How To Develop A Personal Development Plan

Personal development or the development of one’s own personality, well within reach of each one of us, should be the easiest thing to achieve. However in these times, where everything else takes precedence right from the moment we open our eyes in the morning, what remains most neglected at the end of the day is our own persona, our own self. In this lies the inherent truth that often gets ignored.

Why do we need a personal development plan? They say anything we do, contributes to something tangible. What’s of significance here is that, any activity in the direction of growth helps us in developing something substantial.

Growth and development are two words that are used in combination almost everywhere. Growth, however, is distinctly different from development.

Let’s see how- in case of the self! Growth is natural but personal development is optional. One will grow no matter whatever are the circumstances- human growth is natural and inevitable. A human grows from an infant to an adult in various stages which are common to all.

Self Development is, but, a matter of choice. A person can choose to develop his /her personality in many ways throughout life’s journey. The process of personal development never stops unless the person himself /herself wishes to call it quits. So for something which is well within our control, should we not develop a well thought out plan?

Developing and implementing a personal development plan:

A personal development plan should cover overall growth. A plan would be deemed effective if it nurtures your personality on all fronts; like;

· The career and the financial aspect

· The social aspect

· Relationships

· Health

· Emotional aspect

Personal development is independent of the age or gender of the person. Any day one decides, one can start working on developing the self and reap rich harvests in the form of higher productivity and satisfaction.

Another imperative aspect of personal development plan is that the enforcement of the plan is perennial; it is a 24/7 process; if focused on properly, it will give the best results. One has to be aware of it every moment of one’s life.

Before developing a personal development plan just ponder if it would help you. Analyze the areas where you need to emphasize and what approach you would take while developing a personal development plan.

What should a good personal development plan focus on?

A broad outline of a self development plan could be as follows:

1. List your Short and long term goals and career objectives.

The more one accomplishes on the career front, the better one feels. The desire to accomplish more takes precedence and the confidence of achieving all that you want to accomplish, soars high.

So the first step to develop a personal development plan is to make a list all that you’ve accomplished till now.

Look at it positively. See how your work has benefitted you all along.

Make another list of what more you want to accomplish. Incorporate into that list all the upcoming projects you’d like to undertake.

Think clearly how much exposure and experience will you derive by following each aspiration.

Also consider how strongly it would affect you if you fail to achieve those desired accomplishments.

Thus evaluate and prioritize the projects and goals for future. Set up a mandatory tag to the ones those are extremely important and set up a dead line for each of those important achievements which can act as mile stones in shaping up your career.

2. Perform a SWOT analysis.

The next step to develop a personal development plan is to perform a SWOT analysis.

By reviewing your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, give yourself a fair idea of where you stand and which areas you need to work on to accomplish the targets you had set for yourself in order to excel.

Be mindful to create a practical plan.

3. Assess the resources available with you.

Check out all the resources you have and shortlist those you need and do not possess to accomplish your goals. Look at how you can use the ones which are available and how can you acquire those you lack.

According to the availability of the resources, if it’s required, modify the list of your desired accomplishments and the targeted goals.

This is a very important step to develop a personal development plan.

4. Be an Opportunist.

Be vigilant, grab and hold the opportunities that arrive in front of you. Try to develop and advance yourself to the maximum with each experience.

5. Incorporate learning naturally in your system.

Your personal development plan can be made successful only if followed diligently and applied throughout all times. Hence learning new skills and updating them should also come almost all the times, naturally and effortlessly.

To achieve this, try to devise methods and ways that make the process to learn as a fun, easy way and interesting. Try to find out what makes the process of learning come naturally to you.

6. Discipline yourself for continued development and lifelong learning.

Develop self discipline for continuing professional development. Personal development is a lifelong learning process which can be achieved through controlling your thoughts and training the mind to think in a required manner to achieve your aspirations.

Be careful to induce self discipline in such a manner that it is achieved enthusiastically and comfortably.

7. Try to keep yourself well informed and updated.

Update your Know – how and keep yourself more informed of activities going around you in the society and the world in general.

Read newspapers, informative magazines, and watch knowledge based programs on Television.

Try to develop some analytical skills if you lack in that area. This will give impetus to your personal development plan

8. Nurture a hobby.

Nurturing a hobby will keep your interest in life intact. It keeps you going for the day or week. It acts as refreshment and keeps you going.

Nurturing and attending to a hobby is like tending to the child within you. It gives you immense satisfaction and certainly immense scope for personal development.

9. Developing a healthy and strong body.

The benefits of exercises and keeping yourself fit are needless to say as it is a fact which everybody understands.

If you are still amongst those who ignore physical health, then gear yourself up to fight the laziness and the procrastinating attitude. Start with a fitness regime now.

10. Contributing to society and relationships.

Don’t let relations take a back seat. If your loved ones are happy and satisfied, all the success and achievements make sense and gives you the fulfillment they are supposed to provide.

Fulfilling your social obligations, no matter how busy you are reaps you long term benefits and forms an unavoidable area to focus on while planning to develop a personal development regime.

Monitor your progress:

Don’t fail to implement this most important aspect of a good personal development plan.

Keep evaluating your activities to know whether you are moving forward in the direction you’ve set for yourself. Adjust your preferences if the need arises. Be contented if you achieve your goals around the estimated timeline you’d set for yourself.

Be flexible and kind to yourself if things don’t work the way you desired.

Challenges, when they come use them as opportunities, don’t let them suffocate you.

Have the attitude of a winner and go ahead to achieve the personal development process you’ve set your eyes on.

Picture- Geoff LMV