How to Create a Personal Development Plan

Learn how to create a personal development plan that can transform your life for success. As the saying goes "if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail". We will discuss how to create a plan for our personal development. It can help you get in touch with your internal feelings, determine exactly who you want to be, and how you want to live your life. 

 A personal development plan is often used by young people who are always pressured by their peers. However, adults like you can benefit greatly by creating your own personal development plan. This single step in drafting your plan can transform your life for good. Below I have expatiated 5 steps you can take to craft a personal development plan.

1. Make a List of What You Admire

It is imperative to first decide exactly what types of qualities you admire in people around you that you would like to internalize on your own. This may be qualities that are easy to measure such as staying physically fit or losing weight. It may also include taking on a better and healthier diet, or living a life full of integrity.

Choosing the right types of traits that you find in other people you admire should be on the top of the list. Again, decide which three qualities you would like to incorporate in your own life, in order to begin the process of transformation. The types of qualities you should focus on are the ones that are outside your personal comfort zone. Besides, they should not be unattainable, so as not to quickly discourage you from achieving that goal.

2. Learn to Set SMART Goals

In order to be successful, you will need to set goals. If the qualities you selected above are tangible, like physical fitness, you will need to understand exactly what the goal looks like. It may include participating in a marathon, simply walking the neighbourhood, or changing bad eating habits to healthier ones.

If the qualities include living a life with high integrity, you will need to detail exactly what that looks like to you. It may mean ending bad behaviours, making better habits, or asking for outside help to achieve the goal. Read more on goal setting here. 

3. Flesh It Out

Once the goals are firmly in place, it is time to flesh them out, to give them substance. It is time to expand the plan to add meat to the bones. It is impossible to skimp during this part of the process. Expanding the plan might include attaching some form of timelines or benchmarks where you need to reach a specific goal at a specific time. Be realistic, and flesh out the goals on a timeline that can be easily achieved.

4. Find the Support

It is much easier to obtain these types of goals in your personal development plan with support. You can solicit the help of a family member, friend, therapist, physician or an exercise buddy that simply wants to take the route with you. With enough support, it is easy to achieve nearly any type of goal as long as it has been set in a realistic time frame.

5. Celebrate your Success

Finally, a personal development plan should include a way to celebrate your success. You can do this by keeping a journal, or checking off a long list of necessary goals. You can also include taking stock of past experiences and activities so you can determine exactly how far you have come on the journey of success. Remember that failures are part of the process, and you will need to forgive yourself if you need to start the process all over again.

In a nutshell, learn to create your personal development plan with these five (5) simple steps and get on the way to become successful in life. It will take time but you will surely be transformed for good. 

You may also want to read these related articles.

1. What does personal development mean to you. 

2. How to set your career goals.

Learn How to Differentiate Your Resume With a Winning Strategy

Are you looking for a winning Resume that will make you to stand out, then read this post on Differentiating your resume with a winning strategy. 

reCareered: Differentiate Your Resume With a Winning Strategy: Fishing and Response Resumes

How to Find A Career by Learning a New Language

Career planning is very important for both the young as well as the old. It helps you to determine what to do as a person and how to contribute towards your community, country and the world at large. This career planning series will take us into the depth of some selected careers that we can do when we learn a new language.

 

The study of foreign languages has become necessary in our world today, which is fast becoming a global village due to the improvement in internet and mobile devices. It has become easy to learn a new language in just a few minutes a day to become a fluent speaker in just a matter of weeks.

 

Learning a new language is no more for just children or teenagers but also for mothers and fathers; that is adults. Adults can now learn a new language at the comfort of their homes, offices or on vacation, without going to the classroom or lectures.

Also, language learning has become so easy due to the internet, information and softwares that are easily downloadable. In addition, if anyone is interested in learning a new language; I will recommend the following sites to anyone who want to start at their convenience.

 

If you are interested in learning a new language you can choose a language of your choice and start learning now for free: click to learn Spanish free; click to learn French free; click to learn Chinese free; click to learn German free; click to learn Italian free; click to learn Korean free; click to learn Japanese free; click to learn Arabic free; and click to learn Hindi free.

 

This is just the beginning of a new language experience, next time we will look at the opportunities and the careers we can derive from learning a new language. In a nutshell, we can change our careers by learning a new language.

You are welcome to start learning a new language by choosing one of the languages above.

To your career success.

How to Advance Your Career – Seven (7) Disciplines

There are seven (7) disciplines you must develop if you want to achieve all that is possible for you and your career. You can learn these disciplines through practice and repetition until they become automatic in your life. 

Discipline No. 1 - Goal Setting

Every morning, take 3 to 5 minutes to write out your top goals in the present tense. Get a spiral notebook for this purpose. By writing out your 10 goals at the beginning of each day, you will program them deep into your subconscious mind. 

