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How to Create a Personal Development Plan: 3 Examples

For successful change, it is vital that the client remains engaged, recognizing and identifying with the goals captured inside and outside sessions. A personal development plan (PDP) creates a focus for development while offering a guide for life and future success (Starr, 2021).

This article introduces and explores the value of personal development plans, offering tools, worksheets, and approaches to boost self-reflection and self-improvement.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Goal Achievement Exercises for free . These detailed, science-based exercises will help you or your clients create actionable goals and master techniques to create lasting behavior change.

This Article Contains

What is personal development 7 theories, coaching in personal development and growth, how to create a personal development plan, 3 examples of personal development plans, defining goals and objectives: 10 tips and tools, fostering personal development skills, 3 inspiring books to read on the topic, resources from positivepsychology.com, a take-home message, frequently asked questions.

Personal development is a fundamental concept in psychology and encompasses the lifelong process of self-improvement, self-awareness, and personal growth. Crucial to coaching and counseling, it aims to enhance various aspects of clients’ lives, including their emotional wellbeing, relationships, careers, and overall happiness (Cox, 2018; Starr, 2021).

Several psychological models underpin and support transformation. Together, they help us understand personal development in our clients and the mechanisms and approaches available to make positive life changes (Cox, 2018; Passmore, 2021).

The following psychological theories and frameworks underpin and influence the approach a mental health professional adopts.

1. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

As a proponent of the humanistic or person-centered approach to helping people, Abraham Maslow (1970) suggested that individuals have a hierarchy of needs. Simply put, they begin with basic physiological and safety needs and progress through psychological and self-fulfillment needs.

Personal development is often found in or recognized by the pursuit of higher-level needs, such as self-esteem and self-actualization (Cox, 2018).

2. Erikson’s psychosocial development

Erik Erikson (1963) mapped out a series of eight psychosocial development stages that individuals go through across their lifespan.

Each one involves challenges and crises that once successfully navigated, contribute to personal growth and identity development.

3. Piaget’s cognitive development

The biologist and epistemologist Jean Piaget (1959) focused on cognitive development in children and how they construct their understanding of the world.

We can draw on insights from Piaget’s stages of cognitive development, including intellectual growth and adaptability, to inform our own and others’ personal development (Illeris, 2018).

4. Bandura’s social cognitive theory

Albert Bandura’s (1977) theory highlights the role of social learning and self-efficacy in personal development. It emphasizes that individuals can learn and grow through observation, imitation, and belief in their ability to effect change.

5. Self-determination theory

Ryan and Deci’s (2018) motivational self-determination theory recognizes the importance of autonomy, competence, and relatedness in personal development.

Their approach suggests that individuals are more likely to experience growth and wellbeing when such basic psychological needs are met.

6. Positive psychology

Positive psychology , developed by Martin Seligman (2011) and others, focuses on strengths, wellbeing, and the pursuit of happiness.

Seligman’s PERMA model offers a framework for personal development that emphasizes identifying and using our strengths while cultivating positive emotions and experiences (Lomas et al., 2014).

7. Cognitive-Behavioral Theory (CBT)

Developed by Aaron Beck (Beck & Haigh, 2014) and Albert Ellis (2000), CBT explores the relationship between thoughts, emotions, and behavior.

As such, the theory provides practical techniques for personal development, helping individuals identify and challenge negative thought patterns and behaviors (Beck, 2011).

Theories like the seven mentioned above offer valuable insights into many of the psychological processes underlying personal development. They provide a sound foundation for coaches and counselors to support their clients and help them better understand themselves, their motivations, and the paths they can take to foster positive change in their lives (Cox, 2018).

The client–coach relationship is significant to successful growth and goal achievement.

Typically, the coach will focus on the following (Cox, 2018):

Actualizing tendency This supports a “universal human motivation resulting in growth, development and autonomy of the individual” (Cox, 2018, p. 53).
Building a relationship facilitating change Trust clients to find their own way while displaying empathy, congruence, and unconditional positive regard . The coach’s “outward responses consistently match their inner feelings towards a client,” and they display a warm acceptance that they are being how they need to be (Passmore, 2021, p. 162).
Adopting a positive psychological stance Recognize that the client has the potential and wish to become fully functioning (Cox, 2018).

Effective coaching for personal growth involves adopting and committing to a series of beliefs that remind the coach that the “coachee is responsible for the results they create” (Starr, 2021, p. 18) and help them recognize when they may be avoiding this idea.

The following principles are, therefore, helpful for coaching personal development and growth (Starr, 2021).

Stay committed to supporting the client. While initially strong, you may experience factors that reduce your sense of support for the individual’s challenges.
Coach nonjudgmentally. Our job is not to adopt a stance based on personal beliefs or judgment of others, but to help our clients form connections between behavior and results.
Maintain integrity, openness, and trust. The client must feel safe in your company and freely able to express themselves.
Responsibility does not equal blame. Clients who take on blame rather than responsibility will likely feel worse about something without acknowledging their influence on the situation.
The client can achieve better results. The client is always capable of doing and achieving more, especially in relation to their goals.
Focus on clients’ thoughts and experiences. Collaborative coaching is about supporting the growth and development of the client, getting them to where they want to go.
Clients can arrive at perfect solutions. “As a coach, you win when someone else does” (Starr, 2021, p. 34). The solution needs to be the client’s, not yours.
Coach as an equal partnership. Explore the way forward together collaboratively rather than from a parental or advisory perspective.

Creating a supportive and nonjudgmental environment helps clients explore their thoughts, feelings, and goals, creating an environment for personal development and flourishing (Passmore, 2021).

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A personal development plan is a powerful document “to create mutual clarity of the aims and focus of a coaching assignment” (Starr, 2021, p. 291). While it is valuable during coaching, it can also capture a client’s way forward once sessions have ended.

Crucially, it should have the following characteristics (Starr, 2021):

Short and succinct
Providing a quick reference or point of discussion
Current and fresh, regularly revised and updated

Key elements of a personal development plan include the following (Starr, 2021):

Area of development This is the general skill or competence to be worked on.
Development objectives or goals What does the client want to do? Examples might include reducing stress levels, improving diet, or managing work–life balance .
Behaviors to develop These comprise what the client will probably do more of when meeting their objectives, for example, practicing better coping mechanisms, eating more healthily, and better managing their day.
Actions to create progress What must the client do to action their objectives? For example, arrange a date to meet with their manager, sign up for a fitness class, or meet with a nutritionist.
Date to complete or review the objective Capture the dates for completing actions, meeting objectives, and checking progress.

Check out Lindsey Cooper’s excellent video for helpful guidance on action planning within personal development.

We can write and complete personal development plans in many ways. Ultimately, they should meet the needs of the client and leave them with a sense of connection to and ownership of their journey ahead (Starr, 2021).

Personal Development Plan – Areas of Development In this PDP , we draw on guidance from Starr (2021) to capture development opportunities and the behaviors and actions needed to achieve them.
Personal Development Plan – Opportunities for Development This template combines short- and long-term goal setting with a self-assessment of strengths, weaknesses, and development opportunities.
Personal Development Plan – Ideal Self In this PDP template , we focus on our vision of how our ideal self looks and setting goals to get there.

“The setting of a goal becomes the catalyst that drives the remainder of the coaching conversation.”

Passmore, 2021, p. 80

Defining goals and objectives is crucial to many coaching conversations and is usually seen as essential for personal development.

Check out this video on how you can design your life with your personal goals in mind.

The following coaching templates are helpful, containing a series of questions to complete Whitmore’s (2009) GROW model :

G stands for Goal : Where do you want to be?
R stands for Reality : Where are you right now with this goal?
O stands for Options : What are some options for reaching your goal?
W stands for Way forward : What is your first step forward?

Goal setting creates both direction and motivation for clients to work toward achieving something and meeting their objectives (Passmore, 2021).

The SMART goal-setting framework is another popular tool inside coaching and elsewhere.

S = Specific M = Measurable A = Attainable/ or Agreed upon R = Realistic T = Timely – allowing enough time for achievement

The SMART+ Goals Worksheet contains a series of prompts and spaces for answers to define goals and capture the steps toward achieving them.

We can summarize the five principles of goal setting (Passmore, 2021) as follows:

Goals must be clear and not open to interpretation.
Goals should be stretching yet achievable.
Clients must buy in to the goal from the outset.
Feedback is essential to keep the client on track.
Goals should be relatively straightforward. We can break down complex ones into manageable subgoals.

The following insightful articles are also helpful for setting and working toward goals.

What Is Goal Setting and How to Do it Well
The Science & Psychology of Goal-Setting 101

1. People skills

Improving how we work with others benefits confidence, and with other’s support, we are more likely to achieve our objectives and goals. The following people skills can all be improved upon:

Developing rapport
Assertiveness and negotiation
Giving and receiving constructive criticism

2. Managing tasks and problem-solving

Inevitably, we encounter challenges on our path to development and growth. Managing our activities and time and solving issues as they surface are paramount.

Here are a few guidelines to help you manage:

Organize time and tasks effectively.
Learn fundamental problem-solving strategies.
Select and apply problem-solving strategies to tackle more complex tasks and challenges.
Develop planning skills, including identifying priorities, setting achievable targets, and finding practical solutions.
Acquire skills relevant to project management.
Familiarize yourself with concepts such as performance indicators and benchmarking.
Conduct self-audits to assess and enhance your personal competitiveness.

3. Cultivate confidence in your creative abilities

Confidence energizes our performance. Knowing we can perform creatively encourages us to develop novel solutions and be motivated to transform.

Consider the following:

Understand the fundamentals of how the mind works to enhance your thinking skills.
Explore a variety of activities to sharpen your creative thinking.
Embrace the belief that creativity is not limited to artists and performers but is crucial for problem-solving and task completion.
Learn to ignite the spark of creativity that helps generate innovative ideas when needed.
Apply creative thinking techniques to enhance your problem-solving and task completion abilities.
Recognize the role of creative thinking in finding the right ideas at the right time.

To aid you in building your confidence, we have a whole category of articles focused on Optimism and Mindset . Be sure to browse it for confidence-building inspiration.

With new techniques and technology, our understanding of the human brain continues to evolve. Identifying the vital elements involved in learning and connecting with others offers deep insights into how we function and develop as social beings. We handpicked a small but unique selection of books we believe you will enjoy.

1. The Coaching Manual: The Definitive Guide to the Process, Principles and Skills of Personal Coaching – Julie Starr

This insightful book explores and explains the coaching journey from start to finish.

Starr’s book offers a range of free resources and gives clear guidance to support new and existing coaches in providing practical help to their clients.

Find the book on Amazon .

2. The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level – Gay Hendricks

Delving into the “zone of genius” and the “zone of excellence,” Hendricks examines personal growth and our path to personal success.

This valuable book explores how we eliminate the barriers to reaching our goals that arise from false beliefs and fears.

3. The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are – Brené Brown

Brown, a leading expert on shame, vulnerability, and authenticity, examines how we can engage with the world from a place of worthiness.

Use this book to learn how to build courage and compassion and realize the behaviors, skills, and mindset that lead to personal development.

We have many resources available for fostering personal development and supporting client transformation and growth.

Our free resources include:

Goal Planning and Achievement Tracker This is a valuable worksheet for capturing and reflecting on weekly goals while tracking emotions that surface.
Adopt a Growth Mindset Successful change is often accompanied by replacing a fixed mindset with a growth one .
FIRST Framework Questions Understanding a client’s developmental stage can help offer the most appropriate support for a career change.

