About Human Development

Human development is a science that seeks to understand how and why people of all ages and circumstances change or remain the same over time. It can be studied from various perspectives: biological, psychological, social and spiritual to name just a few. The study of human development focuses on how people in general develop during their lifetime. It takes place on different levels:

You: on a personal level

Personal development concerns the way you develop over time as a person. That can be your emotional development, the way you get to know yourself and become more conscious of why and how you react to situations. Once you understand your emotions better, you are able to choose your response. Or you learn to not react immediately but take a moment to reflect on how you feel. Personal development can be about the things you find important in your life, your values. Or your interpersonal development in which you become not only aware of how you feel and why you respond in a certain way, but also are becoming more aware of other people’s feelings and finding a more effective way to communicate with others.

Us: the development of your group, family, culture, nation, religion, company

You develop in your own personal way and pace. You are an individual with your own personal feelings, beliefs and experiences. However, you do not live alone on this planet. You are influenced early in life by your family, your culture, your friends. You learn about the values of your group, if you are conscious of that or not. You may live in a family and culture that is loving and supporting. Or you may not. When you grow older your world becomes bigger and you form your own opinions. You travel, study and meet new people. You think you always make your own decisions. However, it is interesting to investigate who you are in relation to your environment. What did you learn from your family that you are still believing today? Do you hold on to beliefs that no longer suit you, that do not help you to advance in life? What are they and what would you change about them?

Us can also relate to organizations. You may see a company as just a legal entity. However, a company is group of people that behave in a certain way that works in a specific situation. Organizations develop more rapidly now than let’s say 30 years ago. Long term planning with a 20-year window is not possible anymore. How do organizations, the group of people responsible, adapt to new challenges that come their way. How do they react to the changing values or circumstances in the environment? And how do you fit in your organization? Do you like the way priorities are set? Do you like the way you are treated as an employee or how the organization treats its stakeholders? All these questions are interesting to investigate.

All of us: the development of all humans, nations on a global level.

Development can also be studied on a global level. In my story about the Human Development Index I will get into more detail about how global development can be measured. In the blogposts to come I will focus on all the above topics and more.

A lot can be said about Human Development. I really like the way Jenny G. Perry puts it:

‘I am in competition with no one. I run my own race. I have no desire to play the game of being better than anyone, in any way, shape, or form. I just aim to improve, to be better than I was before. That’s me and I’m free.’

I want to mention a few key things concerning human development to end this blogpost. If you focus on your personal development, it may be challenging at times. There is no quick recipe. No ‘improve your life in 10 steps’. Personal development is a personal journey. Yes, we all go through similar phases, we all experience similar situations, but personal development is far and foremost a personal experience. You develop in your own way being a unique person, in your own time and in your own pace. What I have learned over the years from the many books that I studied and from personal experience is, that investing in your personal development means experiencing less fear in your life and taking more responsibility for your feelings, beliefs and actions.