Personal Development in the New Age

Personal Development is a term that is becoming more important in today’s corporate world, especially in the big cities. Schools and universities were created to have more educated citizens as education became a high priority. However, in entering the corporate world it is apparent that there are areas in life that schools and universities do not teach about. For example, how to deal with heartbreaks, disappointment, or how to manage money.

Additionally, there are skills needed to be able to sell value, for example:

• pitching ideas
• having the right mindset when receiving rejections in career and in life
• having the right mindset in a job interview
• learning how to give value
• learning more about yourself

…and so on. Enter the age of Personal Development.

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What made Personal Development popular?

The first thing that happens when students graduate from university and apply for the first job, is that they notice most companies asking for at least 2 years of experience in their respective fields. If academic experience is all one has, it lowers the chances of getting a vacancy and those who have experience will be preferred. Due to the competition, it sometimes happens in the field that one studied in, because someone else had more years of experience. Though universities give career advice, only practical experience and trying things out can give a feel for what matches one’s expectations or personality. Another way to learn how to manage these aspects is through Personal Development courses.

What is Personal Development about?

Personal Development entails career development skills, better health and lifestyle skills, positive psychology or mindset, communication skills, and others. Generally, Personal Development can be described as a blueprint for the way to reach a certain career and personal life goal. These skills are, however, connected to one’s psychological state of mind and goals to happiness.

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Why did Personal Development become important?

Great therapists such as, Esther Perel, spoke in her seminar about how the modern world transitioned from a collective society (where life was already planned for the individual) to an individualistic society (where the individual can choose). Nonetheless, with the existence of so many choices, individuals found themselves lost without guidance.

With more freedom comes more responsibility, especially the responsibility for one’s own path. As a result, philosophers such as Allain de Botton spoke of how the modern capitalist age created so much pressure on the individual to achieve, that self-blame and value of success has lead to burnouts and depression. This was especially the case for those who did not get lucky in their career choices. At a certain point society started identifying individuals by how much they achieved in their career, or how high they went on the corporate ladder. Consequently, losing a job as the most important identity caused an increase in suicide rates. Personal Development courses that deal with the ups and downs of life became ever so important, if not only to teach the individual that there is nothing lost, since there was nothing specific that was meant to be gained in the first place.

The fact that luck plays a big part in success, should not be ignored, and individuals can be less self-judging for not reaching the American Dream fast enough.

References:

“Personal Development Online Courses | Coursera.” Coursera, 2019, www.coursera.org/browse/personal-development.

“Alain de Botton on Pessimism.” YouTube, 4 Feb. 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw1oLtuJOXQ. Accessed 12 Jan. 2020.

“Esther Perel | Modern Love and Relationships | SXSW 2018.” Www.youtube.com, www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iu9_8Vsmtk.

Kiyosaki, Robert T. Rich Dad Poor Dad. Scottsdale (Arizona), Plata, 2017.