WFO #1 Personal Development

As some of you know and this is new information for anyone new to WFO. I have upgraded my license from a CDL Class B to a CDL Class A. With that I have started a job at Werner, so M-F I will be gone from my family once I go solo with driving...but I am preparing to be gone for 3 to 5 weeks. So a lot of new things coming my way, being away from home and family will be tough but that makes this topic today so important!

So WFO as of right now will be in blog form and every week I will add to it and add pictures that I take from over the road. Once my family and I are in North Carolina and I move to a local route, I can revisit the idea of WFO being on video.

Personal Development is a topic that self-help gurus love to talk about. How can you reach the mountain tops if you do not push yourself to improve. But what is Personal Development? Well it is the process of developing new skills, attitudes, and actions. It can help you improve your self-awareness, build your potential, and improve your quality of life. Now that we have a basic idea of what it is, how does it apply to myself and more importantly how can it apply to you.

First, what did I have to improve to be back at this spot. Honestly, it was letting go of that nasty inner voice that tears you down. This is an ever growing thing I have to work on but I am blessed to have people who give me encouragement but from years of not getting that from parents and peers, it has led to an weak inner voice that is shattered and scared to take the risk. By going to therapy, I have begun to carve away at the inner voice and begun the process to build a new positive voice in its place. It will take time but me being here to record this video is proof to myself that I am doing the work.

How can we work on personal development for yourself? Well that depends on what you are wanting for yourself. Are you wanting to be more outgoing? Maybe try a different skill or hobby, the list can go on and on but it all depends on you. Something I am learning in therapy is the idea of self manifestation, I write on a piece of paper what I want for myself, this is the time to be bold and even a little bit selfish, but write on the paper what you want for yourself. Close your eyes and visualize it for yourself. Slow down your breathing and really think hard on what you wrote. Continue the breathing with me. Breathe in, breathe out, in and out. Slowly open your eyes and with that same piece of paper, start to write Step 1, 2, 3 ,4 and 5.

The thing you wrote for yourself is the end goal or even a checkpoint of sorts. The steps are how you are going to begin to get there. This is part of personal improvement, make the goal and figure out the steps to get there. Coaches do this to train their players, entrepreneurs, teachers, and now you can do it to help improve in meaningful ways in your life. This is not the end all be all, it is a stepping stone in the right direction. Here are some tips for achieving your goals in personal development:

* Learning visualization techniques 

* Avoiding negative thoughts

* Meditating

* Being resilient

* Setting small challenges

* Being persistent

* Celebrating victories

* Setting SMART goals

* Developing a growth mindset

* Sticking to your action plan

Over the next couple weeks, we are going to dive into some of these tips. Expand on them to give you all the best chance at improving yourself. After we finish those tips, I will bring on a guest and we will dive into the next topic.

Here at We Forge On, our goal is simple. We are helping you reach a checkpoint. We will give advice, have those deep conversations, giving you resources that helped us, and point you towards a better you. We are just guys wanting to help other guys without all the toxic baggage the “matrix guys” keep talking about.

These blogs will be my way of putting to paper the many months worth of research I have done for the return of the podcast. This has been your host Soaring, though life may get you down. Stand Tall and We Forge On!