Sometimes it can be hard to know where to start with personal development.
Should you try to eliminate your weaknesses? Focus on your strengths and build them up even further? Do something completely new?
You may by now be in a state of ‘analysis paralysis’ and not at all sure what do to next.
1. Why are You Trying to Develop?
It is important to understand why you are trying to develop.
The answers to all the questions about ‘what’ and ‘where’ (what should I do? Should I address my weaknesses, or build my strengths? Where should I begin?) all become clearer once you identify why you want to change.
Learning in and of itself can be interesting and fun, but many of us want to develop and improve for a specific purpose. It is important to be clear about this purpose, so that you can assess whether your learning and development activities are moving you closer to your goals. It is also easier to get motivated when you have a clear picture of where you want to be at the end of the process.
2. Planning Your Development
Planning your personal development (and documenting your plan) will help to make it more realistic.
There is something about writing things down that makes the hyperbolic (exaggeration) look ridiculous, and the unrealistic stand out like a sore thumb. Making a plan for your personal development, which includes time limits and stages of development, will force you to be realistic about what you can achieve by when.
Of course writing it down does not bind you irrevocably. Everyone’s lives change, and your priorities may well alter after you have developed your plan. A written plan, however, gives you something to look back on and a way of keeping tabs on your goals, even formally altering them if necessary.
Should you try to eliminate your weaknesses? Focus on your strengths and build them up even further? Do something completely new?
You may by now be in a state of ‘analysis paralysis’ and not at all sure what do to next.
1. Why are You Trying to Develop?
It is important to understand why you are trying to develop.
The answers to all the questions about ‘what’ and ‘where’ (what should I do? Should I address my weaknesses, or build my strengths? Where should I begin?) all become clearer once you identify why you want to change.
Learning in and of itself can be interesting and fun, but many of us want to develop and improve for a specific purpose. It is important to be clear about this purpose, so that you can assess whether your learning and development activities are moving you closer to your goals. It is also easier to get motivated when you have a clear picture of where you want to be at the end of the process.
2. Planning Your Development
Planning your personal development (and documenting your plan) will help to make it more realistic.
There is something about writing things down that makes the hyperbolic (exaggeration) look ridiculous, and the unrealistic stand out like a sore thumb. Making a plan for your personal development, which includes time limits and stages of development, will force you to be realistic about what you can achieve by when.
Of course writing it down does not bind you irrevocably. Everyone’s lives change, and your priorities may well alter after you have developed your plan. A written plan, however, gives you something to look back on and a way of keeping tabs on your goals, even formally altering them if necessary.
3. Documenting Your Plans
Writing down your plans and activities enables you to review your progress.
Keeping detailed records may sound like something that you would prefer to avoid. But your personal development plans and activities, if documented carefully, not only enable you to review progress, but also provide a record of your thinking over time.
It is incredibly easy to forget how you felt about things at different stages, and even why you thought a particular goal was important. Carefully documenting your thinking will help to show you what works best, what you have enjoyed and disliked, and quite probably point you towards more suitable activities or areas for development.
4. What Works for You?
It is important to find out what personal development methods work best for you.
There are an enormous range of development activities available, from formal training sessions, through online training to experiential learning, reading and discussing ideas with others. As with anything, it is important to find out what works best for you—as in, what you enjoy most and also what helps you to learn and develop quickly and effectively.
You can find out more about some of the techniques and tools available on our pages: Improving – Some Specific Techniques, and Personal SWOT Analysis. By documenting your experience, including feedback from other people about your progress, you can also assess the relative effectiveness of different types of learning.
Read Full Article Here: Personal Development Top Tips
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