Self-development: Pursuing purpose in the new normal

By Augustine Tabe

While trying to become all that we wish to be, we make the common mistake of neglecting the self that incubates, gives birth, and nurses who we ultimately become in life. self-development is a reminder, a self-help mechanism that every human needs in order to grow bountifully. It takes a lot of resources to be fruitful. this insightful and transformative book is another resource you would not want to miss out from.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Sep 18, 2020
• ISBN: 9781716572630

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Self Development

Self Development

By

Tabe Augustine E

All Rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopied, or otherwise without the prior written consent of the writer.

Short extracts may be used for reviews purposes with permission.

Copyright 2020 © Tabe Augustine E.

Contents

Dedication

Foreword

Preface

Introduction

Part 1                                                                 

Chapter One: Every Great Success Story Begins With Self-discovery

Chapter Two: Repositioning Yourself Mentally

Chapter Three: How Prepared Are You for Success

Chapter Four: Do the Thinking Yourself

Chapter Five: Use Your Passion as an Instrument to Impact the World

Chapter Six: Capacity Building Develop

Chapter Seven: Your Sense of Creativity

Chapter Eight: How to Become Your Dreams

Chapter Nine: Your Mentality Depict Your Actuality

Chapter Ten: Let Your Faith Overweight Your Fears

Chapter Eleven: A Redefined Life Is Worth Living Replace

Chapter Twelve: The Might of Leadership

Chapter Thirteen: A Life of Productivity

Part 2

Chapter Fourteen: Become Proactive and Not Reactive

Chapter fifteen: Fasten Your Belt of Determination

This piece of me is dedicated to all the truth seekers out there, to all the tenacious and veracious readers-Those I fondly referred to as consummate of knowledge like my beloved Father

Foreword

I believe that life is a journey. A rollercoaster ride through the valleys of challenges, the mountains of success, and the plains of self-development. What you do during the times where you are at the ‘plain' of your life will determine the momentum you will have during the ‘valleys’ and ‘mountain’ periods of your life. During the ‘plain' period, we must understand that we must develop the capacity, competencies and culture for growth.

Growth is a deliberate process and it is a mindset as much as it is a process. It does not happen by accident or chance. It only happens by choice!

There’s a true life story of a young inexperienced soldier named Andrew Summers Rowan who was a Lieutenant that was sent from America’s President William McKinley to deliver a message to the rebel leader General Calixto Garcia prior to the Spanish American war. The rebel leader, General Garcia was situated in an unknown location along the vast mountain of Cuba. Lieutenant Rowan faced other challenges such as passing through enemy lines and the extreme terrain which was difficult to navigate.

Against all odds, the young Lieutenant Rowan made it. He made it not by finding excuses; he made it by finding a way. He could only have achieved this by constant self-development that has accelerated his mental development that transcended the limit of his age or position in the army. I know this because achieving a task like this is no easy feat and it is practically impossible for the small-minded. We all need to embrace self-development like Rowan so that we can be empowered to – do the work!

The best person you can invest in is yourself. Within your mind is the ability to create multi-billion dollar businesses, to solve century-long societal challenges, to reimagining the future of space travel, to create transgenerational systems among others. The author, Augustine, does a great work in ensuring that you have the platform and knowledge that can be your springboard.

He brilliantly illustrates the power of choice and our actions to positively change the trajectory of our future. Like Lieutenant Rowan, he reminds us that the world only celebrates those that do the work! This great book succinctly reminds us that we must take our time to constantly re-examine our worldviews, re-evaluate our values, re-calibrate our vision, and re-establish our mission that will ultimately re-imagine our destinies.

The book goes a step further to highlight that through the up and down journey of life, we must not be complacent about our growth. We must constantly nurture our minds, stay positive, take action on our SMART goals and spread our wings of dreams to fly to an enviable height on the mountain of success.

Enjoy the inspiration!

To your success always,

Dr. Isaac Olufadewa

Author, ‘YOUNIQUE: 21 Strategies to a Purposeful Life’

Preface

No doubt the universe is governed by laws. These laws are divine; they were not put into motion by mere mortal men but by an infinite immortal, a force yet to be fully comprehended. Let's take into consideration the law of cause and effect which states that for everything that happens in the life of man was propelled by an action rooted in a decision. Nothing just happens except it is made to happen. The universe is indeed intentional, and so are her elements. In the magical universe, there are no coincidences and there are no accidents. Nothing happens unless someone wills it to happen

This universal law prohibits wishful thinking but creates in you the propensity, tenacity, audacity, and capacity to think, act, and become. Dreams remain abstract until they are fully transmuted into their physical equivalents. If you are desirous over something in life, you must be willing to make the necessary sacrifices just to achieve your heart desires. Success doesn’t just happen but made to happen. Just as we are cloned to the laws of biological growth so also other areas of our lives are immune to the principles of self-development. Until the self is wholly discovered and fully developed, all other aspects of your life remain undiscovered, undeveloped, and underutilized. Finding yourself is finding your element, your purpose, or calling in life.

