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How I Achieved Personal Development by Challenging Myself and Stepping Out of My Confort Zone

Actualizado: 2 feb 2020

by Balbina Guerra


Nowadays it’s incredibly common for teenagers and young adults to have very low self-esteem, this creates anxiety, stress, loneliness, and increased likelihood of depression. I want people to be encouraged by this story to relinquish their low self-esteem and increase their confidence by trying new things and stepping out of their comfort zone just as I did.

With the start of a new year, people tend to make lots of resolutions and I was no exception because for the first time in a long time y decided to set some goals for the year. I had never really been into making new years resolutions, let alone achieve them, so I decided 2020 was the perfect fresh start.


I got to thinking, what can I do to become a better me? That led me to believe that the only way to become a better person is by becoming a more confident and happier one, because how else do you want to be the best version of yourself if you don’t consider these two very important factors. I personally had never thought of myself as an unhappy, unconfident person, but I do think I am a person who needs personal development and by increasing these things in my life I know I can certainly achieve it, and I believe that anyone who puts their mind to it, can do it as well.

The first thing I did was brainstorm, what can I do to boost my happiness and my confidence? And then it hit me, I have been postponing so many activities that I have been wanting to do for some time now. So I made a list, as I always do when I want to organize my ideas.



I believe that making lists is very important to achieve your goals, studies have shown that making lists is more effective when trying to be more productive, its called the “Zeigarnik effect” discovered by Russian Psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik, hence the name. The “Zeigarnik effect” is when you remember things you need to do after you’ve written them, were as if you don’t write them, it’s a lot less likely to remember what you had to do. So when trying to accomplish your goals making a list helps you remember that you actually want to do them and it becomes so much more than just words in the air.


I wrote all the things I want to try in this new year. Of course, these are things that I have never had the drive to do, whether it is because I’m lazy, or have too much going on, or even feel scared to try them. I decided I would start by stepping out of my comfort zone and overcome those small obstacles that keep getting in the way of my internal success.


In my list, I wrote that I wanted to try yoga, learn French, catch up with my reading, get piano lessons, become a healthier person with a healthier lifestyle, focus on my spirituality and finally learn how to drive and get my license. I realized that in order to do this I had to come up with a whole new day to day schedule. So I decided to accommodate my time to fit in my new activities. now, you may be wondering what does all of this have to do with happiness and self-confidence, well once I started to put these activities into action I realized that I am more positive and optimistic, and I just feel so great all the time. And now I have the confidence to try new things and not be scared of what could happen.



You see, I have never been optimistic, or positive, or even happy all the time, I was the kind of person that felt happy but didn’t show it, I was always the kind of person who expected the worst, who had no real goals and even the ones I had, I would never achieve. I knew it was time to change that, time to make the switch. I now know who I want to be, I want to be the kind of person that radiates positivity, the person who is always happy and spreads it to others just by smiling or speaking, because I believe that the way a person speaks is how others perceive them. If you only speak negatively and look at the bad side, people will label you like that.


One of my resolutions was to challenge myself every day, sometimes it's the little things you do, things that usually go unnoticed, that you can change that can change you. I am a person who complains too much. I never really noticed it until now. As soon as I realized I told myself no more. I would do my best to not complain at times, so I don’t anymore. Of course, it takes time, it's a habit and if you haven’t heard it before “Old habits die hard.” Whether it's quitting smoking or in my case stop complaining. I found that by not complaining I feel better about the matter, like when I have to do something I don’t want to do instead of complaining I do it, and I do it with a lot more energy.

Challenging yourself to try new things is always good because trying new things helps you find yourself and discover your identity. Discovering who you are is what makes you happy. By changing the little things in life you change the big things little by little, the path to personal development is easier than you think, trust me.


Sources:


Self-Esteem. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://cmhc.utexas.edu/selfesteem.html


Chunn, L. (2017, May 10). The psychology of the to-do list – why your brain loves ordered tasks. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/may/10/the-psychology-of-the-to-do-list-why-your-brain-loves-ordered-tasks


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