More extensive versions of the following tools are available with a subscription to the Positive Psychology Toolkit© , but they are described briefly below:

Backward Goal Planning

Setting goals can build confidence and the skills for ongoing personal development.

Backward goal planning helps focus on the end goal, prevent procrastination, and decrease stress by ensuring we have enough time to complete each task.

Try out the following four simple steps:

Step one – Identify and visualize your end goal.
Step two – Reflect on and capture the steps required to reach the goal.
Step three – Focus on each step one by one.
Step four – Take action and record progress.
Boosting Motivation by Celebrating Micro Successes

Celebrating the small successes on our journey toward our goals is motivating and confidence building.

Practice the following:

Step one – Reflect momentarily on the goal you are working toward.
Step two – Consider each action being taken to reach that goal.
Step three – Record the completion of each action as a success.
Step four – Choose how to celebrate each success.

If you’re looking for more science-based ways to help others reach their goals, check out this collection of 17 validated motivation & goal achievement tools for practitioners. Use them to help others turn their dreams into reality by applying the latest science-based behavioral change techniques.

17 Tools To Increase Motivation and Goal Achievement

These 17 Motivation & Goal Achievement Exercises [PDF] contain all you need to help others set meaningful goals, increase self-drive, and experience greater accomplishment and life satisfaction.

Created by Experts. 100% Science-based.

Personal development has a rich and long history. It is underpinned by various psychological theories and remains a vital aspect of creating fulfilling lives inside and outside coaching and counseling.

For many of us, self-improvement, self-awareness, and personal growth are vital aspects of who we are. Coaching can provide a vehicle to help clients along their journey, supporting their sense of autonomy and confidence and highlighting their potential (Cox, 2018).

Working with clients, therefore, requires an open, honest, and supportive relationship. The coach or counselor must believe the client can achieve better results and view them nonjudgmentally as equal partners.

Personal development plans become essential to that relationship and the overall coaching process. They capture areas for development, skills and behaviors required, and goals and objectives to work toward.

Use this article to recognize theoretical elements from psychology that underpin the process and use the skills, guidance, and worksheets to support personal development in clients, helping them remove obstacles along the way.

Ultimately, personal development is a lifelong process that boosts wellbeing and flourishing and creates a richer, more engaging environment for the individual and those around them.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Goal Achievement Exercises for free .

Personal development is vital, as it enables individuals to enhance various aspects of their lives, including emotional wellbeing, relationships, careers, and overall happiness.

It promotes self-awareness, self-improvement, and personal growth, helping individuals reach their full potential and lead fulfilling lives (Passmore, 2021; Starr, 2021).

Personal development is the journey we take to improve ourselves through conscious habits and activities and focusing on the goals that are important to us.

Personal development goals are specific objectives individuals set to improve themselves and their lives. Goals can encompass various areas, such as emotional intelligence, skill development, health, and career advancement, providing direction and motivation for personal growth (Cox, 2018; Starr, 2021).

A personal development plan typically comprises defining the area of development, setting development objectives, identifying behaviors to develop, planning actions for progress, and establishing completion dates. These five stages help individuals clarify their goals and track their progress (Starr, 2021).

Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory . Prentice-Hall.
Beck, A. T., & Haigh, E. P. (2014). Advances in cognitive therapy and therapy: The generic cognitive model. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology , 10 , 1–24.
Beck, J. S. (2011). Cognitive behavior therapy: Basics and beyond . Guilford Press.
Cottrell, S. (2015). Skills for success: Personal development and employability . Bloomsbury Academic.
Cox, E. (2018). The complete handbook of coaching . SAGE.
Ellis, A. (2000). Can rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) be effectively used with people who have devout beliefs in God and religion? Professional Psychology-Research and Practice , 31 (1), 29–33.
Erikson, E. H. (1963). Youth: Change and challenge . Basic Books.
Illeris, K. (2018). An overview of the history of learning theory. European Journal of Education , 53 (1), 86–101.
Lomas, T., Hefferon, K., & Ivtzan, I. (2014). Applied positive psychology: Integrated positive practice . SAGE.
Maslow, A. H. (1970). Motivation and personalit y (2nd ed.). Harper & Row.
Passmore, J. (Ed.). (2021). The coaches’ handbook: The complete practitioner guide for professional coaches . Routledge.
Piaget, J. (1959): The Psychology of intelligence . Routledge.
Rose, C. (2018). The personal development group: The students’ guide . Routledge.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2018). Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness . Guilford Press.
Seligman, M. E. (2011). Authentic happiness using the new positive psychology to realize your potential for lasting fulfillment . Nicholas Brealey.
Starr, J. (2021). The coaching manual: The definitive guide to the process, principles and skills of personal coaching . Harlow: Pearson Education.
Whitmore, J. (2009). Coaching for performance . Nicholas Brealey.

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Personal Development Plan Templates for Success

Did you know you can make your dreams and aspirations a reality by focusing on your own individual personal development plan ?

Your potential is limitless, and investing in personal development is a way to harness your many talents.

Establishing goals for what you want to achieve — where you would like to go in the short term or long term — can improve your personal development.

In this guide, I’ll help you understand what personal development means and its importance, what a personal development plan is and why you should make one, and how to write a personal development plan.

I’ll also share with you my personal development plan template to get you started on your path to reach your personal development goals, complete with helpful examples and resources to support you.

What Is a Personal Development Plan (PDP)?

A personal development plan is a guideline for your life and your future success.

Personal development is an ongoing process of improving oneself through conscious habits and activities. It is the pursuit of personal growth to enhance your quality of life and to achieve your dreams and aspirations.

When you create a plan, you start to define the kind of person you want to be, the skills you want to have, and the accomplishments you want to achieve. And then you map out your long-term and short-term goals to realize these aspirations and set timelines for when you want to reach them.

Many people underachieve in their careers because they do not realize the areas of personal development that can help achieve mastery in any field.

Effective leaders focus on continual self-improvement and know there is no substitute for hard work.

When you practice self-discipline by setting a goal, making a plan, and working on it every day, you will see personal development and progress within your career.

The Importance of Personal Development

Most of the time, what you think about is what you become. From the moment you wake up until the moment you close your eyes at the end of the day, everything you experience plays a factor in your development.

When you take greater control over your experiences, you can guide your personal development and accelerate toward what you want to become instead of leaving it to chance.

Setting, striving for, and meeting personal development goals opens up a world of new possibilities for you to increase your quality of life.

For example, as a result of creating and following your personal development plan, you may gain more responsibility for work and open up opportunities for higher pay. This growth could qualify you for a better career trajectory to increase your overall happiness, job satisfaction, and ability to provide for the life you want for you and your family.

Focusing on your personal development also gives you better decision-making abilities so you can avoid problems that may have plagued you in the past or are holding you back now.

At the end of the day, personal development helps you create more positivity and harness the power of positive thoughts , which can transform your life.

When you give time to yourself by focusing on your professional and personal growth, you are better able to achieve your version of success because of personal development opportunities.

Personal Development vs Self-Improvement

Recognizing the difference between self-improvement and personal development can be a little tricky.

While they are similar in that they are both very instrumental in achieving your goals and improving yourself, there are key differences between a self-improvement plan and your own personal development plan.

Personal development is the work you are putting in to transform yourself on a daily basis. It’s the efforts you’re making to advance in your work, lifestyle, attitude, physique, and sociability.

Setting personal and professional development goals and creating a plan helps you take full advantage of any opportunity that may come your way and make the most of your potential.

Self-improvement is an inner transformation. It is a self-motivated study to improve one’s character, status, or knowledge by their own efforts.

Self-improvement is a lifelong process of constantly searching for ways to change your habits so you can reach your fullest potential.

The specific efforts you put into personal development lead to self-improvement.

Start Achieving All of Your Goals Today! Download my FREE Personal Development Plan Template

The 7 Categories of Personal Development

Focusing on personal development categories such as personal skills, personal growth, and personal power can create habits for personal improvement.

Personal growth is founded on education and skill. Through education and experience, you increase your skill level and your ability to succeed in your field.

There are seven main categories of personal development.

Personal Skills

Personal skills can be ones you were born with as well as those you gain through deliberate practice. They’re often referred to as soft skills.

Examples of personal skills are decision-making, teamwork, organization, and communication.

If you’re looking to develop skills at work, try working on your personal skills. The highest-paid, top individuals in their field are the ones who focus on growing their personal skills.

Knowing what areas you excel in and which need development is very useful in your personal and professional life.

Personal Growth

Having a personal growth plan is one of the first steps toward bettering yourself and stepping out of your comfort zone.

Humans and the human mind are constantly evolving. Think about it: you are not the same person you were a year ago. You’ve learned more, grown in many different ways, and have experienced more life events to further shape your personality, beliefs, and world outlook.

To experience personal development and have a growth mindset, strive to be a better version of yourself today than you were yesterday.

Personal Power

Personal power is the authority others believe you to have in certain situations and is fueled by your contacts, knowledge, and financial status.

Developing an ever-widening circle of contacts, seeking to learn more, and growing financially increases the number of doors that others will leave open for you to step into.

Expanding your network, knowledge base and financial status will also allow you to help others do the same, further increasing your personal power and opportunities for personal development and growth.

Personal Improvement

Personal improvement stems from good work habits and having a positive mental attitude.

Thinking before you act is critical to developing a strong amount of personal improvement. To help you think first, try to set priorities on a list and consider the likely consequences before beginning.

Working on personal improvement and generating a positive mental attitude will also reduce the amount of time that it takes you to achieve your goals.

Personal Empowerment

Personal empowerment is similar to Personal Power, except empowerment is the power to reflect what you see within yourself, instead of how others view you.

Promoting a positive image and adopting creativity within your daily life can speed up the time it takes to achieve personal empowerment and your goals.

To help you increase your personal empowerment, consider looking for new, creative ways to finish a project in a faster, easier or cheaper way without compromising the end result.

Personal Analysis

It is very important to be conscious of areas in which you are naturally gifted as well as analyze areas in which you need improvement. This is called personal analysis.

Being truthful about where you currently stand is the first step to moving forward. You should be constantly evaluating where you are when achieving your goals and ambitions.

Personal Objectives

Ambition goes to waste when there are no clear goals in sight. Developing clear direction for short-term and long-term goals is a pivotal step in actually accomplishing them and growing as a person.

Having a set plan will help you have a clear understanding of which strategies are necessary to reach your desired destination.

Why Make a Personal Development Plan?

The reason you need to create a personal development plan is that making a plan will help guide you to better decision-making and remind you of where you want to go.

In other words, good preparation increases the probability of success and decreases the risk of things going wrong along the way.

Creating a plan for personal development helps you get a better sense of control over your life and will make you better prepared for whatever comes your way.

Consider these benefits of having one:

It brings your vision to reality.
It ensures you take appropriate and logically planned action.
It helps you improve your time management skills so you can achieve your goals.
It’s a plan to keep track of progress, which serves to motivate you when you want to give up.
It’s been proven to reduce stress, improve balance in life, and increase self-confidence.

Developing your personal development plans and goals for work can make the difference between success and failure. Creating a self-growth plan for your personal life can mean the difference between life-long happiness and regret.

Skills & Objectives

The objectives of personal development are continuous personal growth, increased potential for success, and capitalizing on potential opportunities.