Why self-development?

Scientist Marie Curie on the importance of self-development: you cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end, each individual must work for his own improvement and at the same time share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful. Personal improvement is metabolic to success. Self-development is not about being perfect, but a process of growing and strengthening certain aspects of your life for the greater good. It's about giving life and illumination to your thought-element, vision, idea, and dream. Self-improvement and success often occur together says Mark Manson.  Anything of true value always requires an act of rigorous development and time. Whatever you desire out of life must be built and developed because you are the one that can build yourself into greatness and success.  Maybe Robert Greene said it just right, "You cannot make anything worthwhile in this world unless you have first developed and transformed yourself.’’ Nothing happens by chance, remember! Self-development is what we need in life to stand out rather than blend in. "When you stop growing you start dying’’ This quote by Williams Burroughs is the anchor of self-development. Is there an end to self-development? Absolutely no, it’s a lifetime exercise for every living being.

Have you ever observed a moment of solitude? John Manson said, When we withdraw for a time, we can see and hear much more clearly about how to go ahead. Have you ever thought about your true purpose in life, your calling, strength, weakness, gift, potential and possible ways you can actually eliminate, harness and improve on them?  We fail in life simply because we fail to utilize our greatest abilities and talents trapped right within the inner-man. If you really want to achieve your dreams and success then you must learn to withdraw from the crowd and spend some quality time with yourself, meditating and pondering over the certainty and uncertainty of your present and future. It is in this harmonious communion with the infinite that you will be able to discover and rediscover the endless possibilities of your potentials buried right inside of you.  We need to insulate as well as vaccinate ourselves from negative people and ideas that make us think less of ourselves. Moments of solitude create magnitudes of energy that can be properly organized and channeled toward self-development.

How do you define your life? So many people erroneously define their lives based on people’s opinions, and not what they know of themselves. This is indeed catastrophic and ruinous to a man’s purpose in life. Until you are able to come into the lamplight of the knowledge of who you are, you will forever remain a slave to the cheap opinions of others. You are not what people or unfavorable circumstance says you are, rather you are what you say you are. This is the philosophy behind self-development-the process of becoming. Having the knowledge of who you are affords you the power of self-reliance, the freedom to think, act, and become your dreams in life.

Over the years I have carefully pondered over the reason why most people fail and few succeed in life. This logical reasoning was actually instigated by the law of cause and effects. It became very obvious that the main reason why most people fail in life is simply because they live in the shadow of their reality. They’re still ignorant of their inexplicable potentials, which most of the time lie dormant and remain undiscovered, unutilized, untapped, and rusted. Such magnitude of gross ignorance may lead one into self-deprivation and self-limitation. People who suffer from such mental blindness are easily detected by the depressed looks on their faces. Lack of self-awareness gives birth to an unhealthy self-image which is very cancerous to your productivity and prosperity as a person. Life only becomes thrilling and enjoyable when the inner-man in you fully discovers and develop its full potential.

You’re bigger, better, and wiser than you can ever imagine. All you need to do is to discover the inner you. Every day of our lives we get closer to our purpose and more familiar with our true identity. Don’t be in a hurry to negatively conclude or write-off yourself, for what you see in the mirror is a mere reflection of your mortal body. My uncle, Barr Raphael Ekuri told me boy, patience is the keyword to great feats in life. The only way you can properly utilize the enormous deposits in you is by staying committed to the process of self-development. This way you can actually activate and put into motion the law of multiplicity in your personal life. You’re like a raw material, a work in progress [WIP]. Why not hold on to your dreams, for very soon your dreams will become your reality.

Your life remains a mystery and it’s your responsibility to unravel this mystery, which is why you have this amazing book. It is a step by step self-guide on how you can rediscover, develop, and nurture your inner-man which simulates your resourcefulness, greatness, positive mental attitude, productivity, potentiality and the ability to think innovatively as a leader. There’s so much more than words can describe about the certainty of your success in life if only you can stay positively committed to the process of self-development.

Introduction

There’s absolutely no limit to our personal growth and improvement in all spectrums of life. This is to say that nobody in life is ever too old or young, rich or poor to aspire for greatness, and be inspired, motivated, and determined to realistically achieve if not all some of their set-goals in life. Being illumined by the endless possibility for anyone to attain success through self-development, has been an inspiring experience and a  driving force behind my personal life to actually motivate, ignite, and inspire great minds into unleashing their untapped, unutilized and unrefined resources and potential trapped right inside of them. To remind us that we can become just who we think we are. These are the stemming reasons behind the birth of self-development as an inclusive creation. The writing of this book is considered to be more of a mechanical assembling, since I had to cross-breathe through various layers and degrees of most assented ideas on the mechanism of personal growth and success opined by the world-leading figures known in different walks of life. Therefore, I had to assemble this ocean of great discoveries into one dynamic instrument composed of different components of realistic ideas, insights, and life-experiences on how to consistently build up your human-machine called self.   

