How many times have you promised to focus on your personal growth, only to realize that you don’t know where to start—and you definitely don’t know what your end goal is. It’s about time you come up with a personal development plan: one that is organized, methodical, and effective.
Writing your personal development plan
Understanding what a personal development plan (PDP) is is the first key step to making one. A PDP covers the key aspects of your life that require growth or change. Whether it’s your financial standing, your physical health, or your family life, these aspects of your life undergo a constant state of change. If you don’t take control of them, they will end up controlling you. It’s therefore best to face them head on and do what you can to be in control.
When writing a PDP, there are three main questions that you ought to consider for every area or aspect of your life:
1. How well are matters in this area?
2. What isn’t going well in this area?
3. What should you continue doing, improve on, or totally change in this area?
Having answered these questions, it will now be easier to continue writing your PDP. You will now be able to identify what you can do to allow this area to grow. It’s a matter of retaining your positive habits, taking away the negative ones, and making changes that will make a lasting impact.
When drafting your PDP, here are some other things that you should keep I mind:
1. Keep the plan simple. Complicated plans are not only more difficult to process, they’re also harder to follow.
2. Be realistic about your plans. If it sounds impossible to achieve within a short span of time, it probably is. Come up with something that you can actually accomplish within the time given.
3. Have a schedule in your calendar. Transfer your action points and goals to a calendar, so that there’s a sense of concreteness in what you have to do.
4. Be accountable. There must be something that you stand to lose if you don’t achieve your goals. Conversely, you’re free to set up a reward system that will encourage you to keep going.
It’s easy to get overwhelmed with all the action points in your plan. But here’s the thing: you don’t have to do them overnight. In fact, it might help if you identify your top 3 priorities, and focus on them one after the other. Moreover, it will help if you tag someone along who can be just as committed as you are in your goals.