You can practice your personal development skills by setting aside time for the important people in your life, performing action exercises that force you to perform at the highest level, and studying growth performances to help ensure you continue to climb the ladder of success.

An action plan has to include measurable objectives so you know the exact steps it will take to reach your goals. Objectives break your larger personal goals into bite-sized pieces so you can know where you are headed and check off your progress along the way.

There are no limits except for the limits you place on yourself with your thinking.

Commit yourself to a life of constant learning. Even if you are at the top of your field, there is always something to learn.

Once you have mastered a new skill, move on to learning another one. Constantly learning new skills keeps your mind fresh and active and opens doors that would otherwise be closed to you.

You will become unstoppable and you will see your entire future open up in front of you if you live a goal and growth-oriented life.

How to Set Personal Development Goals

Before you can set up a plan, you need to do some self-reflection and answer personal goal questions.

A few questions you should develop before laying out an idea for a specific plan of action are:

What do I want to make out of my life?
What are my goals and ambitions?
What is currently standing in my way of achieving these goals?

After answering those questions, you can create a personal plan that contains a few key components.

The key components you should focus on are having a specific outcome that you are constantly working towards, planning and paving a path towards achieving it, being mindful of the obstacles, and understanding the bigger motivation behind your actions.

When developing a personal development plan for work, you should focus on SMART goals. SMART stands for “Specific”, “Measurable”, “Achievable”, “Relevant”, and “Time-Bound.”

By following this easy-to-remember acronym when goal setting, you can improve both your personal and professional life:

Specific: Write goals that are detailed and clear instead of broad and general.
Measurable: Set milestones that will let you know you are achieving your goal.
Achievable: Make goals that are challenging yet can realistically be achieved.
Relevant: Align your goals with your personal self-improvement plan.
Time-Bound: Pick an end date by which you want to achieve your goal.

Set Goals for Professional Life

To make progress that you can see and track in your professional life, you need to document a detailed plan of action for your personal development.

Some examples include answering the following questions:

What do I want to learn?
What do I have to do?
What support and resources will I need?
How will I measure success?

Be as specific with your answers as possible. The more precise, the easier it is to track your progress.

Seeing how far you have come and how your hard work is paying off will give you a boost of confidence and provide a sense of accomplishment.

Some examples of personal development goals for work include the Golden Hour and the 21-Day Mental Diet.

The Golden Hour Rule

The Golden Hour Rule steers the trajectory of your day.

Beginning your day early and investing your first hour in yourself will make a tremendous difference in the way you feel, and you will begin to see positive results in your day.

You will begin to see yourself in a more positive light and improve on your self-awareness and personal development.

The 21-Day Mental Diet

The 21-Day Mental Diet personal leadership plan example means waking up early and investing at least the first two hours of your day in yourself.

With this extra time, set clear goals you can work to achieve in the workplace. This can improve your productivity and efficiency to help you get that promotion or earn a raise.

Your goals may also include education. You need to learn more to earn more.

Try setting a goal to read something educational, motivational, or inspirational every day before you go to work.

Set Goals in Your Daily Life

Outside of the workspace, it’s important to focus on some personal goals as well. Similar to your work plan, your personal plan requires you to focus on key points to achieve your goals.

Here are some sample questions to ask yourself:

What are the important goals that you want to achieve?
When is your set deadline?
What are your biggest strengths?
Who or what are your biggest threats?

There are several aspects of personal development disciplines that will make achieving success possible if developed correctly.

A few of these disciplines include goal setting, planning and organizing, and concentrating on high-value activities.

Goal Setting

Goal setting can be done in the early morning and take only a few minutes of your day.

It can be as simple as purchasing a spiral notebook and writing out your ten goals at the beginning of each day. This will program them deep into your subconscious mind and help you actually follow through on accomplishing them.

Planning Your Day

Planning and organizing at the end of the day can help you better prepare for the coming day.

When you plan out your day, put it down on paper, you can begin to visualize your important tasks and make sure you are working to complete them throughout the day.

Concentrating On Your High-Value Activities

High-value activities are the things you choose to do throughout the day that will give you the biggest return on your efforts to get you closer to your goals.

Concentrating on your high-value activities will help keep you focused and contribute to your success as much as any other discipline you can develop.

Promoting the highest value activities will make a powerful difference in how quickly you achieve them and the goals they relate to.

Personal Development Plan Template

Creating a plan for personal development will help you get a better sense of control over your life and your goals…and it doesn’t have to be a daunting task!

Follow this template to get started and achieve your goals.

There are six core steps in this template that will help you take action and measure your progress.

Step 1: Set Your Goals

Write a list of the top 10 most important goals you would like to achieve. I encourage you to really write them down somewhere — on paper or on your computer — instead of just keeping them in your head.

People who write their goals and have a clear plan are 30% more likely to achieve their goals.

Search deep within yourself and identify the things you really want out of life. Do not be hindered by thoughts of roadblocks that may get in your way. Open yourself up to all the possibilities that would make you truly happy in life.

These are life goals. Life goals are meant to be challenging, so they may seem huge, overwhelming, or even scary. But that’s why they will be broken down into digestible and manageable smaller goals.

For example, providing for your family is an important long-term goal, but figuring out the steps to get there is the challenge. Your smaller personal development objectives will help you identify those steps so you have a clear road map to follow.

With each of the 10 goals you identify, also define your “why:” Why do you want to achieve this goal? What will it mean for your personal life, your career, your mental health or, your loved ones?

Knowing your why will help set you up for success. It will keep you motivated to continue progressing forward until you have achieved what you want to.

Step 2: Prioritize Your Goals

Once you have identified your top 10 goals, write which of those 10 is the most important to you and why.

Starting with your highest priority goal, identify the short-term goals and steps that are needed to achieve your long-term goals.

What needs to happen today so you can move on to the next movetomorrow?

This may require some research on your part, depending on your goal.

For example, say your goal is to become a leader in your field. Some of the short-term goals you will prioritize to reach this personal leadership plan example may include the following:

Choose a topic or niche in your industry that you want to specialize in.
Learn everything you can about the issue by talking to people in your industry, reading about your topic, attending seminars and webinars, and so on.
Educate others by writing regular blog posts.
Start a podcast and offer valuable information.
Give interviews on podcasts, local radio and TV stations, and news outlets.
Write a book and get it published.
Become a public speaker at industry conferences or hold your own conference.

Step 3: Create a Timeline for Achieving Your Goals

Setting goals and deadlines in your process is crucial. Without them, your goals can get lost in the everyday chaos of life or forgotten completely.

Write down a specific timeline for achieving each of your goals, but be realistic in your timing and know the likelihood ahead of time of achieving your goal within a certain timeline to avoid discouragement.

While you may want to become debt-free by next year, you will first need to do what is necessary to earn more income or reduce your expenses. This could involve getting more education, finding a better job, or making major life changes, which could take more than 365 days.

Once you assign a due date to each of your short-term goals, tackle the hardest goal first . This will help you realize you can actually achieve your goals faster and give you the motivation you need to propel yourself forward.

If you’re unsure of the timeline you should set for accomplishing your goals, speaking to other people who have achieved the goal you are striving for will help you set a realistic deadline.

Conducting online research could also help in defining a timeline to accomplish your goals.

Knowing that it takes four to five years to earn a Ph.D. in business lets you know how long it will likely take you. If you can only attend school part-time, you know it will take longer, perhaps twice as long.

Step 4: Analyze Your Strengths and Weaknesses

Write down your strengths and weaknesses. Remember that skills like perseverance, positive attitude, and creativity are strengths and weaknesses as much as educational level, experience, and having a strong network of professional contacts.

Focus on the attributes that are needed to achieve your goal. Then, write how your strengths can help you achieve this goal and how you plan to overcome those weaknesses.

Use a SWOT analysis to organize your thoughts and develop a strong strategy for achieving your goal. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Ask yourself questions similar to these to help you develop insights for each part of a SWOT analysis:

What sets you apart from your peers?
What is your competitive advantage?
What do others regularly praise you for?
What do people ask you to help them with?
What parts of yourself are you confident about?
What values are important to you?
What do you usually avoid doing because you don’t think you can?
What kind of tasks do you procrastinate?
Where are you lacking in skills, experience, or education?
What resources do you lack?
What areas do you feel you need improvement?
What gets in the way of your work performance or relationships with others?

Opportunities

What technology can help you achieve your goal?
What promotions or financial incentives are available at work?
Who can help you reach your goal?
What changes are happening or are projected to happen in your industry or personal life?
What conferences, classes, or networking events are available to you?
What are your competitors failing at that you can learn from and improve on?
What obstacles do you face that may hinder your progress?
Which of your weaknesses could lead to threats?
Who is trying to achieve the same goal that may get in your way?

Step 5: Write an Action Plan

Write actions that you need to take to achieve your goal. These can be things you need to add to your daily routine as well as things you need to eliminate from it to achieve the success in life that you are looking for.

Doing this will help you to achieve each goal faster.

Whether you use a notebook or your computer, just make sure you’re also physically writing down your plan so you can see it every day and hold yourself accountable.

Step 6: Measure Your Progress

The final step in your personal development plan template is to mark your progress.

Write down what has been working well, what you have accomplished, what you still need to improve, and what skills or knowledge you have gained along the way.

People who set up a system to report on their goals weekly achieve 40% more than people who do not.

To help you in this final step, consider using a tracker to take notes, measure progress, and be analytical about what works and what does not.

Sometimes it is necessary to change courses midstream or add a step that you were not initially aware of. That doesn’t mean you should abandon your goal out of discouragement. It just means you need to adapt, and this is where a tracker can help you determine if it’s time to pivot.

Remember it’s okay to be flexible. Doing so will allow you to make changes when needed that will propel you toward your goal more efficiently.

This could be a good opportunity to use another piece of data about how people who write things down/journal are much more likely to be successful.

Personal Development Courses and Programs

Personal development courses, coaches, and programs can also help you hit your goals.

A personal development program accompanied by a personal development coach helps to keep you disciplined and moving forward.

If you are looking to transform your life, check out these courses and programs that include all of my knowledge, distilled into powerful lessons to help you achieve immediate success in your own life. They will teach you how to stop worrying and stressing out and how to take control of your life, forever.

Power Of Personal Achievement

Learn the right way to visualize your ideal future. This course will teach you how to set your goals and methodically achieve them with more efficiency than ever before.

This program will teach you how to ditch the negative emotions that have been hindering your success as well as how to redirect your energy and resources towards your personal mission.

The Science Of Self-Confidence

In this course, you’ll learn just about everything I’ve learned about self-confidence during the past four decades.

I reveal the secret of the four Cs that teach you how to escape the endless loop of failure. You will find your true self and, as a result, finally feel truly confident.

Maximum Productivity

This course will equip you with the skills to discover your special calling. You will learn everything you need to know how to take the shortest, fastest route possible to your destination.

Ultimate success is achievable when you know how to dramatically improve your productivity.

Create Your Personal Development Plan Today

Don’t wait to start improving your life.

Follow a personal development plan for work and your personal life or use a template to start accomplishing your goals and improving your life.

For the easiest way to get started, download my free Personal Development Plan Template to organize your goals over the next few months and years and optimize your success.

