Personally developing yourself early will help determine the success of your future

Throughout my childhood, I was told by my mom that I need to make sure I surround myself with good, positive influences.  This was echoed by many individuals: uncles, aunts, siblings, my friend’s parents, and people on the internet.  Because of this, I tried to surround myself with people who can help grow me instead of tear me down.  However, the keyword is tried.  I am guilty—like everyone else—that I have let individuals and platforms lead me astray, which resulted me doing and saying some incredibly stupid things.   But the thing is, I am not alone. 

I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you have had similar experiences as I have, where you repeated the words of something that a friend or a movie has stated and those words landed you in trouble with your parents or tarnished a relationship with a friend.  We as human beings are susceptible to who we surround ourselves with.  Furthermore, children and young adults are the most susceptible to influences.  This is easily seen and universally known by everyone.

When you tell a child that gullible is written on the ceiling, the kid is going to look up.  Also, when an energetic and excited 18 year old goes to college, their way of thinking is going to be constantly challenged and will morph into the mindset of how the university generally acts.  However, this susceptibility can be one of the best things for an individual, because this is the best time to grow. 

A child and young adult will grow significantly faster than an established adult who has been working for a couple of decades.  For example, let us imagine a child who is 10 years old.  In 5 years, the child is now going to be a teenager who is 15.  The changes between 10 and 15 will be crazy.  Not only will they theoretically be smarter, taller, and will have more responsibilities, but they will have grown personally from a kid who will say anything on their mind to an individual who will think more before they act.  Now, let us carry this example to someone who is 40 years old.  They are established in their career and they have a growing family.  In 5 years, they will be 45 years old, but nothing will have really changed.  Their kids are growing.  They might have moved houses.  Their bank account has grown.  But what about them personally, have they grown? The answer is probably not.  They have probably not personally developed significantly; because at that age, individuals are not making huge bounds in developing themselves.  This is not to say that they can’t, but that a younger individual will go through more periods of immense growth.

Due to the fact that children and young adults will have more likelihood to make huge leaps of growth in shorter periods of times, it is critical to be surrounded by positive influences and developing yourself personally during this time span.  The way to personally develop is to be constantly surrounded by positive influences such as people, books, podcasts, this blog, etc.  By making the choice to establish yourself now through personal development, it guarantees that you will be a better individual and your future will be brighter.

Personal development is life changing.  Even doing a little bit everyday or reading Youth to Future 2 times a week—on Mondays and Fridays—will make an impact on your life.  By actively choosing to develop yourself, you can receive many benefits with some being the following: develops interpersonal skills, creates dedication and a hunger for more in life, strengthens and deepens relationships with everyone, understand more about yourself, and choose who you want to be.  I will be talking about these benefits and other topics in future blog posts.  However, by choosing to personally develop yourself will alter how you think and what you do, which will ultimately change your life.