The book in your hand is an instrument, a compound of vast ideas, concepts, principles, suggestions, and laws brought together by not just me, but has gone through an affirmative process in the hands of some greater minds who were also inspired by my desire to make this conceived idea a written and published reality, with the focus of bringing the readers in proximity with their true purpose and calling in life as living beings. Observing the degree in which we have stray away from purpose, self-development has become a chain of interconnectedness bringing us back to the state of consciousness. If you must be an achiever then you must first be able to rediscover, recover, redevelop, and redeploy your potential before you can truly become an achiever in life. Truly a man’s resourcefulness is inexplicable, for there exists so much more within the inner-man. 

The aim of this amazing book is to enable you to become pertinacious in maximizing and harmonizing your ultimate potential which is your ability to create and design a life that is truly befitting. To also bring you intact with yourself, that is the caveman in you. The insight to which you can comprehend this book will put you in a position to lead not just yourself but others. This is a self-coach on how to positively negotiate and navigate your way through cosmic laws. The success of this book was nursed with a sense of positivity, productivity, potentiality as well as creativity; it leaves no vacuum for self-limitation, imitation, and self-dilution which is obviously a trend, a tide or phenomenon in our 21st century.

I strongly believe we are in the right time of history to move into real pragmatism if we truly desire revolution, a positive and dynamic shift, a change in our personal lives and in the world we live in as humans. Please don’t in any way limit the concepts, principles, and suggestions you will encounter in the cause of reading through the pages of this book, for limiting them is self-limitation in the other way round which is unhealthy for personal development. Instead, why not discover more insights by re-reading each chapter at least twice in order for you to fully understand the ideas of the author and launch into action immediately because taking action is the only way to sustain an idea.

The principles of self-development cut across diverse areas of human endeavors which makes it quite difficult for me to fully buttress and digest its enormity. But notwithstanding, adequate efforts have been invested collectively in running analogy in each chapter which is more than enough to inspire and sustain you as you undertake the path to self-development and personal achievement. And remember that growth is the most important form of winning.

As you read through each chapter, do it with an open mind as one who is prepared to accelerate, assimilate, and dissimulate the energizing and rich deposits of this book. And don’t forget to be an effective and efficient reader who doesn’t only depend on his five senses but of his inner-senses which are more powerful.

See you at the top of the ladder of success as you learn how to constructively develop yourself into a better person in life.

Tabe Augustine E. 

Chapter One

Every Great Success Story Begins With Self-discovery

Chapter One

Every Great Success Story Begins With Self-Discovery

One secret of discovering yourself is; it gives you the authority and power to control your life, it improves your courage and self-belief, and above all helps you to become the master of your destiny.

How will you feel if left alone with an alien? I know just how scary and uncomfortable this may be for you.  Instinctively, nobody wants to hang out with a strange element, not even the world wishes to accommodate one. Now if you’re frightened by the presence of a stranger, how then are you so comfortable living as a stranger in your own body? How do you live with yourself not knowing your identity, or the true essence or purpose of your existence? How do you feel waking up every morning with nothing in mind to pursue? I find it disturbing and sickening. Like Soren Kierkegaard said, the thing is to understand myself, to see what God really wishes me to do, to find the idea for which I can live and die.  Assertively, I felt reassured of the connectivity and relativity between the science of self-discovery, and the revolution of self-development and human advancement when my mentor Bishop. T.D. Jakes validated this line of thought in one of his books He-motions that self-discovery is a vital part of human-development.  With this in mind, we now know that the first law of self-development is self-discovery, and the second law of human advancement is self-development. This birthing process is proven to be fundamental to personal growth and success in life, because no one can achieve greatness in a state of coma or inside his cocoon.

But it’s quite unfortunate that the whole idea of self-discovery is fast decaying in the minds of people. It is possible that we have become just too familiar with the word as a result of its repeated use by writers and public speakers in our contemporary world. Owing to this misplacement in understanding how defining the process of self-discovery is, I will rather translate self-discovery as self-knowledge-that is, the ability to know exactly what you possess and WHY. So, to get you on your journey to self-development, I must do well to first bring you to the full knowledge of who you are or who you are not. That’s taking your values and incredible potentials into perspective. You must quit being an alien in a strange world, but find what makes you unique. Now is the time to dig deeper and find you. Yes, you!