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About Brian Tracy — Brian is recognized as the top sales training and personal success authority in the world today. He has authored more than 60 books and has produced more than 500 audio and video learning programs on sales, management, business success and personal development, including worldwide bestseller The Psychology of Achievement. Brian's goal is to help you achieve your personal and business goals faster and easier than you ever imagined. You can follow him on Twitter , Facebook , Pinterest , Linkedin and Youtube .

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How to design your personal project portfolio to develop yourself

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The old adage that the cobbler’s children go barefoot often applies to leaders. We invest our time and care in developing our teams, managing various programs, mitigating the crises that arise, and then wake up one day and realize that years have passed since we focused on our personal development and growth. This might seem like a sad state of affairs and cause for despair, but the silver lining to our situation is that we have all the right tools to manage our development and growth. Here are some suggestions on applying your IT leadership skills to one of your most essential tasks: developing yourself. These tasks should be performed at least on an annual basis, and you can use your strategic planning cycle at work as a reminder to complete your personal strategic planning as well.

SEE: IT expense reimbursement policy (TechRepublic Premium)

Benchmark yourself

The research and consulting companies have made millions benchmarking organizations against each other or a pre-defined standard, and a regular personal benchmarking session can be extremely effective (and probably requires far fewer Magic Quadrants.) Start by benchmarking yourself against where you were last year. A simple and beneficial way to perform this assessment is by doing an annual refresh of your resume, even if you have no intention of looking for a new job. By formally writing your latest accomplishments and skills, it should quickly become apparent whether you’re stagnating or accelerating.

SEE: Leadership tips: How to stay focused and craft a happier worldview (TechRepublic)

The rise of professional social networking tools can also be helpful, although keep in mind that all social media shows a best version of an individual and should be viewed with that caveat in mind. See what your peers are doing to assess whether your career is growing or stagnating in relationship to others and identify new and exciting roles and organizations that might inspire as you build your personal development portfolio.

Take a portfolio approach

Effective tech leaders manage a healthy mix of projects and programs that range from upgrading basic infrastructure to investing in riskier innovation projects. Apply a similar approach to your development, ensuring that you’re focusing not only on the obvious or “burning platform” areas of your development, but also considering long-term, strategic objectives.

Your personal “infrastructure” portfolio might include improving your task management process, upgrading your physical spaces, or adding healthy habits to your daily routine. Your strategic portfolio could be planning out aspirational roles or positions in the next three to five years and identifying the skills and development needs required to get there.

SEE: If you’re not launching a new business, you should be (TechRepublic)

We’re all used to dealing with scarce resources at work, and allocating your scarce time and financial resources to your personal development should be no different. Just as you might tap your CFO or a trusted colleague to vet your portfolio at work, solicit the advice of a spouse, partner, or trusted friend who might identify areas you’ve missed or suggest different routes to accomplish your objectives.

Think holistically

Using the tools you apply at work might bias you toward thinking of your personal project portfolio as something designed solely to make you a more effective worker. However, attempting to separate work and life is a fool’s errand, as your roles as a leader, friend, parent, coach and the other dozen titles we all answer to during each day are deeply interwoven. Ask yourself whether each element of your portfolio makes you a better, more holistic person rather than a one-dimensional bore.

SEE: Let go of perfection: Don’t waste time on projects that won’t yield much result (TechRepublic)

A major decision as a result of this process might be to reallocate resources away from work and shift toward your family. Similarly, you might decide that a new exercise routine is more important than an extra 45 minutes triaging email. Strive to make yourself a more effective human rather than seeking excellence in one area at the expense of all others.

Improve your execution

A deep understanding of where you are in your career and a comprehensive and thoughtful development plan is nothing without effective execution. Assess your systems and tools for managing the daily tactical activities that will get you to your longer-term objectives. Consider whether your task management process needs an update, and if some new techniques and technologies can help. Look at how and when you plan your activities, and whether you’re setting the agenda and actively planning and managing your days or allowing circumstance and the “squeaky wheel” to dictate where you’re investing your scarce resources.

It’s an uncertain and often challenging time to be a leader, yet many of the skills and tools we’ve applied to our work for years are just as effective applied to ourselves. By definition, this might seem selfish, but there are few better payouts for your job, family, and quality of life than investments in your self-improvement.

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PERSONAL SKILLS
Personal Development

Personal Development Planning

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The Skills You Need Guide to Personal Development

Practical Steps to Personal Development
Personal Development Top Tips
Planning Personal Development
Developing a Personal Vision: Defining Success
Refining and Narrowing Your Personal Vision
Identifying Areas for Personal Development
Personal SWOT Analysis
Improving Performance: Some Specific Techniques
Recording Personal Development
Reviewing Personal Development
Journaling for Personal Development: Creating a Learning Journal
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Improving your skills — a practice known as personal development — does not happen by itself. Some personal development can be a matter of being in the right place at the right time, and simply taking up opportunities. But consistent, effective personal development across a wide range of skills requires deliberate and focused effort.

This page explains the importance of planning your personal development in order to achieve your goals and ambitions in life, whether career-focused or more personal.

Why Plan Your Personal Development?

At various points in your life, you may be presented with opportunities for personal development: perhaps the chance to work with someone particularly inspiring, or to do something new and unexpected.

But it is also true to say that you make your own luck.

The harder you work, the luckier you get

Attributed to golfer Jerry Barber in 1960

In other words, you have to know what you need to improve to achieve a particular ambition, and then work on it. But if you do so, you will improve. And only by doing so will you have a chance of achieving that ambition.

On the other hand, if you really don’t know what you need to improve, you can’t work on it. And if you don’t plan ahead to develop the skills that you need for your chosen course in life, you will not be able to achieve all that you want.

The reason for planning your personal development is therefore very simple: only you know what you want to achieve, and the key to achieving it is in your hands via the actions you take. Planning what you need to do to achieve your goals is a vital step in the process.

Many people may first come across personal development plans as part of a course of study, or at work. But planning what you need to do to improve or change yourself is not just important in formal situations. It can also help in your personal life too.

Why You Wouldn’t Need a Personal Development Plan

There may well be times in your life when you don’t feel the need for a personal development plan. You might, for example, finish a course of study, or reach a point in your personal life where you consciously decide that for the moment, you don’t want to do anything deliberate by way of personal development.

In the nature of things, you will of course continue to learn from everything that happens to you, every day. This is why it is called ‘ lifelong learning ’. But you may choose not to document it, or to work towards any particular goals, and that’s fine.

But remember that when you do want to improve particular skills, planning will help you to achieve your goals.

Elements of Your Personal Development Plan

There are a number of things that you need to include in a personal development plan.

1. A clear vision of where you want to be and why

It is really helpful to think about where you want to be and what you want to do. It can be useful to think in terms of different lengths of time: for example, one month, six months, one year, five years.

It is also helpful to make your vision as detailed as possible, across all spheres of life: career, where you want to live, your hobbies and even relationships. The more detail you can include, right down to how you will feel about it, the easier it will be to hold onto your vision when times are hard.

2. A good understanding of the skills you need to develop to achieve your vision

The next step to your personal development plan is to think about what skills you need to develop , and why this is important to achieving your vision .

For example:

Do you need certain skills to get a particular job, or to advance in your chosen career?
Are you planning to live abroad, and therefore need to develop your language skills?
Are you struggling to manage a particular situation, and need new skills to help?
Have you been told that you lack particular skills and need to develop them to work effectively with others, or on your own?

It is important to make sure that the skills you are targeting are clearly linked to a purpose, which is in turn linked to your vision. Without this clarity, your personal development efforts may fail. In particular, you may not concentrate on the right skills, or be fully aware of your timescale.

Identifying areas to work on

If you are not sure which skills are most important in a particular area, you may find it helpful to use a self-assessment tool such as our Interpersonal Skills Self-Assessment or the What Sort of a Leader are You? Quiz

3. A clear idea of the standard you need to achieve, and how different that is from your current standard

The difference between where you are now and where you need to be tells you the magnitude of the task . It therefore affects how long it will take, and also how much effort you need to put in.

For example, if you are planning to move abroad in a year’s time, or go travelling, you may need to develop your language skills. But:

If you have already lived in that country for a period and speak the language well, you may not need to do more than keep your language skills up via listening to foreign radio.

If, however, you have never learnt the language, and you are starting from scratch, you may need some intensive language tuition, or even an immersion course, to ensure that your skills develop quickly enough.

4. A level of priority for each area

You cannot do everything at once.

Instead, you need to prioritise. One very good way to do this is to list all your areas for development, then ask yourself two questions about each one, answering on a scale of one to five:

How important is this to me?
How essential is it to develop it now?

Add together (or multiply) the scores for the two questions for each area, and you will have a much better idea of which areas to focus on first, because they are either more important, or they are more time-critical.

Leave the other areas for a later date: next year, or even a few years’ time.

5. A detailed idea of how to get from where you are now for each skills or area, to where you want to be

It sounds obvious, but you need to know how you are going to get from (a) to (b): where you are now, to where you want to be. For example, are you going to enrol on some kind of course? Learn online, perhaps using a website like this one?

Just as with your vision, it can be helpful to break this down by time: in a month/six months/a year, what will you have done on the way to your ultimate goals? This makes it easier to check your progress and keep yourself on track.

Sounds familiar?

If you have read other pages on Skills You Need, you may be thinking that this process sounds familiar. It is, in fact, very similar to the process used for drawing up a strategic plan.

Planning and delivering your personal development can be thought of as personal strategic thinking and planning – where do you want to be, and how will you get there?

There is more about this on our page on Strategic Thinking . You may also find our page on Setting Personal Goals helpful in thinking about what you want to achieve.

One Step at a Time

When you first start thinking about personal development, it can seem as if you know nothing, and have no skills. You may find this point rather overwhelming! But it is important to bear two things in mind:

You do have skills. You have been learning and developing all your life, and you already have many, many skills. Our page on Transferable Skills may help you to understand this better.

You don’t have to improve everything all at once. In fact, you’re much better off not trying to do that. Focus on just one or two areas at a time, and you will see much larger improvements, and also feel less overwhelmed.

There is a reason why personal development is sometimes called ‘ lifelong learning ’: there is no time limit on it.

Are you reaching your full potential? A guide to personal development

Jump to section

What is personal development?

5 areas of personal development, the benefits of personal development, 6 steps to developing a personal development plan, how personalized development can help.

I’m no stranger to feeling stuck. There are days I wake up and just go through the daily motions. I make coffee then sit down at my computer for a day of work. I’ll usually work out, walk the dogs, make dinner. Then, read, watch a show, go to bed. The next day? Wake up and do it all over again.

Especially at the height of the pandemic, it started to feel like vicious monotony. Our lives seemingly stalled in bumper-to-bumper traffic. It feels like dreams, goals, and ambitions are buried in thick molasses or honey at the back of our brains. And even as we navigate this new normal , that “stuck” feeling might be stuck with us.

The good news? You’re not alone — and personal development is here to help.

I embarked on an intentional personal development journey well before I knew what it meant. I knew I wanted to see personal growth — and had reached a point in my life where I needed real change .

At BetterUp, personal development comes to life in what we call an Inner Work® practice . Inner Work® is deep work, a practice that isn’t always visible to the outside eye. But with the right personal development toolkit, you can build a lifelong practice of Inner Work® .

My own personal growth journey has seen its series of ups and downs, failures and successes. Any personal development journey is a lifelong commitment, not a sprint or achievable task. It will weather bumps and roadblocks but it can also thrive in other areas of your life.

