Personal Growth | Seascape Publishing

Don’t seek permission

One of the challenges of working in a traditional work environment is the need to conform to established rules; rules which by their definition seek to reinforce group behavior over individual performance.

Unfortunately, these rules often lead to useless routines that can grind down our patience by their mindlessness. Being a subversive means going against the established order for your own benefit. The traditional workplace doesn’t particularly like subversives because they put a wrench in a nice tidy system. Managers fear that if one person starts behaving like an individual, everyone will and there goes the comfortable environment they’ve nurtured. Yet, if you are going to maintain a sense of personal freedom within such an environment you need to create the means to live within the system, but according to your own rules.

Renouncing mediocrity

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.

-Albert Einstein

Mediocrity, whether in our work lives or in our personal endeavors is the greatest obstacle to creativity and success. Yet, astonishingly our society often seems to celebrate mediocrity in the elevation of the banal, promoting false celebrity in place of true greatness, valuing “fitting in” over standing out.

Become a risk taker

Taking risk is an inevitable part of living a fulfilling and rewarding life. Learning how to assess and balance risk is integral to knowing when taking a risk will lead you toward your goals rather than to ruin.

Regaining your authenticity

When we are babies, we have no fear and wear no masks. Over time, we slowly push our real selves into the background to conform with what we think that others want. No wonder that we feel incomplete and out of touch with our real selves.

Regaining authenticity means shedding the awkward layers that we have put on to please others, to reveal the real person – an authentic person. What does this mean, and how do you regain your authenticity?