Self Improvement Ideas - My Road To Personal Development

Recently, I have spent some time taking inventory of who I am. I believe it is a healthy practice to perform a self assessment on who we are and who we want to be. Over the past several months I have spent many hours looking at the real me. The me that only God and I know.

There have been aspects of who I am that I appreciated seeing in this evaluation, and would like to continue. However, there are areas of my life that make me cringe. It has been said that admitting you have a problem is half the battle. I guess that makes me halfway there, because one can only change if he or she is willing to be honest about who they are when no one is looking. This means they are willing to admit the good, the bad and the ugly.

After much self reflection I want to share with you five areas of my character that need an overhaul. Keep in mind, this is not a comprehensive list, but it is a good place to start.

My wife says it is my ADD that causes me to be this way. I think it is because I become bored easily. Besides I don’t think I have ADD that is …… hey look a chicken. Laughing out loud. I crack me up.

The fact that I have been on Hubpages for two months and have consistently written hubs is beyond belief. This is something that I normally would have quit by now and gone on to pursue something else.

Please do not misunderstand me. It is not that I do not like people I just do not care to be around most folks for an extended period of time. Brad Paisley put it best when he sang “I’m so much cooler online.” On a side note, I am much cooler online with people who have never met me. It’s not that I am not a likeable guy, I am. After all, I enjoy being around me. The problem is that “stupid” irritates me. As of late, it seems that “stupid” is at an all time high.

Another characteristic I have that affects my ability to be a people person is that there does not seem to be a stopping mechanism between the thought process and the spoken word. If it goes through my mind it will most certainly be guaranteed to go come out of my mouth, and rather quickly, at that.

It seems that I am often being pulled in a thousand directions. Never stopping long enough to make precious memories, let alone enjoy them. Business is my master and, all too often, I am chained to deadlines and unreasonable expectations.

I spend 40 hours a week working inside the walls of a maximum security prison. While being temporarily incarcerated, I have learned to wear a mask. The mask hides who I am and what I am feeling. The problem with the mask is that I often forget to take it off when I leave the prison. Therefore, when I am in the “free world” people seldom see me smile.

I am really a very happy person. Many who have read some of my more dark writings think that I lean towards being deranged, but I really am a person who loves to laugh. I just need to let the joy that is inside of me be transferred to my face.

• Do not bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself - William Faulkner
• Don't be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves. - Dale Carnegie
• Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined.- Henry David Thoreau
• People seldom improve when they have no other model bu themselves to copy. - Oliver Goldsmith

In spite of not being much of a people person, there are a few people who mean the world to me. My wife and children are at the top of this list. In case you have not met my family yet you can do so through the hubs - Here To Stay, A Rhyme for Shari, and Funny Things Kids Say.

There are those who have imparted great things into my life and I probably never told them. There are those that influence my life daily and I don’t tell them enough. If we are not careful, we will often times focus so much on the things that we do not have, yet, totally neglect the blessings that are right in front of us every day.

Stop for just a moment and think about the people who make your world a better place. What would your time on this planet be like if they had not been a part of your life, no matter how brief their influence? Before you move on through your day, make a list of people who have had a positive impact on your life. Pick one or two of those and let them know that you appreciate them. It will brighten their day and certainly add value to yours.

 © April 2010 Sam Bristow

The copyright to this article is owned by Sam Bristow. Permission to republish this article in print or online must be granted by the author in writing. (You can, however, freely use the opening introduction and photo with a link to the article here on Hubpages to read the remainder of the article.)