If you’re looking for ways to up your personal development game, we’re here to help.

It’s certainly not as easy as it sounds. Every person is unique. So, it only makes sense that personal development will look different for everyone. But what does it actually mean?

Personal development is looking inward and focusing on ways to better yourself. Personal development increases your self-awareness, your self-esteem, increases your skills, and fulfills your aspirations.

At BetterUp, we’re big believers in the practice of Inner Work®. In many ways, personal development is a form of Inner Work® . It is the act of looking inward to achieve a purpose or result, especially in the pursuit of clarity, purpose, and passion in life.

Personal development is much larger than just career development or self-development. It encompasses all aspects of your life where you’d like to see personal growth — and it doesn’t discriminate on where it shows up for you.

When it comes to personal development, it’s hard to not reference Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. According to Maslow, your basic needs need to be fulfilled in order to reach your fullest potential. In other words. To reach self-actualization means we’re reaching the highest levels of self-awareness , self-confidence , personal growth, and self-realization.

Much like Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, we see five different areas of personal development. Different personal development goals can fall into different categories.

Mental

Exercising your brain and staying mentally fit is critical to personal development. At BetterUp, this comes to life in a few ways: coaching, learning opportunities , and career growth. For example, right now, I’m taking a creative writing course to help keep my mental creative muscles going strong. (And BetterUp foots the bill as part of our learning stipend.)

Mental development can be anything from workshops, training sessions , or even just rest. Rest is just as (if not more) important than mental exercise. And as your mental fitness improves , so does your resiliency, innovation, and self-awareness.

Social

Social connections and relationships are also a must-have for any personal development. After all, self-improvement is not a solitary pursuit. Humans are social creatures — we need that connection to learn and grow. And from social connections, we gain important skills. Like communication skills , problem-solving, relationship-building, and the ability to receive (and give) feedback. We also learn from those around us and their experiences.

Spiritual

Personal growth and development — whether you’re religious or not — can come through in spirituality. It’s important to recognize that religion and spirituality are not synonymous. In fact, far from it.

Spirituality means you’re investing in a deeper understanding of your own self in the world around you. It helps you get to know yourself and uncover your values. And in the context of Inner Work®, the spiritual personal development tool can bring greater awareness to self and change.

Emotional

Emotional personal development often goes hand-in-hand with emotional intelligence . At its simplest, emotional intelligence is the ability to understand feelings. Beyond feelings, it’s understanding how those feelings shape our thoughts and actions.

Any number of experiences lends itself to emotional personal development. And those experiences can help you in your pursuit of self-improvement. Take your own Inner Work® journey so far. What experiences have shaped you into who you are today? When you reflect on your journey, what have you learned?

If you’re looking back at your journey and identifying the growth, it’s likely you’ve fostered a sense of emotional development along the way. This requires emotional intelligence to understand what role your feelings and thoughts played.

Physical

A healthy body nourishes a healthy mind. There’s an intrinsic link between your physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

This aspect of personal development is focused on physical health — like nutrition, sleep, exercise, and movement. When your physical self is nourished, it’s likely your mind is also reaping those benefits. Consider ways you can build this area of personal development and take note of how your body and your mind feel.

There are plenty of benefits to personal development. Personal growth isn’t easy but the benefits will make the journey worthwhile.

My friend at Google has worked with a BetterUp coach for the last year. In her own personal development journey, she's shared why working with a coach has transformed her personal growth journey.

"My experience with BetterUp has transcended the professional workplace. My coach knows me on a personal level, which allows for her to help me set boundaries, manage expectations, and receive feedback. Ultimately, it's helped me reach my biggest goal of having a work-life balance." A Google employee, BetterUp Member

Increased self-awareness and self-esteem. Personal growth requires looking inward at your own thoughts, feelings, habits, and reactions. It requires attentiveness — and awareness — to who you are as a person in a present state. But it also challenges you to look to the future to where you want to go. By investing in yourself, you’re increasing your self-awareness and by default, self-esteem .
Increased mental fitness. Becoming mentally fit requires work. And many aspects of personal development aid in building strong mental fitness. With increased mental fitness, you’ll see a ripple effect of positive benefits. We’ve gathered data around the impact of mental fitness . People with strong mental fitness are more productive, are less likely to experience mental illness, and are more creative and innovative.
Greater resilience. With personal development, you gain greater resilience . This is another positive symptom of strong mental fitness, too. Investing in your personal growth means investing in your ability to bounce back after rough patches.
More knowledge and learned skills. Oftentimes, personal development comes with more knowledge and learned skills. This can come to life in different ways. For example, you may take courses in digital marketing that help you gain the skills you need to further your career development. Or, you may sign up for art or pottery classes, which help you gain skills in entirely different areas of your life.
Improved personal and professional relationships. Another personal development benefit is improved personal and professional relationships . This is an area that flourishes when you invest in your personal growth, especially in emotional and social aspects.

11 personal development skills to work on

If you’re not sure where to start, consider working with a coach . Personalized coaching can help serve as your guide while you’re building your roadmap to self-actualization.

Your coach will work one-on-one with you to help identify key skills to work on catered to your own experience. You can start by taking the Whole Person Assessment to help assess where your strengths and areas of opportunity lie.

We’ve identified some common areas of self-improvement and personal development you may consider investing in:

Communication and interpersonal skills
Problem-solving
Cognitive agility and adaptability
Self-compassion, self-care , and self-reflection
Conflict and conflict resolution
Navigating change and uncertainty
Future-mindedness
Organizational skills
Growth mindset
Teamwork and collaboration
Self-awareness

Like any other goal, it’s important to put together a plan. By assembling your personal development plan with some structure, you’re more likely to achieve your goals.

1. Identify areas where you’d like to improve

This first step will likely require some Inner Work®. Take a minute to reflect on where you are right now. What are your strengths? In what areas do you want to focus? What growth and development do you want to see in yourself?

If you’ve taken the Whole Person Assessment, this can help as a useful tool. Once you’ve reflected on your personal goals , identify the areas where you’d like to improve .

2. Work with a coach or mentor to assemble a plan

Even if it's your own personal development plan, you don’t have to do it alone. Lean on support systems — like life coaches or mentors — to help frame a plan. With the right structure in place (and feedback along the way), you’ll be better equipped to put the plan into action.

3. Structure your personal development goals

Stick to a routine — and build consistency. Start to examine your day-to-day and try to find ways to either build habits or stack new habits onto existing ones.

In this last year, I wanted to build strength training into my fitness routine. The kicker? I never use weights. I decided to put a yoga mat with weights next to my running shoes. Every time I go for a run, I have to think about those weights sitting next to my shoes. It helps to remind myself to do a quick 5-minute exercise with some dumbbells.

4. Find an accountability buddy

Sometimes, having someone holding you accountable makes all the difference. If you and a friend are both setting intentions and goals, consider ways you can support one another.

Every new hire at BetterUp gets a stack of great books during the onboarding process. My teammate reached out today to see if we could create an accountability plan . We’re each holding each other to 100 pages of reading a week.

5. Be honest and aware of your progress

Your personal development plan requires integrity. Be honest with yourself about your growth and progress. This also requires a level of self-awareness. You can also gather feedback from friends, family, and colleagues to help gather insight on how you’re progressing in your goals, too.

6. Factor personal development into your mental fitness plan

How does personal development factor into your mental fitness plan? Consider ways you can work with your coach on building aspects of personal development into your overall mental fitness.

Personal development is just that: it’s personal.

Every human is different. If our society cracked the nut on personal development, every self-help book would help everyone. Or every learning process would benefit every student.

But we know from our life experiences that there’s no “one-size-fits-all” solution to anything when it comes to human nature.

It’s important to lean on personalized support like coaching to help craft a catered plan that works for you. You won’t have the same needs, strengths, opportunities, and skills as your neighbor. So why would your personal development plan be the same?

Push yourself outside of your comfort zone. By doing so, you'll be on the path to reaching your full potential .

While self-actualization and Inner Work® is a lifelong process, your personal development goals shouldn't be daunting. Start small — like building a new skill or even investing in work-life balance . By doing so, you'll set yourself up for success in all areas of your life.

If you're ready to make a change to improve the quality of your life, consider how personal and professional development coaching can help. With help from BetterUp, you can awaken your full potential .

Unlock your full potential

Explore how personalized coaching can guide you towards achieving your personal and professional goals.

Madeline Miles

Madeline is a writer, communicator, and storyteller who is passionate about using words to help drive positive change. She holds a bachelor's in English Creative Writing and Communication Studies and lives in Denver, Colorado. In her spare time, she's usually somewhere outside (preferably in the mountains) — and enjoys poetry and fiction.

4 ways to improve emotional intelligence within your team

Why self-management is key to success and how to improve yours, what self-love truly means and ways to cultivate it, what is self-efficacy definition, examples, and 7 ways to improve it, building resilience part 6: what is self-efficacy, what is emotional intelligence and why is it important, developing emotional intelligence skills for lasting success, why am i so easily overwhelmed causes and useful techniques, self-concept: what is it, and can it change, similar articles, what do you do if you hate your job try these 9 tactics, how to develop a personal development plan (pdp) to reach your goals, reaching your full potential isn't out of reach: 10 tips to get moving, use the wheel of life® tool to achieve better balance, 20 books for personal growth in 2024, reinventing yourself: 10 ways to realize your full potential, own your personal development: self-improvement goals that motivate, 10 organizational skills that will put you a step ahead, using mindset coaching for lasting personal growth, stay connected with betterup, get our newsletter, event invites, plus product insights and research..

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To Become Your Best Self, Study Your Successes

Laura Morgan Roberts,
Emily D. Heaphy,
Brianna Barker Caza

Keep a record of positive feedback.

Nearly fifteen years ago, in 2005, the authors’ Harvard Business Review article introduced a new approach to personal and professional development: the idea that receiving affirmation is a powerful way for us to grow, particularly when it comes in the form of stories describing moments when we are at our best. Their tool is now used by thousands of people globally in corporate trainings, team building, executive leadership programs, and in graduate and undergraduate courses in a variety of disciplines. But there are organic ways that you can learn about and activate your best self at work every day as well. There are five practices for noticing and capitalizing on everyday opportunities for development based on your best self: noticing positive feedback, asking the right questions, studying your successes, enacting your best self, and paying it forward.

Nearly fifteen years ago, in 2005, we published a Harvard Business Review article with our colleagues which introduced a new approach to personal and professional development: the idea that receiving affirmation is a powerful way for us to grow, particularly when it comes in the form of stories describing moments when we are at our best. In this article we introduced the Reflected Best Self Exercise (RBSE), a tool based on our academic research which is now used by thousands of people globally in corporate trainings, team building, executive leadership programs, and in graduate and undergraduate courses in a variety of disciplines.

Laura Morgan Roberts is a Frank M. Sands Sr. Associate Professor of Business Administration at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. She is an organizational psychologist and the coeditor of Race, Work and Leadership: New Perspectives on the Black Experience (Harvard Business Review Press, 2019).
EH Emily Heaphy is an Assistant Professor of Management at the Isenberg School of Management at University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Brianna Barker Caza is an associate professor of management in the Bryan School of Business and Economics at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She received her PhD in organizational psychology from the University of Michigan. Her research examines identity processes, interpersonal relationships, power dynamics, and resilience at work. Her research has been widely published, and in 2019 she was recognized as a Thinkers50 Radar thought leader.