This daily goal writing will activate your mental powers. It will stimulate your mind and make you more alert. Throughout the day, you will see opportunities and possibilities to move more rapidly toward your goals. 

Discipline No. 2 - Planning and Organizing

Take a few minutes, preferably the night before, to plan out every activity of the coming day. Always work from a list. Always think on paper. This is one of the most powerful and important disciplines of all for high performance. 

Discipline No. 3 - Priority Setting
The essence of all time management, personal management, and life management is contained in your ability to set proper priorities and use of your time. This is essential for high performance.

Discipline No. 4 - Concentration on your Highest-Value Activities
Your ability to work single-mindedly on your most important task will contribute as much to your success as any other discipline you can develop. 

Discipline No. 5 - Exercise and Proper Nutrition 
Your health is more important than anything else. By disciplining yourself to exercise regularly and to eat carefully, you will promote the highest possible levels of health and fitness throughout your life. 

Discipline No. 6 - Learning and Growth 
Your mind is like a muscle. If you don’t use it, you lose it. Continuous learning is the minimum requirement for success in any field. 

Discipline No. 7 - Time for Important People in your Life 
Relationships are everything. Be sure that in climbing the ladder of success, you do not find it leaning against the wrong building. Make time for your relationships every day, no matter how busy you get. 

Action Exercise 
These 7 disciplines will ensure that you perform at the highest level and get the greatest satisfaction and results from everything you do. Study these 7 disciplines and then make a plan for how you can incorporate each of them into your daily life. (Courtesy – Brian Tracy).  

I encourage you to follow and subscriber to this blog to help you master the habit of self-discipline and learn more on self-discipline. 

How to Set Your Career Goals

This article will address goal setting as it specifically relates to career planning. Part of the career planning process involves setting goals. These goals, both long and short term, will be used to develop a Career Action Plan. The career action plan describes steps you will take to reach your goals. In this case the goal is usually a particular career objective. It can be a particular occupation, a rung on the career ladder, or an earnings level.

Goals may be either short or long term. Long term goals can take about three to five years to achieve, while short term goals are reachable in one to three years. Short term goals are often a stop along the way to our long term goals. 

We actually set goals regularly when we plan what we want to accomplish that day, that week, or even that month. Those are usually fairly simple goals, i.e. clean the house, finish an assignment, do laundry. You decide what you want to do and then figure out what you need to do to achieve your goal. Then you get into more complicated goals -- your plans for the future.  

One way in which we plan for the future is by setting goals. Merriam-Webster OnLine defines a goal as "the end toward which effort is directed." 

One of the most important things you will do during the career planning process is set goals. A goal is something you want to achieve; the end to the means, so to speak. In order to achieve a goal, you will need to exert some energy — generally a lot of it.

You should set both long-term and short-term goals:

Long-term goals: these are goals that you should be able to achieve in about three to five years.

Short term goals: these are goals that you should be able to reach in one to three years. 

In order for your goals to be achievable, they must meet certain criteria. Your goals must be: 

· Conceivable: you must be able to put your goal into words; 

· Achievable: you must have the attributes, energy, and time to accomplish your goal; 

·  Believable: you must believe you can reach your goal; 

· Achievable Within a Certain Time Frame: you must be able to state how long it will take you to reach your goal;

· Clearly Defined: you must know exactly what your goal is;  and 

·  Flexible: you must be willing to modify your goal as necessary. 

Once you have defined both your long-term and short-term goals, you can go on to develop a career action plan. 
The career action plan will list all your goals and the steps you must take to reach them. If your goals meet the criteria listed above, you are more likely to be successful in achieving them.

How to develop the Habit of Continuous Learning

“To earn more you must learn more.”Jim Rowan says: “Work at least as hard on yourself as you do on your work.”

a)  Read in your field 30-60 minutes each day. This will translate into one book per week, 50 books per year.  

b) Listen to CD’s in your car as you drive from place to place. This will amount to 500-1000 hours per year.  

c)  Attend seminars and take courses given by experts in your field. One idea from one course can save you years of hard work.  

d) The average income in America increases at 3% per annum. With compound interest, the average person doubles their income every 22 years. 

e) With the additional knowledge and skill you can apply to get better results, you increase your income at 10%, 15% and even 25% per year.

f)  10% per annum increase means that you double your income in 7 years and 2 months.  

g)  25% increase per annum means that you double your income in 2 years and 8 months. (Credit; Brian Tracy) 

Work on yourself as if your future depends on it, because it does. Continuous learning will make us to sacrifice our time for sleeping, leisure and family, however, the long term benefits far overrides the sacrifices we may go through today.  

