On May 29, 2023, the Miami Heat booked their ticket to the NBA finals.
Now this might seem like no big deal.
The Heat had high expectations before their season. And they did make the NBA finals in 2020. So this feat should not be impressive.
But that wasn't the case.
The 2022-2023 season was rough. They barely made the play-in tournament as the seventh seed, almost got kicked out of the playoffs, and then faced the best team in their conference. And on top of that, they blew a 3-0 series lead in the conference finals.
And yet, they still made the NBA finals.
There could be many reasons for this season's success, from their best player performing at a high level. Or the team playing well when it matters. Or the GM in bringing the right group of players together.
However, I believe the main reason for the Heat's success is their coach Erik Spoelstra. His ability to constantly adjust his game plan makes him an exceptional coach. He will adapt his starting roster, in-game tactics, use of timeouts, etc. Anything, no matter how small, to take advantage of his opponent's weaknesses.
One weakness of mine that has been taken advantage of during my 20s was my poor personal development philosophy.
Now where am I going with this?
Personal development is good in general, right?
Not exactly.
You see, I had the self-improvement philosophy of making massive changes in all areas of my life, like dating, finances, school, fitness, etc.
And it contributed to me not accomplishing much.
Even though I would listen to gurus who would inspire me to 10X everything in my life and whatnot. These gurus knew people with my weak personal development philosophy would be an easy cash grab. So besides losing some money, I made no progress.
After this phase of my life and re-prioritizing things, I've come to discover a simple personal development philosophy. Where I've been able to make steady progress in many areas of my life.
So what is the personal development philosophy?
Before I tell you, let me warn you that it's not special nor groundbreaking in any aspect. So with this tidbit, you won't have high expectations.
The simple philosophy is to make minor tweaks in whatever area you try to improve.
I told you it was lame.
But this lame advice is quite significant, instead of trying to make big and sudden changes. We are adjusting our goals to the ones we can manage right now. And when you commit to this philosophy for the long game, you will see it as fruitful.
Following a philosophy of tweaks will allow you to have more energy. And what I mean by that is you won't be boggled with grand plans and executions. Instead, you will have the mental energy to execute your tweak and still be able to live your life.
Making your personal development journey less stressful and, shall I dare say, enjoyable.
You have to understand that life is short.
And while some things are worth going through the pain for. It shouldn't be for personal development. Instead, this should be an enjoyable journey that allows us to grow and appreciate the journey.
So by now, you either want to stop reading or learn how to implement this simple personal development philosophy.
Let's start off incredibly basic.
Choose one area of your life that you want to improve and choose one minor tweak to it. Then after a few weeks or whenever you feel ready, you make another slightly larger tweak in the same area. And you go on for another few weeks repeating the cycle. Then once you get the hang of this philosophy, you add another area to improve with a tiny tweak.
Following the same cycle.
As time passes, your tweaks will progress, and more areas of your life will be added. Then after a few years, you will be a much-developed person.
Let me give you a quick (and my favourite) example.
I know a lot of people struggle with making friends as an adult. So if this is the one area they want to improve, I advise them to make the simple tweak of being a little more social with strangers. And this is done by laying 5 bricks per day, where a small social action with a stranger counts as a brick. So if this is done 5 times per day, your social life will vastly improve over time.
Again this is playing the long game.
And you need to be patient, even when you feel like much isn't happening.
How do I know I'm doing enough?
And to be fair, it will feel like you're not doing enough for a little while. But again, we are not focused on drastic results but on implementing tweaks into your life. So even though you can't see it, a change is happening; it's just tiny. But after some time, when you look back, you will know how those tweaks made a difference in your life.
However, this might seem like a slow process for some of you.
I get it; we want to change ourselves and our lives quickly. But the harsh reality is that things take time. And it's either you optimize your strategies for the long game or short game. And if we're being honest, only one of these will last in the long run.
We live in a time where we feel we need to grow up fast, make money quickly, and get jacked fast.
But this is all illusions.
The best things in life take time. And that includes personal development.
There is something unexplainably sweet when you can look back on the past 10 or 20 years of life and see how you grew and matured. And it's not the end result per se, but the process that seems to be the reward.
So to thrive with this personal development philosophy, you must be patient. And if you need a refresher on the importance and value of patience, refer to this old article.
Also, to ensure you implement this philosophy into your personal development journey, you must beware of this simple mistake.
Too many adjustments/tweaks at the same time.
Now even when people discover this philosophy, they end up making tweaks in too many areas of their lives. So they figure that if it's just one small change, they can start in multiple areas.
Although this can be true, this goes against the philosophy. We want to ease ourselves into making these small changes in our lives. So it's best to start with one area and go from there.
Otherwise, if we focus on too many areas, we will most likely get burnt out. And then not even a single area will improve.
I will keep reiterating this; we are here to play the long game.
I know life seems like it's not moving fast enough. But trust me, there will be a time when you will look back and wonder where all the time has gone.
So while you are alive and working on yourself, enjoy the journey. And while you're still alive, let's wrap this article up.
Summary
The simplest personal development philosophy is: to make minor tweaks in whatever area you try to improve.
This philosophy is best for personal development due to making the journey less stressful and more enjoyable.
The best way to implement this philosophy is to choose one area of your life, then make one tweak. Then, after a little while, you make another tweak in the same area. Repeating this cycle and then later on adding another area to improve.
It might not feel like you're doing enough, but you will see the changes in your life in time.
This process might feel slow, but we must be patient when playing the long game in personal development.
A mistake often made is making too many tweaks in too many areas. All we have to do is start with one tweak in one area. And over time, we can add more tweaks and more areas to work on.
In the Internet age,
it can feel like we have to make many significant life changes.
But this type of personal development philosophy is exhausting.
So go at the pace that works for you. And over time, all those little adjustments will lead to significant and surprising results, just like Erik Spoelstra's coaching.
Until next time,
Bulcha
The Charismatic Nerd