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What is self-management? (7 skills to improve it)

Self-management is your ability to regulate behaviors, thoughts, and emotions in a way that better serves you and your work. Learn the 7 most important self-management skills to become a better leader.

It’s certainly not easy, but self-management can be learned. And it’s worth doing—as you improve your self-management skills, you’ll naturally grow as a leader. From the top project management skills to your own personal development, we’ll go over what self-management is and the seven soft skills to develop it.

Anatomy of Work Special Report: The unexplored link between impostor syndrome and burnout

Burnout and impostor syndrome have historically been studied as two separate phenomena. In this report, we connect the dots to help leaders slow burnout and increase employee retention.

Anatomy of Work Special Report: The unexplored link between imposter syndrome and burnout page banner image

What is self-management?

Self-management is your ability to regulate your behaviors, thoughts, and emotions in a productive way. This means excelling in both personal and professional responsibilities for the benefit of yourself and your team.

Effective self-management leads to better emotional intelligence by supporting your self-awareness and well being. This means staying on top of social cues and respecting your own personal needs.

Self-management is an important leadership quality that doesn’t always come naturally, but with the right tools and practice, you can develop. Let’s dive into the top seven self-management skills to develop.

What are the 7 self-management skills?

Developing self-management skills requires a certain level of self-awareness—you need to know yourself before you can regulate yourself. Start slow and embrace the process, remembering that these skills are ongoing.

Skill 1. Time management

Time management is when you control how you use your time. This means prioritizing your most important tasks first and managing your daily to-do list . A leader who has good time management skills can manage their time effectively without the need for external help.

Having good time management skills can help you stay engaged and avoid procrastination . As a leader, time management allows you enough time to both stay on top of your own work and empower others to do the same.

Skill 2. Self motivation

Self motivation is your ability to get motivated and proactively accomplish daily tasks. It takes a certain level of personal responsibility, but practicing self motivation can help you become more self-aware and prioritize what's important to you.

[Inline illustration] Self motivation (Abstract)

This is similar to intrinsic motivation , which is motivation that comes from within. Like self motivation, intrinsic motivation stems from a variety of personal factors. For example, your internal motivator for volunteering could be that it makes you feel fulfilled. External motivators, on the other hand, are influenced by factors outside yourself. For example, working faster because you’re scared of the repercussions if you work slower.

Enjoying the work you do is an important part of staying motivated and engaged throughout your workday. Plus, liking the work you do can help you inspire your team to do their very best. To practice internal motivation, work towards goals that excite you and fuel your sense of purpose.

Skill 3. Stress management

Leaders often deal with stress, but to be good at self-management you need to embody healthy stress management. Without stress management, you can suffer from overwork and, eventually, burnout .

Leaders with good stress management skills approach work in a focused manner by connecting their initiatives to larger goals. When you know which task is most important and how project deliverables are tied to team goals, you can better prioritize work and will likely feel more fulfilled doing it. Engaging with your work in this way is a form of self-care, and it can help reduce your stress levels and keep you level headed.

Skill 4. Adaptability

Being adaptable means you have the confidence and ability to pivot when changes arise. This is especially important for leaders who work in a fast-paced environment where project changes occur often.

For example, imagine a new project comes up that’s a higher priority than the one you’ve been working on for the last couple of weeks. Instead of becoming stressed or frustrated, you can adapt to this change and move forward with openness and curiosity. This is an important skill to have to maintain flexibility.

While being adaptable may be uncomfortable at times, it can make you a great leader as you have the ability to tackle anything that comes your way. It also empowers your team to do the same.

Skill 5. Decision making

To be effective, it’s essential for leaders to develop decision-making skills that reduce confusion and increase team empowerment. Problem solving and addressing issues can help you grow your decision-making skills.

Like all the skills we’ve looked at so far, decision making is something you can learn. Start by sharpening your critical thinking skills and learning how to analyze key information when problems arise. And use data-driven decision making to ensure your actions come from data rather than guesswork, so fewer issues will arise down the road.

Skill 6. Goal alignment

Setting goals means you prioritize the most important projects that have the highest impact on your business.

This means being able to see the bigger picture and knowing what’s best for your team members and organization. In the long run, this will generate better results and boost team morale .

Goal alignment consists of three main skills:

Goal setting. When goal setting, be sure to identify current pain points, forecast growth objectives, and analyze your current resource allocation plans —all of which can help you set informed goals. Use the SMART goals framework to make sure your goal is specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound.

Goal communication. Not only does this involve managing your team’s goals, but it always involves aligning them to your organization’s overall goals. That way, your team members understand how their work ladders up to larger objectives. This requires transparent communication and aligned teamwork .

Goal tracking. Not only is it important to set and communicate goals, but it’s also important to track them. This is critical for connecting daily work to larger goals and seeing how your team is progressing over time.

Skill 7. Personal development

Personal development is key for all team members, but especially for leaders. In order to build your team’s knowledge, you first need to build your own. This means taking the time to attend workshops, take courses, and connect with industry experts to develop your management skills.

This means taking the time to attend workshops, take courses, and connect with industry experts—all of which can help you develop your management skills.

By continuing to develop your skills, you can empower your team to do the same. Not only does this mean individual career development, but it also means growth for the good of the company.

Examples of self-management

Analyzing examples of self-management in the workplace can help you understand the skills you need to develop and embody healthy self-management.

These examples involve refining the way you see yourself in order to develop strong self-esteem. Here are some examples of self-management to better understand how you can empower yourself to be a better leader in the workplace:

Example 1: Setting goals and aligning them to the larger picture.

Team lead Daniela Vargas wants to increase returning customers by 10% this year in order to meet her organization’s growth goals. To start, she writes up a business case and schedules a meeting with the head of operations and product development. During that meeting, Daniela walks the department heads through her plan to rebrand an existing product line that hasn’t performed well in the past. The leaders agree to the plan and Daniela gets to work to develop a detailed work breakdown structure .

Example 2: Stress management and time allocation.

Ray Brooks starts his day by going through his daily to-do list. He notices he has a few tasks that need to be completed and an overdue task that he didn’t get to yesterday. He also gets a meeting invite for a new project that is flagged as a top priority. Instead of becoming overwhelmed and frustrated with the tasks on his plate, Ray goes to work to reorganize his schedule. Critically, Ray realizes that he can’t get everything done that day. To get his best work done, he prioritizes the new project meeting, since it’s a top priority. He then spends the rest of his day tackling his high priority tasks while maintaining the quality of his work. Instead of working all night, which Ray knows will stress him out and take away from his family time, he decides that his least important tasks will need to wait until the next day.

In both of these situations, the leader made rational decisions based on what was best for themselves and their teams. They were quick to make intelligent decisions while considering their own well-being in order to get good results.

Managing your behaviors and emotions

Managing your thoughts and behaviors can help you become better at self-management and, in turn, stronger as a leader. By streamlining your individual organizational systems, you’re proactively working towards becoming the best leader that you can be.

Learn additional ways to support your team with work management software. From increased productivity to team visibility, effectively managing your work doesn’t have to be challenging.

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12 Life-Changing Challenges You Can Try as 30-Day Projects

Personal challenges make us change. How about adopting a more deliberate method by designing your own challenges with 12 self development projects for the New Year? Here are some ideas.

I am sorry.

I stole this idea.

Steal it from me and make it your own.

Matt Cutts took to the stage in a TED conference and told all of us how to try something new for 30 days.

The inspiration came from the American humorist Morgan Spurlock and his starring role in the reality television series 30 Days . Good ideas go around, and this idea is the jumper cable to break the rut.

Let's plug into the "why" of the whole thing first.

The Power of 30-Day Challenges

There is no psychological proof behind this time chunk. The "21-Day" habit forming spiel is a thumb-rule and a personal development myth . But I will quote the over-arching truth from James' wonderful article:

The only way to get to Day 500 is to start with Day 1.

For me, 30-Day challenges are attractive because it is a trackable unit of time in our lives. Neither too long nor too short. In any dictionary, challenges can be a synonym for "focus". Trying out 12 challenges in one year can teach you a lot about what you like and dislike…and yeah, even little things learnt would be worth it as the next year draws to a close. And I agree when Matt Cutts says,

There's a few things I learned while doing these 30-day challenges. The first was, instead of the months flying by, forgotten, the time was much more memorable.

Having tried a few of these 30-Day challenges in 2015, I can put a seal of approval on their power. Consider this a personal manifesto of ideas. Steal away to make your own manifesto of 12 challenges.

1. Create Something

Stop reading now. Get over the information paralysis.

It is a new resolution of mine to read less and create more . Master the clock and make time for your personal projects . Side projects are the best "shortcut" to learn something new as they instantly reveal the gaps in your knowledge. For instance: If you are a programmer, use these coding project ideas to learn faster. And it's not only geeky stuff – you can do anything with a smattering of skills .

Where can you find ideas for side projects?

Ask for ideas on Quora .
Trawl through sites like Etsy and Makerbase.
Follow your industry on Twitter and Medium .
Complete a novel in November with a NaNoWriMo push.
Take a 30-Day GumRoad challenge and see what you can make.
A community like Reddit with r/SideProject/ is a good place to start.
Think of a problem around you. Work on the solution as a project.

Action Step: Think of side projects as "experiments". Go crazy and don't fear failure.

2. Find a Mentor

Find someone who will challenge you.

Good mentors help to close the knowledge gap and make you see the things with new perspectives. The usefulness of mentors has come back into vogue thanks to the startup industry. But they have existed since Homer and Alexander. A good way to assess your needs for a mentor is to look at where you are in your life right now. And then seek someone who has already passed the paths you are on.

We have looked at a few tips to find mentors in your areas of interest. Use Twitter for your mentor search . Also, look into the tried and tested option of creating a mastermind group or a "creative circle" to fuel your self-improvement.

Find your Master Yoda with sites like:

ACE Mentor Program
MicroMentor

Action Step: Do your homework and create a presentable profile for yourself.

3. Connect Outside Social Media

Don't be a part of every Facebook party.

Facebook is a relationship bunker. You can choose to stay underground or come up for air and connect with friends in the real world. In 2015, I used a prompt from Daily Challenge to embark on just such an exercise. After culling my friend list to 100, I went on a spree of connecting with friends via phone, Google Hangouts, and some good old cappuccino. I gained a few more Facebook friends since then, but I haven't fallen prey to Facebook depression .

I don't advocate quitting Facebook. It helps to stay connected across distances. The problems arise only when you make it the core of your relationships.

Action Step : Your true friends don't need Facebook to reach you.

4. Challenge Your Beliefs

Because false beliefs are limiting.

Instant knowledge hands us facts and figures with a click of the mouse, on the other hand it also breeds viral misconceptions. The wrong belief also leads to decision paralysis. The next year could be a good time to start questioning your beliefs. And check if they stand the scrutiny.

For example, a common belief is that startups are the playground of the young. It is a common myth perpetuated by Silicon Valley. Break the myth by looking at startup founders around your age and how they started. Maybe, this interactive infographic can debunk the myth.

Google is yet to design a truth-checking algorithm , but there are many other ways to get the facts straight.

The web allows us to ask questions . Websites like ClearerThinking.org can help you gain some insights. And then there's always TED Talks with inspiring tales like the video above.

Action Step: Spend a month spring cleaning your belief system.

