Living a life of gratitude helps to promote kindness and can teach others to be appreciative. We share in the spirit of fulfillment during special times that contribute to our well-being and wholesomeness. The more we live and learn greater evidence will appear reminding us to be thankful.

Practicing gratitude is a skill that can benefit your mindset and your outlook on life. Gratitude is experienced when we get something we want. But expressing gratitude helps us feel good about ourselves, which improves self-esteem. When gratitude is practiced in our lives authentically with ease and honesty, it can help you feel humble and more connected in your environment.

Gratitude affirmations and journaling is a way to express how grateful you are. There are no rules to journaling. It is simply writing down your thankfulness and things that you appreciate. Capture your feelings, best things in your life, milestones, challenges, and self-appreciation. Consciously acknowledging your own qualities is being kind to yourself.

Living life gratefully is a skill worth cultivating for happiness and fulfillment, because gratitude is correlated with successfulness and life satisfaction.

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To live a life fully without any question includes loving yourself completely. Self-love means you have a high regard for your own well-being and fulfillment. You take action to support your physical and spiritual growth. One of the first and most important things is to make yourself a priority – when you know how to love yourself, you learn to love better. I have found self-prioritization makes giving, sharing, and loving others a lot easier because it speaks volumes for how you care about yourself. There is nothing selfish about taking care of yourself, so you are able to love and care for others.

The next thing is to build your self-esteem by celebrating yourself often in ways that make you happy and healthy. Do things that you enjoy and spend time with people who you share common interests that gives you energy, vibrancy, and liveliness. Take good care living who you are. When you practice self-care in your overall wellbeing it can be a positive and empowering influence.

Other aspects of loving yourself involve being your own advocate, best friend, and values champion. Believe in your own self-worth to strengthen your confidence and ability to handle challenges and solve problems. Embrace your core values and self-love principles for greater life satisfaction. People will notice your favorable personality traits that reflect your character, simply by how you treat yourself and others.

Living a grateful life is key to acknowledging the love you have for yourself and recognizing the worth of your accomplishments. It is acceptable to appreciate who you are and what you do. Self-appreciation is the gift that you give yourself for a happier you. There is value in learning to appreciate your achievements and seeing yourself for the person you are. Celebrating yourself is a boost to your self-confidence and motivates you to achieve more and to nurture your positive beliefs.

Reflect on the amazing benefits of practicing self-love and being yourself.

Although the month of February is the shortest month of the year, it comes with many important days and celebrations; like Valentine’s Day, American Heart Month, Random Acts of Kindness Week, National Self Check Day, and National Love Your Pet Day to name a few. It’s also Black History Month, making it a perfect time for Black culture and heritage observations.

As considered the month of love, February brings a special time for remembering and emphasizing the importance of love, caring, and giving. In my book, Abundant Faith: Secrets to Plenty Traveling on Life’s Journey, I write about love and faith with stories of God’s perfect love and how it comes unconditional in everlasting portions available to us.

Of all the great love stories ever told, the story of Jesus Christ is the greatest. Sent as a redeemer to save humankind from the sins of the world, he suffered and died for us. It was through God’s love that we received the ultimate sacrifice as a gift to righteousness. His love is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. We innately have a desire to feel and possess the power of that love.

You know when people want to have your love because they show up for it! Love is just, love is pure, love is action, honesty, and honorable.

On my journey, I’ve seen a lot of things that looked like love, but still made me wonder. How could this be love? So much happens in the name of love without substance or character. We make life adjustments in how we love. Whether done intentionally or without awareness, it truly affects the soul of another. Some people make up or change the rules of love as they please. I have learned to let faith be my guide to where love leads. 

Take a moment to examine your own feelings about love. Observe the patterns of what you know to be love. Love is one of our greatest needs as human beings.

I came across an article recently on 20 things you should know about yourself. It highlighted how personal growth is often achieved by how much we know about ourselves and how we learn through our personal experiences in life. This is an excellent read that brings attention to eye-opening and important factors on how we live and the decisions we make that identifies who you are.

Self-discovery is powerful and provides lifetime guiding principles. In my newest book Life Skills for the Journey, I write about Essential Life Skills That Matter and include this topic in one of the 5 Successful Approaches. Read a short excerpt from this inspirational self-help book and share your comments.

Successful Approach 1: Get to Know Yourself Better…

Do you know who you are? I mean, do you really know who you are? The only person who travels literally with you through your entire life is you and for that reason, the relationship you have with yourself will always matter. You have the power to be your own champion and best advocate. Your life is important and everything you know about yourself speaks to that importance.

Finding your place in the world helps to shape strong character to cultivate and nourish virtues. Knowing more about yourself helps to identify what really brings joy into your life. Too often we have heard someone make the comment, “get a life” the catch phrase implying the person being addressed is devoting an inordinate amount of time on trivial matters. It could also send a message that they are not being productive to do things one finds enjoyable and fulfilling or living a more interesting existence. As scornful as it may sound, that can be a challenging time for an individual until they discover themselves.

