About why Personal Development as an Important Piece of Life

First and foremost, the book is quite interesting, not to me in particular, but to almost everyone who sees personal development as an important piece of life. Personally, I think the way this book is written, along with all the tools and experience it conveys, is good enough to dispel all doubts and worries about how to sustain life. That being said, I must certainly say that I agree with the content the book tries to cover. One thing I appreciate about this book is that it offers principles that are not designed only to work with a specific area of life.

Instead, those principles can be applied everywhere, as this book suggests. I think that’s what the author of this book, Steve Pavlina, has been aiming for.

The significant lesson I learned from the book is that facing a hard time is not the end of life. It's a time to discover what you can do better, a time to realize what you have done wrong, and how to improve the quality of your life. For instance, in 1991, Steve was jailed for stealing. Not long after, he was released and granted a normal life after completing his 60 hours of community service. This gave him ample opportunity to think about his life and its purpose. Unfortunately, he was expelled from school, but he never quit his desire to obtain a degree in computer science. He took a good lesson from his experience. Normally, when most people face a hard time, the only thoughts that automatically come to mind are how life is over, but that is not true. According to me, it should be the beginning of a new life. Reading this book helped me realize that life doesn’t end when facing difficulties. Facing challenges is a good opportunity to rethink what we want, discover our potential, and work on our personality.

Furthermore, as I was reading the book, I realized it's better to know why we do what we do, and what we want from what we do. In the beginning, in January of 1991, when Steve started stealing, I think he wasn't sure of what he wanted from what he was doing because he didn't have compelling reasons for stealing. Steve wasn't stealing for money, as he said, nor was he doing it for reputation. He just wanted to thrill himself. I remember when he said that he stole candies and threw them into the street, expecting people to grab them. If he had analyzed the situation beforehand and considered the potential consequences, I think he might not have indulged in the act of stealing. As he said, "you never know the importance of your freedom until you expect to lose it.” This tells me that we have to think thoroughly before we act, to avoid regret afterward.

Another lesson I took from the book is to do what one loves and is interested in. Steve was in the business of producing computer games, but his passion was personal development. So, he eventually decided to quit programming and went on to help the world understand the concept of personal development. He ran it successfully and joyfully. I assume he was successful because he was doing what he loved, was interested in, and was passionate about. Hence, it is a good lesson to note.

For me, after gaining a deep understanding of all seven principles, the best approach to put them into practice is by fully committing to them and applying them daily.

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