People consider personal development, personal growth or even life coaching for a whole variety of reasons and in a range of circumstances. In my view, it is very important to take a step back from our situations when we are at the planning stage to ensure that we are going in the right direction when considering personal development or life coaching.

Direction is what I want to focus on in this article.

Direction is vital; in fact it is one of the most important things on which we need to concentrate.

We should take time to consider our direction before many other things.

What is this “direction”?

Direction is another name for the course, as in plotting the course on a map. Let us take a journey now back in time to see how powerful the concept of direction is. 

In times past people set sail for distant lands, as yet unknown, and followed a particular directional heading or bearing on their compass. If the compass bearing were wrong, even by a tiny amount, the boat would end up in a very different place than intended, which could have dire consequences.

An easy way to understand this is to consider a slice of pie. Imagine that you have just cut yourself a thin slice of delicious pie. The pie is on your plate with the point of the triangular shape pointing towards you. Imagine the two lines formed by the sides of the triangle extending on for miles beyond the edge of your plate. You will realize that the further the lines go the further apart they are, so even with a very thin slice of pie, which would be the equivalent of a slight error in a compass bearing, over a long distance, the final destinations of each line would be very different. As in life, if we get our bearings wrong at the beginning we will end up at the wrong destination.

Hopefully now you can see why it is so important to invest quality time and effort into discovering your true direction in life. Another phrase for true direction in life is the true purpose in life. Your true purpose can be related or allied to your gifting, passions; the things at which you excel. 

I have coined a phrase:

“Living your purpose is best for you, and others”

This is based partly on personal experience.

When you are living in your purpose,you will be much happier, healthier and will contribute much more to the world around you. 

Discovering your true life purpose can be quite difficult for a number of reasons, which are beyond the scope of this article. It is vital that you discover your purpose. Look at it this way; your true purpose is in harmony with the natural law and order of things. For example, a big V8 engine in a tiny car with poor quality brakes, wheels and running gear undoubtedly will not work out correctly. The reason finding your correct direction in life is important.

I realize that many people seek out a life coach or start a program of personal development for many other reasons than their true life purpose. I’m not saying that this is necessarily the wrong approach as it depends on the situation, though I know that if we focus on getting the foundations of a thing, in this case our life, right, then whatever we are building will be much more solid and lasting. It is very easy logic.

In conclusion, I encourage you to think about ways that you might discover your true life purpose because I know that if you do, you will find out what I’m saying is correct. If you are one of those people, and there are many, who is not overly concerned about other people, then the bit in my phrase “and others” will likely not be of much interest to you. I might add, that as you develop on a journey of personal development in a virtuous sense, your character will improve and you will find that a growing concern for others becomes a natural byproduct. You also realize that helping, serving, loving, and thinking of others is one of the things that bring true joy to life.

Guest blog post by Alex Webley of Personal Development Magic :http://www.PersonalDevelopmentMagic.com