Over the last few days, as the year has been preparing to depart, I have encountered a New Year’s Revolution.

It seems we are becoming a little less enamoured of ushering in the new year with hopeful resolutions.

It is undeniable, however, that change is a current buzz word with commitment as its side-kick.

We all know that we can be richer, thinner, smarter and far more focused on getting the best life possible - we’re just not sure that we actually want to commit to making these changes today.

After all, change is complicated.

And against the many measuring sticks that surround us, it is pretty obvious that it is the whole kit and caboodle - and not just our hips - that need an overhaul.

And so, despite the ever-present reminders in the media, urging us to wrap our new year in a commitment to spend, most people seem a little jaded by all the commotion.

Instead of a call to arms to change our lives beyond recognition, the revolution is a quiet one: many of us, it seems, just want a simple life.

Life Made Simple

As Confucius so aptly put it, “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.”

The reality is that we can choose to make our lives less complicated.

Life can - and will - hurl complications at us, but we don’t have to react to these events in a complicated manner.

Fleeting relationships, temporary jobs, dips in the economy, absent friends…

Do these things really need to be entangled in complications?

If we simplified our reactions to events that affect us, would we have a greater chance of happiness and contentment?

Spoilt for Choice

Is the gloss of bettering ourselves wearing off?

Is the love affair with curbing our excesses and celebrating our successes drawing to a close?

It’s unlikely.

But it does seem that we are becoming weary of the complications associated with self improvement.

And maybe that is an unavoidable side-effect of being spoilt for choice. In our freedom-infused society, we are awash with choice and many of us baulk at making decisions that once were almost automatic.

What may have once been a simple choice - a sensible nutrition plan involving the five food groups or the best way to get yourself a promotion at work - is now a maze of opportunities and expectations.

One wrong turn and you’ll end up with a taut pay-packet and a bulging backside.

Four Little Steps to Simplicity

And yet the process to simplifying your life is appropriately simple.

1. Work out where the complexity lies - Too many commitments? Too much stress? Not enough down-time? Not enough motivation?
2. Decide what you can do without - Some complications are part of life, but others just hitch a ride. If a complexity exists because you’ve allowed it to form rather than because it needs to be part of your life, toss it out.
3. Take action to embed the simple alternative - Voids don’t work very well in reality, so if a simple alternative exists - the nice man for the bad boy or the morning walk in the park over the twelve-month, platinum gym membership - then make it a part of your life today.
4. Develop strategies to avoid future complications - Get into the habit of identifying complexities before they develop. We all have weaknesses for different complications - involving ourselves in others’ affairs or taking on the work project that has “challenging” stamped all over it - and we need to train ourselves to avoid them.

And so, as the sun goes down on the first day of the new year, my hopeful resolution is not about kicking a habit or climbing a ladder, but about working hard to create a simple life.

I wish you the very best of good luck with your own 2008 revolution.

A sleep therapist once told me that when you reach your destination without remembering how you got there, you were actually in the first stage of sleep.

You have been driving, eyes open, but with your brain tucked up in bed.

But don’t many of us choose to go through our lives in a similar fashion?

Auto-pilot on, some people live in a line of peak-hour traffic, creeping forward in their own zone, making sure no one gets the chance to edge in front of them…

Their whole focus is on doing what they do every day, but perhaps a few minutes faster.

Their surroundings, their fellow travellers and all of the opportunities of the open road pass them by unawares.

But if they were to look a little to the left, or to glance in their rear-vision mirror, they might notice the rest of us zig-zagging off into the distance, pedals to the metal as we pursue the roads less travelled.

Beyond the Bumper Brigade

Personal Development is an unusual journey.

When you first break free from the bumper brigade, you may not know where you are actually headed.

But along the way there are clues, much like the car rallies my family took part in when I was a child.

Each clue would lead us to the next cryptic riddle, sometimes buried in a cricket pitch or hidden at a roadside petrol station.

Working as a team we would have to break the code and hurry to the next destination. We would argue, get lost, backtrack and be passed by others, but in the end we always found the picnic at the end of the race.

