Day By Day Less Perfect

I feel less perfect day by day. Instead of bothering me, I am proud of it and feel a growing freedom to be myself. I can now step lighter, without feeling the burden placed by people on my shoulders, or spikes in my heart. On my hopeful journey towards harmony and opportunity, the road opens up in front of me steadily, without its major bumps or obstacles.

The words “personal growth” could be used to summarize all of the above ideas. The publishing industry models many approaches, strategies, and talents that we can leverage in this throw-in and thus quite really invest in ourselves. However, it is not quite simple to unearth those hidden talents, nor to maximize their impact, so that we may be free to look at the skyline before us with a clear mind and a burning heart.

The publishing industry is well aware that the greatest demand for reading materials in the field of personal development and growth comes from the female readership. Women strive to transcend the constraints imposed by their own backgrounds in order to grow up as human beings, to change their own reality, and the society around them. Its development is generally very slow, and still dominated by masculinity.

However, it is not easy. Personal growth is a fundamental prerequisite in every organization in the world. Every business is governed by a basic rule: grow or die. At the individual level, however, this need is not stated quite clearly. Sometimes growth requires that we are not afraid to raise our voices to defy existing norms, or to show our own abilities. Women are already making huge strides in these areas.

Personal growth is about transcending your own self

Most of our readers have certainly heard of Abraham Maslow’s famous hierarchy of needs. This theory, which he developed in 1940, places the needs of self-realization at the top of the pyramid to reflect the real personal development finally achieved.

What everyone has not been aware of, however, is Maslow’s insight into the inaccuracy of this theory two decades later. The needs of self-realization require that we focus all our efforts, abilities, and energy fully on ourselves. It means that we long to see our abilities, our independence, our creativity, our courage, and above all our self-confidence, burst into full bloom in all its various dimensions.

Maslow understood that many people interpreted the top of the pyramid as a crown that glorious people could eventually achieve by being able to see themselves as capable, strong, and separate from their environment. There seemed to be no common good, or more valuable purpose.  His approach was flawed. From that new insight, he began to introduce a new level, which he placed even higher than the needs of self-realization. This level was for a more valuable purpose: the “ self-transcendence” dimension on the other side of ourselves.

Interestingly, it is this need to achieve that new dimension that is characteristic of women who cultivate personal growth and development. Modern women are confident in their own identity and potential.  They don’t have to lift themselves on a pedestal or be complacent.  They are looking for ways to rise above themselves and beyond the reach of the constraints imposed by others so that they can connect with and change their environment.

Less perfect – free from the expectations of others

A woman does not have to be perfect to bring out her best qualities and succeed. It is enough that he is himself. Dr. Saskia Sassen, a Dutch sociologist and author, is known for her work on globalization. According to him, most of us feel an obligation to adapt to a world that simply doesn’t work.

Therefore, women should understand, before accepting the challenge of personal development or striving above themselves that  they so desperately need, that they must first be liberated.   It is necessary to break the power of stereotypes, commandments, prejudices, and outdated expectations that imprison them.

You are yourself, and you deserve to be who you want to be. To get there, you need to have the ability to focus, hope, goals, and passion so that you can look at the skyline and fight for your goals to come true at every moment of every day. Second, you need to forget other people’s expectations and focus on your own because only they really matter.

Last but not least is the importance of being your own self. This brings freedom from contradictions, fraud and bias.  Only by doing so can you live in balance. Only then can you take care of yourself in the way you deserve to be taken care of. Only then will you bring the best version of yourself to the world to see. Only through this process will you be able to change the world in a slightly more respectable and valuable direction.

Illustration: Irene Sheri