We want to share a philosophical stance we hold at Thyself, which we got from Steve March at Aletheia Coaching. It’s about self-improvement versus self-unfoldment.
The common approach to self-development is "Self-improvement", which often suggests that we are somehow incomplete, promoting the idea that we must add certain qualities to ourselves—like "I need more discipline", "I need more emotional security", "I need more accomplishments", etc. —to achieve wholeness. This model can be challenging; not only can it reinforce a sense of deficiency when we fall short, but even in success, it merely sets us up for the next improvement task, perpetuating a never-ending cycle.
In contrast, Self-unfoldment suggests that you are already whole, and any feelings of incompleteness stem from temporary obfuscations of this inherent wholeness. In this model, emotional work focuses on identifying and relaxing these obfuscations, allowing wholeness to present itself in our experience.
At the heart of Self-unfoldment is the view that we already have everything we need for happiness and freedom. By skillfully engaging with our pains, resistances, and patterns, we can facilitate a natural unfolding process, helping us to rediscover and embrace our completeness.
We built Thyself to support this process.