MEANING!

One fact which cannot be disputed is that every human being , at time of birth, comes into the world with a ‘clean slate’…every individual is therefore required to build up experiences that would determine his or her development. This is what is meant by ‘personal development’

In essence, personal development means “To personally expand or bring out one’s potentials, capabilities, etc or cause to come to completeness or perfection.

It could be described also as a “structured and supported processs undertaken by an individual to reflect upon their own learning, performance and achievement and to plan for their personal, educational and career development”.

some identified aims of personal development are:

• Improving self awareness
  
• Improving self knowledge
  
• Building and renewing identity
  
• Developing strenghts or talents
  
• Identifying and improving potential
  
• Building employability
  
• Enhancing lifestyle
  
• Fulfiling aspiration
  
• Defining and executing personal development plans
  
• Improving social abilities.
  

 

~ Every day do something that will inch you closer to a better tomorrow. ~ Doug Firebaugh

“As long as you are still alive, you are capable of changing and growing. You can do anything you want to do, be

anything

you want to be”

“Your mind is your greatest asset and guiding force in acquiring discipline. The amount of training you possess determines the level of success in your life” You have the power to make what you want out of your life. Make your life challenging and excitement will naturally follow…you have no idea how much power you possess, if trained properly you can take on anything…” its all up to “you”

Everyone has got to take responsibility for his growth and development…there must be a conscious effort at developing one’s self in order to attain a better tomorrow coupled with fulfilment.

 

Its mostly a study of one’s self, becoming aware of weaknesses, insecurities, short comings and ultimately growing beyond the present awareness & understanding…its all about being sensitive, attentive and aware of one’s feelings, altitudes, behaviours & working on them, working through them & growing to new awareness & understanding,

“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do…”
it’s a lot of work but you know as well as we do that there are no short cuts to places worth going! Quick fixes rarely are sufficient unless you want a temporary solution. Anything that is of importance of that can have a significant impact on our lives is worth the additional time and effort.

 

SELF AWARENESS!

 

“Accept personal responsibility for your own growth; no one can do it for you. What you do today will determine your readiness for tomorrow.”

Having understood the importance of the personal development, it’s important to understand how to go about personally developing one’s self and unlocking hidden potentials.

SELF AWARENESS is one importance stone in the personal development building.

Every individual on the face of the earth Is born with his or her own uniqueness…it behoves on any individual aspiring to make a difference in life to understand the SELF factor…understanding one’s self is key to being able to focus on achieving goals and dreams…This goes to say that every one has got strengths and weaknesses.

Understanding your reality, your fears, your strengths and indeed weaknesses helps put life in perspective, it’s one thing to document your weaknesses and obstacles but you also need to establish an action plan to address them. Whether it’s being afraid to speak in front of an audience, fear of heights, or lack of courage, etc…you need to address these issues. If you don’t they’ll rear their ugly heads when you least expect it, especially as you’re trying to accomplish your goals.

~ If you want to be successful in every facet of life never compare yourself to anyone else. People have a tendency to compare themselves to others…never spend the time or energy to be like someone else. It’s OK to analyze or read about them but you need to stay within your own boundaries. ~ Dele Carnegies

 

Understand one’s self and indeed gaining awareness of self isn’t enough…personal development also depends heavily on actions taken to gain the edge even in the presence of the learned attributes of self.

To maximize personal development, certain actions are of utmost importance…these are;

• Vision and goal setting
  
• Conscious planning
  
• Establishing priorities
  
• Time management
  
• Understanding the role of others
  
• Keep the commitment levels up
  
• Practice a positive attitude
  

   

   

VISION & GOAL SETTING

Ever wonder why the word ‘vision’ is very closely linked to the sense of sight?

It’s doesn’t just have to do with sight but also has a lot more to do with the future…it’s the ability to anticipate and make provision for future event…

Vision is a preferred future. A destination! Vision always stands in contrast to the world as it is. Visioneering, according to bestselling author Andy Stanley, is “a clear mental picture of what could be fuelled by the conviction that it should be.”

The road to self discovery, by extension personal development, begins with having a vision or dream. As has been said earlier, everyone must take responsibility for SELF, be the leader and the visionary in your life…take charge!

Being one of the core qualities of leadership, indeed leadership is highly needed for personal growth and development. A better understanding of vision would help reveal to anyone the purpose for existence

On the other hand, goals are those things anyone with a vision intends to use to attain or achieve a vision. It is usually advised that goals be written down and memorized; this helps the mental process and indeed directs the mind to achieve any set goal and vision.

It’s important to differentiate between major and minor goals or between short term and long term goal and to get the right combination of both. What is different about them? That is for you to decide; you establish the guidelines. Everyone if different! You have to consider the complexity, magnitude, and your current lifestyle before deciding which goals are minor and which ones are major.

 

You can never have goals that depend on someone else. There are no partnerships here! Placing dependencies on goals is never a good idea and will surely lead to failure. You must own the goal in its entirety.

GOALS cannot be separated from drive and passion. This is because everyone needs something to drive such goals. When establishing your goals, make sure there’s plenty of passion and enthusiasm behind each one. Without passion and drive, you’ll never complete the goal. Each goal has to hold a special meaning for you. It cannot be just another goal for the sake of having one. You have to embrace each and every goal.

 

~ Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion~ Anthony Robbins

CONSCIOUS PLANNING

Just writing down goals won’t get the job done. For each goal there has to be lots of conscious planning on how to attain such goals. Success, at any level, can never be achieved without planning…the process of planning can never be overemphasized in the operation of any institution, organization or person. The essence of planning is to draw up a road map in order to achieve already set goals or objectives.

Just writing down goals won’t get the job done. For each goal there has to be associated milestones with dates (where possible)

This table is an example of how goals and milestones can be set up. Goals without milestones and dates are empty words and gestures and ultimately a waste of time. If you only occasionally think about your goals (once a week or monthly), you will not be successful.

It’s all about how these goals can be effectively managed to bring about massive results. Every goal should have several different options to attain successful completion. Always have a backup plan. Always keep those wheels in motion by thinking of smarter and easier ways to complete goals ahead of schedule. Articulating plans to complete them ahead of schedule needs to be a constant endeavor. Those plans need to be developed into minor goals and tracked rigorously. These minor goals may change frequently to assist you in completing your primary goals.

As a matter of fact, it’s recommended that daily goals should be set to assist in the completion and attainment of overall and long term goals.

 

ESTABLISHING PRIORITIES

In order to accomplish these newly established goals, you’re life needs to be prioritized. These priorities will help you accomplish your goals. These are your guideline plain and simple. There’s no veering off course. If you stray, you will NEVER accomplish your goals. The most important aspect of acquiring discipline is prioritizing your current lifestyle. After establishing goals, you need to set priorities.

These priorities should have a correlation with the vision, dreams and indeed the milestones.

 

TIME MANAGEMENT

Time is the scarcest resource and unless it is managed nothing else can be managed. Did you ever stop to think why people always run out of time at the end of the day? Rarely do they get everything done for any given day. This day’s time must be managed to get as many things done as possible in a 24 hour period. “Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to all the great achievers the world knows of. Lost time may be replaced by industry, lost knowledge by study, lost health by temperature or medicine, but lost time is gone forever. You may delay, but time will not.

Evert minute counts, especially when you’re trying to get ahead of the game and accomplish so much in life.