A Painful Personal Development Course

"So when I was driving down this hilly, windy road in Malibu, I really went to a dark place and thought, 'You know, I could turn right [over the side of the canyon] and no one would know. It would look like an accident,' " These were the words of Jim Morel, a CNN anchor. He had lost his job shortly before that time and his family were experiencing a financial meltdown. He found himself writing down how he was feeling on paper and, over time, realised that what he was writing might actually become a useful book. Over time he compiled it, edited it, and eventually he managed to secure a publishing deal. Thus was born, “The Last Day Of My Life”.

"In the 20 or so chapters, if you can find one or two or three that you can relate to, then I feel wonderful, because the idea is that you can see yourself through my story.” His is a classic story of turning pain into a personal development program. The truth is that any pain and suffering in life always contains within it a transformational capacity. It can be the conduit to a higher level of growth, all we have to do is let it by truly sitting with it and experiencing it.

It is through such suffering that many a work of art or human achievement was born. Some of the greatest personal development programs arose after similar tragedies – a notable example being Eckhart Tolle’s suicidal depression just before writing his international bestselling book, “The Power of Now”.

Personally, I would be wary of any self help guru who comes from the “my life is perfect – and yours can be too”, angle. Give me a “here’s-my-suffering-and-what-I-did-with-it” person any day because that’s someone who you can really learn from.