I have another blog where I’ve written quite continuously for more than four years. Yesterday I was looking through the posts and came up with an interesting insight.
Common to most of the post I’ve written in the blog is that they are all about me and my personal development. It is a blog about training so it is natural that there will be many posts about me and my workouts, and they are quite egocentric. But there are a few gems where I write about how I learned to get running as a habit and how I went from running a few kilometers to cross the finish line in a marathon.
Life’s most important parts
If someone asks you the question: what are the most important parts of your life?
Many of us would probably answer: family, friends and career.
That’s true.
There are two parts, two dimensions of our life that are important.
Private: friends, family, partners. Professionally: education, work/career.
But there’s a third dimension. The personal part, personal growth: to feel good and take care of yourself.
And almost every single post I wrote in my training blog is mainly about that, the personal part of my life, my personal growth.
I like to see life from three dimensions: private, professional and personal.
I started for instance my first company with the main reason to control my time and be able to work regardless of location. Easier in theory than in practice, but it doesn’t matter, it has proven to be an important and healthy approach.
Business Culture
Personal development is also about culture. It puts a stamp on a company’s culture. And culture is something that is extremely important in a business. Atleast in my book.
Especially in a startup, or a young company in general, is it easier to control and influence the business culture. At an early stage, personal development is crucial, during that period it is the founder(s) who puts the stamp on the business culture.
Incubate yourself
Nisarg Patel, a molecular biologist compares the world’s tiniest organism with humans and startups.
Why can’t we treat ourselves like we treat our startups? Shouldn’t we be searching for our own “business models”
It is a healthy way to look at personal growth. What effect does the things I do on others? How can I change my habits for the better?
Questioning yourself.
— I’ve done this every day for several years now, does it means that it’s the right way? Is it possible to improve?
As I often say, optimize. What can you improve in yourself?
Invest in yourself. Questioning your choices, your habits and your everyday life. Look at yourself from the outside. It is useful and instructive.
Read Treat Yourself Like a Startup (Or a microbe, if you prefer) that Nisarg Patel wrote. Very interesting reading.