

Where My Personal Development Journey Began

I first discovered personal development through the book You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero about four or five years ago. To this day it is still one of my favorite books. It was also the first book I read for a second time.

Personal development doesn’t just involve reading books. This post has more information about the subject and different activities to add to your personal development journey.

I’ve used each of these areas of personal development to grow all areas of my life. Each new book I’ve read, tool I’ve learned, and goal I’ve set has contributed to this personal development journey that I am on. Personal development work hasn’t just changed my life, it saved my life.

How Personal Development Changed My Life

My Hobbies:

I’ve always loved planners, reading, and even learning. I never considered them hobbies until the past few years.

Through personal development, I discovered bullet journaling, websites like Udemy and SkillShare, and many other things that have contributed to my new hobbies. Now I couldn’t imagine not knowing about bullet journaling or self-help books.

My Career:

Personal development has done wonders for my career. It’s helped me have a better mindset about my current work situation, helped me get aligned on what I want in my career, and again inspired me to learn and grow new skill sets.

Without it, I wouldn’t be pushing myself creatively and discovering new abilities that I didn’t know I had. This will lead me to land a job that I love and can grow in even more.

My Relationships:

I’ve been able to connect with many people about topics I normally wouldn’t feel comfortable discussing. I’ve discussed personal development books in a book club and connected with people on a personal growth journey like myself.

These scenarios have helped me grow deep friendships through discussing topics that I was introduced to through personal development.

My Self:

I think that personal development has done the most for me in this category. I have grown a lot since buying that first book that introduced me to the personal development world.

Sure, I’ve taken a few steps back, but I always come back stronger. It’s safe to say that I am nowhere near the person I was five or six years ago. 

I struggle with depression and mild anxiety. The tools I’ve learned about mindset has brought me out some of the darkest, scariest, moments of my life. I will forever be a fan of personal development because of that.

Something that I’m passionate about is inspiring people through my experiences, and personal development has allowed me to do that in more ways than I could imagine. Which is what I want to talk about next.

How I Pay It Forward

As I mentioned before, I love learning, especially about mindset tools. I equally love helping others. I’ve combined these two, and my love for writing, by blogging about what has helped me in my journey.

Nothing makes me happier than hearing that my words/experiences have encouraged someone else. It’s through blog posts, books, videos, etc. that I’ve felt less alone in my struggles. My writing is a way that I pay it forward. 

My Favorite Personal Development Resources

Here are some of my favorite personal development resources, some that helped change my life. Some of these have been with me since the start of my personal development discovery, and others are new favorites. Let me know in the comments if you have any I should add to my list.

Books

Podcasts

Online Learning

  • Udemy
  • YouTube – you can learn pretty much anything on YouTube

Speakers

YouTube Channels

 As you can see, personal development has changed my life, and saved my life, while also giving me the opportunity to help others work to change their lives. I can’t wait to see how I continue to grow through personal development. 

How has personal development changed your life?

About the Author

Kelly Clark

Kelly graduated from Liberty University with a degree in Advertising and Public Relations and a minor in Journalism. Even though it took her a little while to find her career path, she was always meant to be in Communications. She remembers writing poems and songs when she was a little girl and pitching to my parents the reasons why I should have a cell phone when I was a teenager. She currently has a blog (budding-joy.com) where she talks about her weight-loss journey, mental health and personal development. Her hope is to encourage and inspire readers and let them know they are not alone. Reading blog posts like that are what helped her in tough times and she wants to pay it forward. She loves dance fitness, listening to music, and creating layouts in her bullet journal. She's a big fan of planning, especially when cute notebooks and pens are involved. Her dream job has changed so much over the years; right now she'd love to co-own a dance studio.

Website: budding-joy.com