Let's start a discussion - How do you self develop?

Hey Steemit community hope everyone is well.

I am getting more and more into developing myself, through reading, listening and "sometimes" sitting and practicing some meditation. From what i learned so far, i know that i don't know a lot, or shall i say there is sooooo much more to learn that what i know looks like a fly in a football stadium haha.

I am curious to hear from you what strategies you practice to sustain growth in any aspect of your life, be it spiritual, business, family, sports etc but based on what you've experienced.

What got you started with this process? From what i read it takes a lot of people some tragedy in there life to realise that exploring what comes from within is a process worth working on.

My personal story goes a bit like this,

about 4 years ago, i was 20 I met this women for whom i would have done anything. For some reason there was this whisper that i needed to explore and develop myself, look inward, and thats how i discovered buddhism. I read and read and read every book i could get my hands on but failed to even meditate for even 2min a day. I spend a lot of time with this person over that year but never felt worthy of her. Later on that summer she asks me to come and visit her whilst she was abroad and thats where it all hit me. I booked my flight, booked a few buses packed my backpack and i was on my way feeling invincible. When i got there the first couple of days were fine we caught up on what had happened in each-others lives but quickly got to a point where telling stories wasn't satisfying anymore. At some point we got into a heated discussion resulting in her asking me "what I had to offer, what could she learn from me", because i was learning daily from her, she was full of life experiences and lessons. That question HIT ME HARD. It was the first time I reflected on myself, after reading all this books over the past year and not doing it once. Ever since that day I realised that I'm the most important piece of work there is, and that there is no outside source of happiness. I create my reality, i create my experience, I can choose how i feel, I can ask Myself for guidance and so on. It was one of the most heartbreaking vacations I had, but instead of going with my initial response as i would usually do "why is this happening to me" I am now asking myself "what is this trying to tell me" and the results are amazing.

I've never shared this story with anyone before and doing this now as part of me having developed over time and trying to accept these events and find peace with them.

Feel free to share your story, your experience, what you learned from it and lets grow together!