5. Ditch a Bad Habit for 30-Days

Every New Years' resolution is a thankless struggle to break bad habits.

There are apps by the dozen that come with the promise of changing your bad habits for good. You can use a 30-Day challenge to test a new way of living. Any success can give you the confidence to move ahead towards a long lasting makeover.

For January, I am trying a 30-Day flexibility challenge . Search Pinterest for similar infographics.

Here are some examples of public challenges you can take inspiration from and create your own. Tell us about them in the comments.

30 Day Fitness Challenge
30 Day No Alcohol Challenge

Action Step: Look around for 30-Day challenge ideas and make up your own challenges. Begin with the power of micro-habits .

6. Doodle & Draw

No drawing skills required.

Doodling is an under-appreciated adult activity. Sunni Brown , author and doodling advocate, calls it a problem solving tool. Neuroscience supports the brain-enhancing effects of doodling and drawing. To quote William Klemm, a professor of neuroscience at Texas A&M University:

This is a way to get your working memory to carry more.

Doodling has enabled me to disconnect from digital devices and give my brain a mindful boost. But digital doodling is a thing now with apps like Doodle Patterns and even tools like OneNote to name just a few.

Action Step: Try doodling for 30 days and see if it helps to liven up dull content and meetings.

7. Watch 30 Documentaries

The world watches television, few watch documentaries.

Thanks to the Internet, watching quality documentaries is a fun and inexpensive hobby. Watching the right ones can forge opinion, help gain an insight into an alien culture, and also destroy false beliefs. It can be a powerful parenting tool and help them to foster curiosity in their children.

This year, I went on a documentary watching spree to learn more about graphic design . Maybe, you also have an interest which could benefit from a documentary "binge-watch".

Action Step: Try sites like Documentary Heaven , Documentary Tube , Culture Unplugged , Sprword , SnagFilms, Viewster [Broken URL Removed], and also do a search for the word "documentary" on YouTube to see what comes up. There are also enough documentary related articles on MakeUseOf to fill an entire month.

8. Discover Your City

Every city has its hidden gems.

The web not only helps you discover all the cool happenings around you, but can also give you the chance to re-discover your city. And fall in love with it again. Explore your city with Google Maps right now. Think of it as a treasure hunt.

One of my 30-Day goals is to go on a photo mission with the EyeEm camera app and document city life across its span. I am also looking forward to socially connecting with friends across the city and asking their opinion about the nooks and crannies that deserve a look.

You can take to the pedestrian walks and over bridges with these social guide apps too:

Action Step: Combine your city tour with the emerging trend of micro-adventures .

9. Reclaim an Hour for Yourself Every Day

The end result of good prioritization.

Not surprisingly, this could be the most difficult challenge to accomplish over 30 days. Experts and evidence points to the dangers of workaholism. Taking time to day dream, meditate, or just lie and read are unfortunate victims of our busy lives. Psychologists have shown that daydreaming has productive benefits .

If you're trying to solve a complex problem, then you need to give yourself a real break, to let the mind incubate the problem all by itself. We shouldn't be so afraid to actually take some time off.

But learning how to manage our calendars is one way of stealing that hour. You can use Google Calendar smartly to schedule an hour of free time every day. Add buffer minutes to every appointment on the calendar. These "extra" times offset the feeling of rush and also add to your free time if you manage to finish your tasks early.

Action Step: Shut off your digital devices when you have your hour.

10. Go for a Walk

Walk for better brain health.

Walking is the easiest way to kick off an exercise routine. Apart from the cardiovascular benefits, walking keeps our brain healthy . Researchers from Stanford also found that walking is one of the simplest ways to boost creativity.

Walking opens up the free flow of ideas, and it is a simple and robust solution to the goals of increasing creativity and increasing physical activity.

The Mayo Clinic has a 12-week walking schedule that gets you off the couch. But you can start with any 30-Day walking challenge too and lose the pounds. A simple Google search reveals charts and programs that take you towards a simple daily fitness habit.

Action Tip: Find a companion to walk along with you. Try to start a walking group in your locality.

11. Do Something That Scares You Every Day

Step outside your comfort zone.

I have a scary list. It's on Trello. The list is a collection of activities which will prod me out of my comfort zone. Public speaking is Number One. Make your own list. Maybe, like me, you will bypass the first, but achieve a few (e.g. facing a fear of water) that are down the list.

Trello helps me break down each goal into its smallest steps and break any resistance that blocks progress. Even one tiny step forward outside the comfort zone is a stride towards confidence.

Action Step: Take ideas from sites like Comfort Zone Crusher and Challenge Tribe when you can't make up your own list. But the easiest way is to do the exact opposite of what you think is comfortable or easy.

12. Combine Your Challenges

You can be multi-passionate.

Some personal development goals can be connected. From the above list, I can set out to find a mentor for a specific creative project. Or, I can combine learning the skills of street photography while discovering a city. Combining your challenges is a way to find out what interests you more than anything else.

Multipotentialites can also find their one true calling by mixing and mashing these different life experiments.

Action Step: Swing by Puttylike for an introduction to the multipotentialite community.

Tell Us Your 30-Day Challenges for the New Year

A few years back, Matt Cutts listed his own set of challenges . Your own file of challenges could be a combination of the fun and the practical. It could be 12 productivity habits or 12 learning goals.

There's no better time to take a step forward in life. Maybe it's time that you maintain your adult relationships better , move out of your parents' house , or let go of immature habits .

And if the idea of 30-day challenges intrigues you, what about these 100 days projects for a bit of motivation ?

Image Credit: athlete hurdling by Stefan Schurr via Shutterstock, JD Hancock (Flickr); Lightspring via Shutterstock; Makaule via Shutterstock; Cartoonresource via Shutterstock

How to Write a Self Evaluation (With Examples)

First step, be honest about your hits and misses.

Self evaluations are performance assessments that bring you and your manager together to rate your performance over a given time span (quarterly, semi-annually, annually) either using a scale (one to 10 or one to five) or by answering open-ended questions. You complete the evaluation and so does your manager. During the performance review , the two of you compare notes to arrive at a final evaluation.

What Is a Self Evaluation?

Self evaluations are performance assessments that both employees and managers complete. They can be done quarterly, semi-annually or annually, and range from open-ended questions discussed to ratings given on a numeric scale.

Writing about yourself, especially if those words are going to be part of your permanent work record, can be daunting. But it doesn’t have to be. In fact, self evaluations give you a voice in your performance review , and they’re opportunities to outline your career goals and get help in reaching them.

Below, we’ll examine self evaluation benefits, tips and examples, plus how both employees and managers can complete them successfully.

More on Self Evaluations Self-Evaluations Make Stronger Leaders. Here’s How to Write One.

Benefits of Self Evaluations

1. help employees and managers prepare for performance reviews.

Completing a self evaluation can help guide the eventual performance-review conversation in a structured, but meaningful, way. It also helps both parties get an idea of what needs to be discussed during a performance review, so neither feels caught off guard by the conversation.

2. Give Employees an Opportunity to Reflect on Their Progress

Since self evaluations are inherently reflective, they allow employees to identify and examine their strengths and weaknesses. This helps employees both know their worth to an organization and what they still have left to learn.

“Self evaluations enable employees to see their work in its entirety,” Jill Bowman, director of people at fintech company Octane , said. “They ensure that employees reflect on their high points throughout the entire year and to assess their progress towards achieving predetermined objectives and goals.”

3. Help Managers Track Employee Accomplishments

Employee self assessments help managers more accurately remember each employee’s accomplishments. “As many managers often have numerous direct reports, it provides a useful summary of the achievements of each member,” Bowman said.

4. Improve Employee Satisfaction

Academic literature indicates that employees are more satisfied with evaluations that involve two-way communication and encourage a conversation between manager and employee, according to Thomas Begley, professor of management at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute .

The thing is, employees have to trust that the process is fair, Begley added. If they believe it is, and they’re treated fairly and respectfully during the process, employees react positively to self evaluations.

5. Can Decrease Employee Turnover

Some companies see tangible results from self evaluations. For example, Smarty , an address-verification company, enjoys low staff turnover, said Rob Green, chief revenue officer. The self-evaluation method, coupled with a strong focus on a communication-based corporate culture, has resulted in a 97 percent retention rate, Green told Built In.

Related 6 Ways to Be More Confident in Performance Reviews

How to Write a Self Evaluation

The ability to write a self evaluation is a critical career skill.

“Self evaluations give you a platform to influence your manager and in many cases, reframe the nature of the relationship with your manager,” Richard Hawkes, CEO and founder of Growth River , a leadership and management consulting company, said. “And all results in business happen in the context of relationships.”

Below are some tips on how to complete a self evaluation.

1. Track Your Work and Accomplishments

Daily or weekly tracking of your work can help you keep track of your progress and also prevent last-minute “what on earth did I do the last six months?” panic at performance evaluation time, said Peter Griscom, CEO at Tradefluence . “Strip down the questions to two or three, and just ask yourself, ‘How well did I communicate today?’ ‘How well did I solve problems today?’ ‘What have I achieved today?’” Griscom said. “Get in the habit of writing those things out and keeping track and over time.”

2. Answer Honestly

For his first self evaluation, Griscom remembers wondering how to best answer the questions. After he asked his manager for guidance, Griscom answered the questions as accurately as he could. “What came out of it was really valuable, because it gave me a chance to reflect on my own achievements and think about where I can improve,” he said. “It forced me to do the thinking instead of just accepting feedback.”

3. Highlight Your Achievements

If your boss has a handful of direct reports, chances are good they haven’t noticed each of your shining moments during a review period. This is your chance to spotlight yourself. Quotas exceeded, projects finished ahead of schedule, fruitful mentoring relationships, processes streamlined — whatever you’ve done, share it, and don’t be shy about it, said Alexandra Phillips , a leadership and management coach. Women, especially, tend not to share achievements and accomplishments as loudly or often as they should. “Make sure your manager has a good sense of where you’ve had those wins, large and small, because sometimes they can fly under the radar,” Phillips added.

4. Admit Weaknesses and How You Have Grown

If you’ve made a whopper mistake since your past review, mention it — and be sure to discuss what you’ve learned from it. Chances are good your manager knows you made a mistake, and bringing it up gives you the opportunity to provide more context to the situation.

5. Acknowledge Areas of Improvement

Be prepared for your manager to point out a few areas for improvement. This is where career growth happens. “If you want something,” whether it’s a promotion or move to another department, “you need to know how to get there,” said Phillips.

Related What Are Short-Term Career Goals? (With 12 Examples)

Self Evaluation Examples and Templates Answers

Still not sure what to do when you put pen to paper? Here are six open-ended self evaluation sample questions from the Society for Human Resource Management, as well as example answers you can use to prepare for your own self evaluation.

1. Job Performance Examples

List your most significant accomplishments or contributions since last year. How do these achievements align with the goals/objectives outlined in your last review?

How to answer with positive results: In the past year, I successfully led our team in finishing [project A]. I was instrumental in finding solutions to several project challenges, among them [X, Y and Z]. When Tom left the company unexpectedly, I was able to cover his basic tasks until a replacement was hired, thus keeping our team on track to meet KPIs.

I feel the above accomplishments demonstrate that I have taken more of a leadership role in our department, a move that we discussed during my last performance review.