Kevin Abstract said, I believe that self-discovery is an ongoing thing. Finding this other half of you is never instantaneous but a process that encompasses your whole being. It’s a state of enormous power and transformation in the spirit, soul, and body of a man. Every human being is an agent on a mission with the details of the mission wired in their genes. To accomplish this mission we have to consciously decode the encoded details encrypted in our DNA. Each day then becomes an opportunity for you to explore yourself, your true identity, your true potential, your true calling, and purpose in life. Yvonne Wilson was right when she said, We can’t pretend to know everything. Each day we learn something new. In our quest for more knowledge about who we are and our purpose here on earth, life then becomes a journey of self-discovery.  Unfortunately, this wholesome process has proven to be very challenging and almost impossible for those who are yet to find their element in the ocean of life. Trust me you’re not alone. We all find it difficult to see ourselves beyond the reflection of the mirror. So we wake up every morning trying to figure out just who exactly we really are-what is our ultimate purpose here on earth?  Well, finding your element might not be as easy as you think; In fact most times it turns out to be quite a traumatic and chaotic experience. Just like you might know, life often takes us through different pathways but brings us to one destination. But all the same, I want you to explore the potential of a new day and learn to enjoy the adventure of self-exploration. Mind you, purpose is to be pursued and fulfilled. The night gives birth to a new version of you every morning.

Most times, the light of who you are shines serendipitously at the darkest moment of your life. This becomes your road to Damascus experience where you’re wholly illuminated and immersed into your true being-a creature of divine purpose.  This is true for Mrs. Amelia Barr who after the death of her husband suffered a horrendous accident that confined her to a room. In her own words, she said, I shall lose all I have gained, I shall fall behind in the race. A prisoner in her wheelchair bounded by an excruciating chain of pains she found herself writing stories to make her children happy and to keep her alive. And in six weeks she had inadvertently completed a book Jan Vedders Wife which immediately became a success. At the age of fifty-two, she became one of the most successful novelists and enjoyed great fame inspiring her readers across the world. The revelation of her calling was accompanied by a great deal of pain and discomfort. For most people, such a calamitous experience would have been their immediate retirement from life.  What you’re going through right now might be leading to your ultimate purpose. It is the fire that makes gold-gold.

Only be sensitive to the waves of the sea and the radiation of what is happening within and around your life, for all these are pointers to the voyage of self-discovery-finding the inner-man.

Some storms are meant to carry us in the direction of our true calling in life. Theologically, Jonah once charted a wrong sail toward the coast of Tarshish which was diametrically opposite to Nineveh, the place of his original calling by God. In the course of his deviated voyage, Jonah’s ship was struck by a ferocious storm that got him chucked overboard where he got swallowed by a whale that later transported him to the actual destination where he was called to serve. To Jonah, Nineveh was his ultimate purpose, one which he disliked; in fact, it took the raging storm of the sea to first humble and then enable him to accept, and pursue a purpose that became a landmark in the chronicle of God’s miracles. An entire city was transformed and reconciled back to God. Just like you and I, we often stray away from purpose, from who we originally are and from what we were called to do, not until we are intercepted by the redefining storm of life. Now what appears to be a killer is merely a revealer of destiny, strength, and the tenacity of one’s self-will to become something meaningful in life.

When you step out into the unknown trying to find that one thing you’re good at, failure becomes an inevitable compass that directs or redirects your path. When Victoria Beckham got crushed in her solo singing career, it was in this failure she realized music wasn’t her ultimate calling or passion. This realization led her into a whole new industry. She got into the fashion business and now she’s one of the most successful fashion designers in the world. Finding your true element is like drinking from different streams with a bitter taste of failure. So don’t dwell on your failures, only learn the lesson and follow the direction of your compass. 

Life remains a boring struggle until the you-in-you is fully discovered, developed, and unleashed.

When I said self-discovery I actually meant a sense of a definite purpose in life. It’s all about knowing the essence of presence on planet earth and staying committed to such discovery.  I think it will be best for you to know that no one can ever pursue an undiscovered purpose.  That’s why your very first assignment is to decode who you truly are. Let me humbly share with you an interesting insight from my philosophical bouquet. In the voyage of seeking your true self, you must not settle merely for the defining question of who am I but go further and ask what more can I be?  In discovering who you are, don’t make the obvious mistake of limiting who you’re to a single identity. You must stretch out boundlessly and realize that man is multifaceted, gifted to function in varying dimensions. Identity can be expanded or changed; self can be stretched into a new horizon. You’re a great leader, an empathetic friend, a loving father, or mother and so the list runs down the page. What’s really important is that you get involved in the process of self-discovery today.   

"I think self-discovery is the greatest achievement in life, because once you discover yourself and accept what you are, then you can fulfill your true potential and be happy." - Marco Pierre White.

In your journey to self-discovery,