Personal Growth is  Impossible Without  Character Development

The personal development industry is a 40-billion-dollar industry, and it continues to grow with each passing year. On the contrary, the World Health Organization states that mental wellness is on a rapid decline with a 25% global increase in the prevalence of anxiety and depression. With the increasing demand in the personal development industry and the increasing prevalence of poor mental health, it is clear that while the opportunity and supply is huge for personal development, people’s needs are not being met. Why?

Character and behavior are both interrelated. Character is inherent; it is built-in and very difficult to change. Behavior, however, is a series of choices that can be changed.

Now, it is a fact that emotional maturity, mental attitude and behavior are influenced by factors within our control, as well as those beyond our control. In the pliable years of youth, we are more susceptible to changes in our character that result in us either adhering stronger to our qualities of innocence and purity, or straying and adopting characters for the sake of satiating an unfulfilled desire or in attempts to avoid unwanted circumstances and adversity. The prefrontal cortex, or decision-making aspect of our brains, does not fully develop until we are 25 years of age, meaning that up until the age of 25, our character development is strongly impacted by our environment, upbringing, circumstances, family, culture, language, identity, education, location and government, etc., all of which have powerful influence over the cultivation of good and bad characters.

However, since we do not fully develop our executive functions or decision-making capabilities until the age of 25, if we are living in a poor or toxic environment, we adopt habits, patterns and characteristics from others that merely feed into the pain or quick-fix mentality of the unconscious mind. This becomes more and more ingrained, more and more habitual and more and more unconscious until we no longer have conscious control or reflection over our own livesby the time the executive faculty of our minds is finally at its peak.

The impact of environmental upbringing on character development can also be observed in plants. For example, the impact of an unfavorable environment on the yield of a plant is poorer quality, lower quantity and a shorter life-span. Likewise, you cannot expect people to grow in their character if they are raised in less favorable environments. Plant nurseries know this and deliver guaranteed disease-free plants for others to grow vegetables, fruits and flowers. For any variety of plant, its place of plantation will decide its value in terms of quantity and quality of final produce.  If a variety of plant is planted in a poor environment with less fertile land and adverse weather conditions, then it will deliver poorer quality and lower quantity of produce. However, if the same variety of plant gets planted in a more favorable environment with fertile land and favorable weather conditions, then it will deliver much better quality and quantity of produce. We can observe a similar outcome with character development in people. Children raised in different environments will grow up different, with either good or bad characters; this impact becomes a vital foundation that shapes the rest of their lives.

In life sciences, we assess, assign and identify animals, bacteria, viruses, fungi, plants, trees and humans through their characters. For animals, bacteria, viruses, fungi, plants and trees, their characters and behaviors are always in resonance and match with each other.

People, however, are the only entities on this planet that can behave differently from their character. Behavior is the natural expression of character, and both must have resonance with each other. However, due to our environmental upbringing, we may adopt bad characters, while simultaneously learn how to behave charismatically or portray ourselves in a way that is not in resonance with our character.

Today, more than ever before, there is a great deal of discourse about transformation and personal growth. This is because of the rapid development in our society with the advancement of science and technology. Today we have almost everything at our disposal to make our lives easier or more comfortable, with very little effort and time spent on it.

There are many people and organizations that claim to have the secret to a happier life. They promise their clients quick and lofty benefits in exchange for a fee. But do their programs actually work? Often, these programs are not just ineffective. Rather, their focus on behavior-oriented outcomes to falsely manufacture transformation in character can actually do more harm than good.

Since behavior is the natural expression of character, the moment our character and behavior differ from each other, we are at odds with ourselves, which leads to a vast number of emotional and mental health problems, frustration and misery. This is why our current healthcare system is struggling to properly address the rapidly increasing prevalence of mental and emotional health problems. By only focusing on the symptoms and behaviors at a superficial level, we are missing the root cause of these  problems – character.

Transformational leaders, life coaches, mentors, lifestyle trainers, and health and nutrition coaches are only superficially targeting personal growth and development with tricks and techniques to alter behavior, communication and presentation. Character transformation should be the main goal of personal growth and development. Without the transformation of character, nothing can be accomplished. Unfortunately, a majority of the industry's current leaders lack either the integrity, the understanding or the means to make this happen.

We may like to think that our success and happiness in life can easily be swayed by a simple tweak in our behavior, communication or presentability. However, if we think that changing our behavior and communication style can transform our character and make us successful people, then we are gravely mistaken. It is only through character development that we can mold our lives in the right way. A lot of people are unable to achieve success in their lives because they believe that change in behavior or style will transform their lives forever, but it’s just a misconception of what true character development is.

Many people struggle their whole lives for character development by practicing various techniques for behavior alteration, thinking that an alteration in behavior and communication style will be able to transform their character. Character is the foundation on which our lives stand. Therefore, it must be built in a way that it not only meets the challenges of this world, but also prepares us for future happiness and success.

So, if we can’t change our character by altering our behavior, how do we change our character? Who controls, governs and operates our character? Thousands of personal development and transformational leaders think that by simply altering behavior, character can be altered. On the contrary, behavior is the expression of character. So how do we transform our character? Without knowing the authority that governs our character, people live their entire lives trapped and spinning in circles, from one frustration to another, often never truly understanding why or how to stop this cycle. Improving the aroma, taste, look or feel of a fruit will not transform the health of the entire tree. This is reverse engineering, and it will never work.

For the evolution of consciousness, people need a deeper connection with the God of their understanding. Through this connection, everyone will be able to harness more Grace of God or Divine Energy, and naturally this Divine Energy will evolve us into higher consciousness. Then, automatically, we will have good character, which will bring forth health, wellbeing and happiness into our lives. There is no technique, trick, practice or behavior for the evolution of consciousness; it is the natural character and responsibility of consciousness to organize our beings and continue to evolve us in a way that better enhances our performance and allows us to transcend our current skills, abilities, inner qualities and personality. The only thing we must do is harness this vital force, life energy or Divine Grace, which is possible through Guruji Trivedi’s Divine Blessing.