Starting to know yourself may be hard to come by, just as accepting there are things unknown about who you are. A spark of enthusiasm and eagerness begins the conversation you have with yourself as you reframe your mindset to learn who you are. This process gives you the permission to make lifestyle adjustments and change habits that align more with your true self. Reframing may be used to change the way you think, feel, or behave. The aim of reframing is to move from passive to active and see things from a different point of view that uncovers new ways towards a faithful transformation. The shift in this perspective can be important to personal growth and development.

In the wake of an ongoing pandemic, there is no better time than now to redefine your purpose and your future for personal growth. You have a pivotal role in elevating personal development. Take a look at your pivot points to see what needs recalibrating or a fresh boost. Find ways to future-proof your talents and ambitions to sustain personal success, fulfillment, and happiness. My new book Life Skills for the Journey is coming out this month and is an excellent choice to kick-off the 2022 New Year! In the meantime, here is a sneak peek with an excerpt from the section Step Up Your Journey.

Navigating Personal Development

Living offers a wealth of opportunities that affords us the possibilities to progress in life and find the roads that branch out to discover our passion, purpose, and potential.

Personal development has many distinct sectors that take place in your life during the advancement process as you venture for possibilities. It consists of activities that will develop a person’s capabilities, potential, and build human capital. Personal development can be any skill that you want for self-improvement – the key is taking the right steps that will help to ensure achievement that reaches your goal. Personal development is a process that never ends, and you are the deciding factor that controls the destiny.

Successful people always invest time to work on themselves. Some people dedicate up to thirty minutes of their time every day toward personal development. There are others who dedicate a significant amount of time to continuing to learn. A good place to start is to begin every day with something that gives enlightenment, encouragement, and brings positivity to your life. Identify areas that can help you improve or maximize your potential. Feed your brain with positive things and new information on a regular basis.

“Ultra-successful people never stop reaching for new heights, learning new skills, and finding fulfillment.”

The method and means of personal development are frameworks for people who are committed to their own personal growth. It involves assessing yourself to measure your improvement and address practical ways to increase your ability and handle challenges as you move to higher levels of development. When you take the time to assess yourself you think about how you want to grow and ways to strengthen your abilities. Personal development should be a lifelong mission that is never complete.

Think about it this way, if you want to have more or be more in life, then strive to become more. There is of course one condition – you will need to have ambition! I know from experience that if you want to learn new things you will find a way, but it requires having an open-mind and a strong desire to achieve. The next big step is having readiness. Preparing yourself for achievement and being willing to apply assertiveness plays a big part on the road to accomplishment.

The personal success that you want to achieve in life will determine your personal development journey. How you plan to navigate through the particular zones will be important to your overall success. The process of identifying and knowing where you are is crucial to mapping out and taking the right steps. The path to self-improvement is a process that requires moving in a direction that is manageable and supports the goals that you want to reach.

Every personal development journey will have a set of rules to follow in order to accomplish the desired achievement for personal growth and success. It is a lifelong process and comes with many benefits at every stage of development by working effectively smart.

In addition to patience and working smart, another necessary must-have in my opinion is resilience to manage any difficulties or challenges during the process. As you accept fresh responsibilities and enter into a new role working towards your goals staying focused on key priorities is critical to your accomplishment. The change in your mindset should serve as a constant reminder of the things you have to do, and the effort needed to keep the planning cycle in motion. Learning to trust and believe in your abilities is a major asset to personal growth.

Life is about creating skills that recognize our values as we balance life, family, friendships, and all that connects the travel on our journey. The elements of personal development will face spiritual qualities of humility, positive thinking, mental stability, physical, and social abilities. Research and studies show that our development is vital to our living in every respect. I may have said it before but here it is again, to have fulfillment is a continuous process depending on where you are in life. What you need to fulfill your present situation is to be reckoned and trusted with yourself.

Below are some suggestions to help organize a personal development plan:

1. 1. Be vigilant and attentive to what you want to achieve.
   2. Stay focused on the center of your interests for accomplishment.
   3. Keep the passion of your dreams alive to see self-actualization.
   4. Deliver your best self for growth and development.
   5. Believe that you are deserving of personal fulfillment.

The progress and success of your personal development will be navigated by you. Others will be involved as you establish the direction of your plan. This engagement is determined according to your desired outcomes. The direction and purpose of your goals will bring about awareness to support the outline of your plan.

Managing your personal development skills will contribute to your success and satisfaction. Devote the time needed to engage in activities that support short and long-term goals. The ultimate results can enhance and benefit the quality of life and increase your happiness. Explore ways to incorporate opportunities that will promote well-being for healthy personal growth.

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GLORIA SLOAN, LIFE SKILLS FOR THE JOURNEY, JANUARY 1, 2022