Feelings and Illnesses in Personal Development

The process of personal development — in other words, when individuals work on gaining a better understanding of their abilities and competencies, as well as increasing self-awareness regarding their strengths and areas for improvement — offers many benefits. In this article, however, we’ll focus specifically on how personal development can help in caring for emotions and managing illnesses, whether chronic or not.

Emotions

First and foremost, it’s important to point out that personal development is directly linked to emotions and feelings. It’s impossible to find balance, set goals, or achieve objectives effectively without having one’s emotions in order. This is because feelings are present in all aspects of an individual's life and strongly influence relationships, self-confidence, overcoming difficult moments, realizing potential, and much more.

One of the main benefits of personal development when it comes to emotions is the development of emotional intelligence. To achieve emotional intelligence, here are a few essential tips:

Be aware

It’s very important to become aware of your emotions — not by denying them, but by trying to understand the reasons behind them. Focus on learning from what you feel.

Exercise control

It’s common, in certain situations like anger or anxiety, to let emotions take over. The tip is to resist impulses and, when you feel overwhelmed by a strong emotion, try to stay calm and return to a balanced state so that good decisions and choices can be made.

Take responsibility and learn to forgive yourself

The advice is: take responsibility for everything that happens in your life — don’t blame others. Accept that you are the only one responsible for your life. For this to happen, you also need to learn to forgive yourself and accept that you may make mistakes many times.

Illnesses

When it comes to health conditions, personal development also plays a crucial role — not only in understanding the condition but also in accepting it. Once you accept a diagnosis, you can focus better on treatment and explore alternative strategies to improve well-being. Personal development in relation to illnesses helps people:

• Develop the willingness to learn as much as possible about the condition, knowing that more knowledge leads to better management of symptoms and treatment;

• Follow medical treatment properly;

• Feel motivated to join support groups, which are important for sharing experiences with others in similar situations;

• Maintain regular physical activity;

• Stay socially engaged, whether with family, friends, or coworkers;

• Understand that there will be good days and not-so-good days;

• Recognize that their qualities go far beyond their condition — in other words, understand that the illness does not define them;

• Seek psychotherapy, knowing that mental health plays an important role in overall treatment.