Do we ever stop learning? Most people would agree that no, we don’t.
So if we believe that we should be continuously learning, should we not always be open to opportunities for growth and development? Unfortunately, so often that doesn’t seem to be the case. Why do we limit ourselves from being developed, or when we have the opportunity to learn we poo-poo the idea and make excuses to avoid it?
One of the biggest obstacles for many people’s personal growth and development is their unhealthy pre-occupation with work. The “job” becomes all-consuming, and unreasonable work obligations are allowed to take away from personal learning time.
I often hear things like “Ah, I would love to attend that talk or seminar, but I’ve got work to do” or “No, I haven’t managed to read that book, I needed to finish off a work report”. You could say that work has become the be-all and end-all, and anything outside of it is less important. Lack of work-life-balance comes to mind.
Is this trade-off due to our feeling of guilt if we pay more attention to something other than work? The feeling that we will be seen as a “slacker” by our peers, work colleagues or heaven forbid, our bosses?
If your answers to the following questions highlight that your personal development time is lacking due to work, what are you going to do to change it?
- Do you allow your job to overshadow your opportunity to develop?
- Do you put other people’s requests and demands before your own development opportunities?
- Do you allocate time during your week or month for personal development and growth?
- Do you discuss your personal development goals with your boss?
- What would happen if you actively included personal development into your schedule?
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