Last Updated on July 12, 2022 by the thought method co.
Picture it, Philadelphia, 2012. Something was way off. I felt physically well, but I didn’t feel good. It was hard to get out of bed, my relationships were suffering, I was drinking a lot more than I’d like to admit, my emotions were strong and I was nervous I was going to do something I’d regret.
Yoga, journaling, meditation, working out, eating healthy, coloring… I’d try just about anything to feel better—except extreme trends like drinking pee, no thanks (an no offense to those who do it, but seriously, WTF?!).
…anyway,
While a lot of self-help trends helped a little. Once I got over the initial boost of feeling good, I would go back to how I felt before. Or I would get stuck in extremes of feeling good, working out and eating healthy to then feeling like garbage, missing workouts, eating junk foods and being upset. It was like a seesaw. I was exhausted.
But then I tried something no one else was talking about. And It wasn’t until I created my own path that I noticed amazing changes.
How Radical Personal Development Started
It started when I tried therapy in a last ditch effort to feel better. Where I come from, therapy was for cowards. But I would do just about anything to feel better, so I went.
Like other forms of self-help, therapy would give me a bump in feeling good, but it wouldn’t last.
All of that changed when I read “Codependent No More” by Melody Beattie, a book I heard about in therapy.
I read the book within a day. And I realized that when I understood a concept that was negatively effecting me my anxiety lightened. I felt more connected and that everything would be OK. I found hope in hopelessness. I felt powerful!
When I made a mistake I would remind myself to have self-compassion. It was something I read about. Something people said was important. I learned what that looked like and I integrated it into my life.
Sometimes I would read about two separate topics, make connections and use those connections to cure myself of symptoms. Like the time I cured my maladaptive daydreaming. Or the time I stopped my night terrors (I am SOOOOOOO happy they are gone.)
And I chased that good feeling! I read and read and read. I can’t remember how many books, it’s a lot. And I became so well versed in psychological concepts I fired a therapist because his limiting beliefs were providing room for retraumatization. (Nothing personal, I do not have time for that.)
The Results
It’s been 5 years since I unknowingly created what I am calling radical personal development. It’s radical because it’s an entirely new type of personal development (self-help).
Radical Personal Development goes to the root of the issue and gives lasting results in record time.
And in those 5 years, I’ve gotten amazing results. I went from drinking to escape to pursuing my hobbies and finding things that make life meaningful.
I went from being a confused workaholic unknowingly navigating the world with c-ptsd, high functioning anxiety and high functioning depression, to a woman in remission of those very things.
How You Can Get Started With Radical Personal Development
Radical Personal Development is founded on three main ideas. Keep these in mind:
- Knowledge is Power. In order to achieve growth you need to learn about the things that are holding you back like codependency and cognitive distortions.
- Real World Relation is Key. It’s not just knowing the concepts, it’s knowing what they look like in real life. Because “staying in and relaxing all Saturday” and “boundary setting” don’t sound the same, but they can be.
- Results Come From Action. Learning what concepts look like isn’t enough. You need to apply action to learning in order to see results.
You can start by exploring articles and concepts and seeing what resonates with you.
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