The two objectives of the successful car rally are not so different to those of your personal development journey:

1. Make sure you reach the destination
2. Make sure you feel you have achieved something by the time you arrive

Defining the Personal Development Journey

This journey of self-growth means many things to many people, but there are some common characteristics. People who dedicate themselves to personal development usually:

• Recognise their own potential
• Possess a sense of purpose and commitment to improvement
• Believe in their capacity to learn and grow
• Transfer wishful thinking into real action
• Embrace change and opportunity

But ultimately personal development is a very personal journey, by its own definition. Any parameters I might put around it would not adequately meet all of the individual needs, viewpoints and experiences on this subject.

Instead, I would like to focus my definition on what the personal development journey is NOT:

• A selfish pursuit - Putting your energies into realising your potential and enhancing your assets also benefits those around you. However, it is important to recognise the impact of your own growth and change upon your family and friends.
• Finding the answers in others - Guidance and advice can be obtained from a number of sources, but if find yourself grasping too quickly at a philosophy or solution, pause to see if it really meets your personal needs. Like all learning, keep a balanced approach and explore a range of viewpoints.
• Only for the intellectual - Personal development is about the whole person, from your intellectual development to your social awareness to your physical and spiritual wellbeing. It is also a pursuit that requires neither street-smarts nor a doctorate. Personal change and growth is open to everyone.
• All fun and games - Personal development ultimately requires self-analysis and change, two of the things many people spend a lifetime resisting. Like all journeys it has its highs and lows. It requires hard work and determination if you are going to get beyond the first round-about in the road.
• A solitary engagement - Even if your focus is on developing your own voice, free of other influences, it is rare for the process to occur in isolation. We all learn best from others. While solitary study can open you to change, working with mentors and other like-minded people can focus and accelerate the growth process.
• A quick fix - There are many claims that personal development can be achieved in “3 Easy Steps” or “Ten Minutes a Day” but change of any sort is a long and challenging process. To view personal development as something you can buy on your lunch break fails to recognise the importance of continual improvement to real growth.

Committing to an Inspired Journey

But what if the car rally never seems to end, or if the clues leave you more uncertain, or your destination is nothing but an empty picnic bay from which everyone else is long departed?

How do you stop from turning around and reclaiming your place in the bumper brigade?

The Outfit Inspirations approach to personal development is to inspire businesses or individuals to identify their specific needs and to work towards these outcomes until they are realised. It is why we are called Outfit, focusing on OUTcomes that FIT your needs.

In tangible terms this means helping you decipher the clues on your journey, to measure your progress towards your goals and to support you in reaching them.

The principles that underpin our approach are reinforced in our free tools and inspirational e-books.

For those seeking to realise the opportunities in their life, we encourage them to Take the Road Less Travelled and to:

1. Commit to a way of life, rather than to an ideal
2. Recognise every fork in the road as an opportunity
3. Accept that your reality is yours and no one else’s
4. Resist making assumptions, as they limit your horizons

Four Top PD Tips

Whether you are just a beginner or a lifelong advocate of personal growth and development, these four top tips might be worth considering as you make your journey:

1. Learn to Trust the Sign Posts

Become practiced in reading all of the sign posts along your journey:

• Identify and measure the milestones in your own growth.
• Learn to tell the difference between self-improvement tools with style and those with substance.
• Recognise when change is required or when your life is in balance.

2. Get into the Driver’s Seat

Being in control of your personal development is an essential part of the growth process.

Your mentors and peers are your support network, but ultimately you are responsible for the path your life takes.

3. Become A Lifelong Learner Driver

People who are really committed to personal development never advance beyond their learner’s permit, always open to further learning and growth.

Driving unaccompanied helps give focus to your journey, but it is important to always stay in touch with your mentors, if only to appreciate how much you have grown.

4. Don’t Rely Too Heavily on the Manual

Each journey is different. Some of us spot our destination immediately and head towards it in a straight, confident line. Others circle round and back, reversing and u-turning all the way.

There are many different roads out there to explore, so keep an open mind and one eye on the horizon and revel in the freedom of the personal development journey.