How many of us will go stand by a piece of land and ‘’will’’ it to produce a harvest without sowing seed, watering, weeding etc? And yet many do that all the time with their careers and personal growth.

Neither growth nor success is automatic or just happens. You have to deliberately invest in yourself in order to become and do better. The more you put in you the more you’re get out so take your development into your own hands.  Here are some ways to do that.

Read, read and keep reading

There is a lot of good material you can read to develop first your mind and yourself more generally and much of it is free. Develop the reading habit because that will serve you abundantly. If you prefer audio, that’s also fine; the idea is to open your mind up and to learn new things that you can use to improve yourself and what you do. Read, listen or watch something that edifies and builds you. Opening your mind to wholesome knowledge also keeps the mental weeds and junk away.

Invest in skills and habits

You can’t face the future with what you have today. The world of work is changing and expectations are rising by the day. So equipping yourself not simply for what you are doing now but for where you aspire to and what’s ahead of you should be something you do as a matter of course. Put money aside for training and other ways of self development. Your future is too important to depend on free resources alone.

Work alongside someone

Many times there is someone you know who is great at what they do and the things you want to develop. Ask to work with them or shadow them so that you can learn directly from them. Don’t learn only technical competencies but other important ones such as planning, leadership and communication. Emulate what they do on a regular basis and make it your own. Let their strong abilities rub off you.

Mentor and teach someone

Developing yourself is as much about becoming better in what you are already doing well as it is about fixing any relevant shortcomings. Teaching someone is helps you hone your strengths and learn more about yourself. So take someone under your wing and seek opportunities to teach others what you know.