Go ahead start reading that book, sign up for that online course; start listening to the language audio CD today and see where you get to by the end of this year.  

Do follow this blog, if you have enjoyed reading this post, for more tips and advice on developing self-discipline in your personal and career life.

How to develop the Discipline of Clear Thinking

Developing the discipline of clear thinking helps us to focus on our career and personal goals without wavering or changing our minds. This article will help us to develop the habit of thinking clearly when making career decisions.

Thomas Edison once said, “Thinking is the hardest discipline of all.”  

It has been said that there are three types of people. There are those who think (The small minority); there are those that think they think, then there are those who would rather die than think.

a)   Take time to think though the critical issues and problems in your life. Put aside long, unbroken chunks of time, thirty, sixty and then ninety minutes. 

   Peter Drucker said that, “Fast people decisions are usually wrong people decisions.” In addition, fast decisions with regard to your family, career, money or any other major issue are usually wrong decisions.  

b)  Sit quietly for 30-60 minutes to think. Practice solitude on a regular basis. “Go into the silence.” 

c) Whenever you practice solitude for more than thirty minutes, you activate your super conscious mind and trigger your intuition. You get it right from the “still, small, silent voice within.”  

d)  To think better, take a pad of paper and write down every detail of the problem situation you are facing. Sometimes, the right thing to do emerges as you write down the details.  

e)   Aristotle once said that wisdom (The ability to make good decisions) is a combination of experience plus reflection. The more time that you take to think about your experiences, the more vital lessons you will gain from them.  

f)  Go for a walk or exercise for 30-60 minutes. Very often when you are exercising, you will get insights or ideas that help you to think better and make better decisions. 

g)   Talk your situation over with someone else who you like and trust, and who is not emotionally involved; Very often, a different perspective can totally change your viewpoint.  

h)  Always ask, “What are my assumptions?” What is it that you are assuming to be true about the situation? 

i)  What if your assumptions were wrong? What if you were preceded on the basis of false information?  

Always be open to the possibility that you could be completely wrong in your current course of action. Be open to doing something completely different, courtesy – Brian Tracy. Don't forget to get your copy of the book on Goals!: How to Get Everything You want - Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible by Brian Tracy. 

How to Visualise Your Future Career

Did you know that there are four parts of visualization that you can learn and practice to assure that you use this incredible power to its best advantage all the days of your life.

Part 1 - How Often?

The first aspect of visualization is frequency, the number of times that you visualize a particular goal as achieved of yourself performing in an excellent way in a particular event or circumstance. The more frequently you repeat a clear mental picture of your very best performance or result, the more rapidly it will appear as part of your reality.

Part 2 - How Long?

The second element of visualization is the duration of the mental image, the length of time that you can hold the picture in your mind each time you replay it. When you deeply relax, you can often hold a mental picture of yourself performing at your best for several seconds, and even several minutes. The longer you can hold your mental picture, the more deeply it will be impressed into your subconscious mind and the more rapidly it will express itself in your subsequent performance.

Do visit the Business and Career Bookshop to select books on Goal Setting and Career Development. It will help you to improve upon your personal and career development. 

Part 3 - How Clearly?

The third element of visualization is vividness. There is a direct relationship between how clearly you can see your desired goal or result in your mind and how quickly it comes into your reality. This element of visualization is what explains the powers of the Law of Attraction and the Law of Correspondence. The vividness of your desire directly determines how quickly it materializes in the world around you. Here is an interesting point. When you set a new goal for yourself, your image or picture of this goal will usually be vague and fuzzy. But the more often you write it, review it, and repeat it mentally, the clearer it becomes for you. Eventually, it will become crystal clear. At that point, the goal will suddenly appear in your world exactly as you imagined it.

Part 4 - How Intensely?

The fourth element of visualization is intensity, the amount of emotion that you attach to your visual image. In reality, this is the most important and powerful part of the visualization process. Sometimes, if your emotion is intense enough and your visual image is clear enough, your goal will immediately come true.

Do visit the Business and Career Bookshop to select books on Goal Setting and Career Development. It will help you to improve upon your personal and career development. 

Of course, the elements of frequency, duration, vividness, and intensity can help you or hurt you. Like nature, the power of visualization is neutral. Like a two-edged sword, it can cut in either direction. It can either make you a success or make you a failure. Visualization brings you whatever you vividly and intensely imagine, whether good or bad. (courtesy: Brian Tracy)

Action Exercise

Continually feed your mind with clear, exciting, emotional pictures. Remember, your imagination is your preview of lives coming attractions. Learn how to accomplish all of your goals here and to your success in goal setting and career planning. Don't forget to get your copy of the book on Goals!: How to Get Everything You want - Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible by Brian Tracy.