Starting a group dedicated to achieving mental, physical, emotional, moral, and financial excellence... Good Idea?

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grafs50

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I plan on starting an internet group dedicated to achieving personal excellence in their lives. I have written up a Summary of it. Feel free to check it out at the link below.

docs.google.com/document/d/1zJ4V6Wb-dBXAmn_WpkSSWDdJUW4tSccgTAF_JZNvO08/edit

What I want to know, though, is if it’s a good idea to be encouraging people to focus on their own self-development. I want to use it as a vehicle for creating a more disciplined, well-rounded society; including excellence in morality. What do you guys think??
 
grafs50 said:
I plan on starting an internet group dedicated to achieving personal excellence in their lives. I have written up a Summary of it. Feel free to check it out at the link below.

docs.google.com/document/d/1zJ4V6Wb-dBXAmn_WpkSSWDdJUW4tSccgTAF_JZNvO08/edit

What I want to know, though, is if it’s a good idea to be encouraging people to focus on their own self-development. I want to use it as a vehicle for creating a more disciplined, well-rounded society; including excellence in morality. What do you guys think??
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It is the gifts of the Holy Spirit that enables us to do those things. For example: Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, we need to exercise prudence, etc.
 
So you’re a mother and you don’t think it’s helpful to offer strategic advise on how to balance changing diapers, doing bills, keeping a clean car, cooking dinner, staying attractive for your spouse, making it to Mass on time etc…?

Can you have 4 or 5 kids and maintain a high credit score? You won’t tell me how you do it, you’d rather focus on other peoples and ignore other Catholic families who have trouble figuring out this balancing act?

For the sake of “the family”, maybe something like this might be useful. 🤷 not sure if that was the OP’s intention though.
 
grafs50 said:
I plan on starting an internet group dedicated to achieving personal excellence in their lives. I have written up a Summary of it. Feel free to check it out at the link below.

docs.google.com/document/d/1zJ4V6Wb-dBXAmn_WpkSSWDdJUW4tSccgTAF_JZNvO08/edit

What I want to know, though, is if it’s a good idea to be encouraging people to focus on their own self-development. I want to use it as a vehicle for creating a more disciplined, well-rounded society; including excellence in morality. What do you guys think??
Click to expand...
Do you have children?
 
I have a few practical questions, though they also reflect (and are meant to reflect) deeper questions. Who decides what “excellence” means in a given category? Will there be a particular vision of what “moral excellence” is, for example? How much variance in belief do you see within the group?

The “deeper” part is that the concept of the search for excellence reminds me of several different things, though I’m not the best person on these forums to discuss them. (If I am the best person around here, then woe to us! :D)

I’ll start with a formally simple one, a story (or multiple similar stories?) about St. Philip Neri (1515-1595).

I came across it because of a set of prayers to the saint, one of which made a cryptic reference to the question “And then?” I then searched and found the reference. One telling of the story is at “What’s Next? A Reflection for the Memorial of St. Philip Neri” (a 2011 post by Fr. Scott Hurd on the site of the Archdiocese of Washington; the saint’s feast day is soon, May 26).

So a young man went to Philip and told him of his plans to become an attorney and have a good life, and Philip in turn kept asking him “And then?” (In some tellings, the young man ultimately says that after some years, he will die. “And then?”) The young man then realized that his plans hadn’t involved God.

A theme of this story runs through the rest of those “different things” that I mentioned: true excellence is tied not to our own limited thoughts but to the God whose foolishness is wiser than our wisdom. Although then there isn’t that much hope for my foolishness, I hope to keep writing later.
 
grafs50 said:
I plan on starting an internet group dedicated to achieving personal excellence in their lives. I have written up a Summary of it. Feel free to check it out at the link below.

docs.google.com/document/d/1zJ4V6Wb-dBXAmn_WpkSSWDdJUW4tSccgTAF_JZNvO08/edit

What I want to know, though, is if it’s a good idea to be encouraging people to focus on their own self-development. I want to use it as a vehicle for creating a more disciplined, well-rounded society; including excellence in morality. What do you guys think??
Click to expand...
Hi grafs50,

Sounds like a great idea to me!

I remember the first meeting I had with my spiritual director. We went over a lot of the sins I struggled with, various personal problems, etc. And then at the end he started asking me about diet and exercise habits. He asked me about my financial situation. I was really confused until he explained that it all relates. You can’t just hone it on one area and forget about the others.

Sounds like this is a great start at trying to focus on being well balanced. To expand on it: you might want to focus on a particular saint or title of our Lady. That way there’s a model to look up to. You should also get a spiritual director as well. If you’re going to start a group where everyone is looking out for each other, you want to have some kind of oversight.

Hope that helps!
 
grafs50 said:
I plan on starting an internet group dedicated to achieving personal excellence in their lives. I have written up a Summary of it. Feel free to check it out at the link below.

docs.google.com/document/d/1zJ4V6Wb-dBXAmn_WpkSSWDdJUW4tSccgTAF_JZNvO08/edit

What I want to know, though, is if it’s a good idea to be encouraging people to focus on their own self-development. I want to use it as a vehicle for creating a more disciplined, well-rounded society; including excellence in morality. What do you guys think??
Click to expand...
Read the Catholic Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Class dismissed. 🙂

Just as long as God is the focus.

You may be interested in this book…

A Travel Guide to Life by Anthony DeStefano

youtube.com/watch?v=YxKGPE7au8Q

I heard an interview with the author and he says that while you can get some good things from self help programs that do not have God as the focus in time most things that you learn fade away and it just becomes a phase of your life. EWTN is going to make a mini series about this book so it might be something you can incorporate.
 
Deacon Jeff,

I may have jumped the gun a little in my response. Sorry about that, you are correct. I was wrong.
 
grafs50 said:
I plan on starting an internet group dedicated to achieving personal excellence in their lives. I have written up a Summary of it. Feel free to check it out at the link below.

What I want to know, though, is if it’s a good idea to be encouraging people to focus on their own self-development. I want to use it as a vehicle for creating a more disciplined, well-rounded society; including excellence in morality. What do you guys think??
Click to expand...
Peace be with you Brother/sister.
From reading your question, I believe it is about self actualization and finding yourself. Am I right? If so, consider this…
Take a map of your suburb, could you point to yourself in it? How about one of your state? Of your country? The Earth? The Solar system? The Galaxy? The universe? I believe you get the idea. If you cannot find yourself amidst all of this, how do you intend to find yourself by thinking about it?

My advice is simple. No one can actually find himself/herself. There is, however, someone who has already found you. Advise those in your group (if you so decide to start it) not to find themselves, but to lose themselves in God. Let Him tell you who you really are. Let Him find you and you will find yourself easily.

I have done this, and even now, the experience brings a lump to my throat. I pray that it happens to you all as well. Matthew 10:39 “He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.”

dominus vobiscum
 
I have decided not to start this group. You’re answers have been helpful. Thanks!
 
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