How to answer with ways to improve: Although I didn’t meet all of my goals in the last year, I am working on improving this by changing my workflow and holding myself accountable. I am currently working to meet my goals by doing [X, Y and Z] and I plan to have [project A] completed by [steps here]. I believe that I will be able to correct my performance through these actionable steps.

Describe areas you feel require improvement in terms of your professional capabilities. List the steps you plan to take and/or the resources you need to accomplish this.

I feel I could do better at moving projects off my desk and on to the next person without overthinking them or sweating details that are not mine to sweat; in this regard I could trust my teammates more. I plan to enlist your help with this and ask for a weekly 15-minute one-on-one meeting to do so.

Identify two career goals for the coming year and indicate how you plan to accomplish them.

One is a promotion to senior project manager, which I plan to reach by continuing to show leadership skills on the team. Another is that I’d like to be seen as a real resource for the organization, and plan to volunteer for the committee to update the standards and practices handbook.

2. Leadership Examples

Since the last appraisal period, have you successfully performed any new tasks or additional duties outside the scope of your regular responsibilities? If so, please specify.

How to answer with positive results: Yes. I have established mentoring relationships with one of the younger members of our team, as well as with a more seasoned person in another department. I have also successfully taken over the monthly all-hands meeting in our team, trimming meeting time to 30 minutes from an hour and establishing clear agendas and expectations for each meeting. Again, I feel these align with my goal to become more of a leader.

How to answer with ways to improve: Since the last review period, I focused my efforts on improving my communication with our team, meeting my goals consistently and fostering relationships with leaders in other departments. Over the next six months, I plan on breaking out of my comfort zone by accomplishing [X, Y and Z].

What activities have you initiated, or actively participated in, to encourage camaraderie and teamwork within your group and/or office? What was the result?

How to answer with positive results: I launched the “No More Panicked Mondays” program to help on-site and remote colleagues make Mondays more productive. The initiative includes segmenting the day into 25-minute parts to answer emails, get caught up on direct messages, sketch out to-do lists and otherwise plan for the week ahead. NMPM also includes a 15-minute “Weekend Update” around lunch time, during which staff shares weekend activities. Attendance was slow at first but has picked up to nearly 90 percent participation. The result overall for the initiative is more of the team signs on to direct messages earlier in the day, on average 9:15 a.m. instead of the previous 10 a.m., and anecdotally, the team seems more enthusiastic about the week. I plan to conduct a survey later this month to get team input on how we can change up the initiative.

How to answer with ways to improve: Although I haven’t had the chance to lead any new initiatives since I got hired, I recently had an idea for [A] and wanted to run it by you. Do you think this would be beneficial to our team? I would love to take charge of a program like this.

3. Professional Development Examples

Describe your professional development activities since last year, such as offsite seminars/classes (specify if self-directed or required by your supervisor), onsite training, peer training, management coaching or mentoring, on-the-job experience, exposure to challenging projects, other—please describe.

How to answer with positive results: I completed a class on SEO best practices and shared what I learned from the seminar during a lunch-and-learn with my teammates. I took on a pro-bono website development project for a local nonprofit, which gave me a new look at website challenges for different types of organizations. I also, as mentioned above, started two new mentoring relationships.

How to answer with ways to improve: This is something I have been thinking about but would like a little guidance with. I would love to hear what others have done in the past to help me find my footing. I am eager to learn more about [A] and [B] and would like to hear your thoughts on which courses or seminars you might recommend.

Related How to Find the Right Mentor — and How to Be One

Types of Self Evaluations

Self evaluations can include rating scale questions, open-ended questions or a hybrid of both. Each approach has its own set of pros and cons to consider.

1. Rating Self Evaluation

Rating scale self evaluations give a list of statements where employees are asked to rate themselves on a scale of one to five or one to ten (generally the higher the number, the more favorable the rating).

For example, in Smarty’s self evaluations, it uses a tool called 3A+. This one calls for employees and managers to sit down and complete the evaluation together, at the same time. Employees rate themselves from 3, 2 or 1 (three being the best) on their capability in their role; A, B or C on their helpfulness to others, and plus or minus on their “diligence and focus” in their role. Managers rate the employees using the same scale. A “perfect” score would be 3A+, while an underperforming employee would rate 2B-.

At the performance evaluation meeting, managers and employees compare their ratings, and employees ask for feedback on how they can improve.

But rating systems can have their challenges that are often rooted in bias . For example, women are more likely to rate themselves lower than men. People from individualistic cultures, which emphasize individuals over community, will rate themselves higher than people from collectivist cultures, which place a premium on the group rather than the individual.

2. Open-Ended Question Self Evaluation

Open-ended questions ask employees to list their accomplishments, setbacks and goals in writing. The goal of open-ended questions is to get employees thinking deeply about their work and where they need to improve.

Open-ended questions allow employees a true voice in the process, whereas “self ratings” can sometimes be unfair , Fresia Jackson, lead research people scientist at Culture Amp , said.

With open-ended questions, employees tend to be more forgiving with themselves, which can be both good and bad. Whatever result open ended questions bring about, they typically offer more fodder for discussion between employees and managers.

3. Hybrid Self Evaluation

Hybrid self evaluations combine both rating questions and open-ended questions, where employees assess their skills and accomplishments by using a number scale and by answering in writing. This type of self evaluation lets employees provide quantitative and qualitative answers for a more holistic reflection.

Self-Evaluation Questions for Performance Reviews

If you’ve never done a self evaluation, or if you just need a refresher before your next performance review, looking over some examples of self evaluation questions — like the ones below — can be a helpful starting point.

Common Self-Evaluation Questions for Performance Reviews

What are you most proud of?
What would you do differently?
How have you carried out the company’s mission statement?
Where would you like to be a year from now?
List your skills and positive attributes.
List your accomplishments, especially those that impacted others or moved you toward goals.
Think about your mistakes and what you’ve learned from them.
What are your opportunities to grow through advancement and/or learning?
How do the above tie to your professional goals?

Self-Evaluation Questions for Career Planning and Growth

What are you interested in working on?
What are you working on now?
What do you want to learn more about?
How can I as your manager better support you?
What can the company do to support your journey?
How can the immediate team support you?
What can you do to better support the team and the company?

Self-Evaluation Questions for Performance and Career Goals

How did you perform in relation to your goals?
What level of positive impact did your performance have on the team?
Did your performance have a positive impact on the business?
What was your level of collaboration with other departments?
What corporate value do you bring to life?
What corporate value do you most struggle to align with?
Summarize your strengths.
Summarize your development areas.
Summarize your performance/achievements during this year.
How would you rate your overall performance this year?

Related How to Set Professional Goals

How Should Managers Approach Self Evaluations?

It’s clear here that self evaluations, as a type of performance review, are more employee- than manager-driven. That said, managers are a key ingredient in this process, and the way managers handle self evaluations determines much about how useful they are and how well employees respond to them. To make sure they’re as effective as possible, consider these suggestions.

Train Managers on How to Use Evaluations

“If you don’t, there’s no point in doing them, because the manager is going to be the one driving the conversations,” Elisabeth Duncan, vice president of human resources at Evive, said. “Without training, the [evaluations] will be a checkbox and not meaningful.”

Don’t Use Ratings Formulaically

The results of self evaluations that employ a scale (say, one to five) can vary wildly, as one manager’s three is another manager’s five. Use the scale to identify and address discrepancies between the manager’s and employee’s answers, not to decide on raises or promotions across the company.

Hold Self Evaluations Often

They work best as career-development tools if they’re held semi-annually, quarterly or even more often. “It’s about an ongoing, consistent conversation,” Duncan said.

Tailor Them For Each Department

Competencies in sales very likely differ from competencies in tech, marketing and other departments. Competencies for junior-level employees probably differ wildly from those for senior managers. Self evaluations tailored to different employee populations will be more effective, and fairer.

Stress That the Rating Is Just the Start

The rating or the open-ended questions are the beginning of the evaluation process; they are not the process itself. “These are tools to trigger a conversation,” Duncan said.

Overall, think of self evaluations as a way to engage with your manager and your work in a way that furthers your career. Embrace the self evaluation and get good at writing them. In no time at all, you’ll find that they can be a productive way to reflect on yourself and your skillset.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a self evaluation.

A self evaluation is a personal assessment used for employees to reflect on their strengths, weaknesses, accomplishments and overall progress during an allotted time on the job.

Self evaluations are often completed quarterly, semi-annually or annually, and can include numbered rating questions or open-ended written questions.

How do you write a good self evaluation?

An effective self evaluation is one where you highlight your achievements and instances of growth as well as areas for improvement during your given period of time at work. Tracking specific accomplishments and metrics can be especially helpful for writing a good self evaluation.

Jessica Powers contributed reporting to this story.

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3 Self-Development Strategies to Help You Feel Positive Every Day

Everybody experiences feelings of frustration and defeat, but self-development training can prevent those feelings from lingering. It can feel natural to sink into self-loathing on difficult days – especially for those of us who feel the pressure of working for ourselves. Wallowing in a mental funk can lead to procrastination, loss of focus, and next thing you know, your efforts could be completely derailed. Don’t despair – here are three self-development tips that will make you feel more positive, even on the really difficult days.

1. The circumstance isn’t the problem; your response to the circumstance is the problem. And you are in full control of how you respond to things like criticism or defeat. Instead of saying “I’m such a loser for not getting that client,” ask yourself, “What important lessons have I learned that will help me succeed next time?”

2. Be as kind to yourself as you are to the people you love. If your wife, girlfriend, or best friend failed to snag a new client, would you call them a loser? Probably not; so don’t do it to yourself, either. You deserve better.

3. Stop expecting defeat. Don’t tell yourself not to expect great things because you had a setback. Running negative thoughts through your mind accomplishes nothing. You are in control of your thoughts; always flip the negatives upside down to form a positive. “I may not have gotten that project, but now I know ________, I’ll be better positioned to get the next one.”

Your personal self-development should involve daily exercises, which can include journaling, affirmations, or simply addressing negative thoughts as they occur. If you can simply remember that you are in control of your thoughts, then you are already on the right path.

Click to check out my book, Life Mastery: How To Unleash Your Hidden Potential And Achieve Everything You've Ever Wanted , which contains a ton more information about the self-development techniques that have helped me grow and thrive from the inside out.

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We provide world-class content, training, and coaching to maximize the potential in your personal and business life. Everything from physical fitness, to emotional mindset, to relationships, to your financial freedom blend together to turn you into an unstoppably extraordinary person with an unstoppably extraordinary life.

Whether you need online business advice, personal development coaching, or both, Project Life Mastery will guide you on your best path to mastery.

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The SELF Project offers tools and curriculum that are practical, honest, engaging, and data-driven so that you can help the adolescent(s) in your life take advantage of the unique development happening during these years. You can help them improve their relationships, communicate effectively,

develop a strong sense of identity, and create a community where they feel valued and safe.

Kari O’Driscoll created The SELF Project to be a science-backed resource for families and educators to use with confidence to foster better communication, build stronger relationships, and connect adolescents to community. She uses active, youth-driven discussions, exercises, and guided meditations to build intelligence (emotional and cognitive) and understanding. The curriculum is rooted in principles of mindfulness, non-violent communication, and scientific understanding of adolescent brain and social-emotional development.

The SELF (Social Emotional Learning Foundations) Project empowers adolescents at the most pivotal time of their development to provide tools that encourage their social-emotional development, resilience, and communication skills. Utilizing science-backed curriculum, books, workshops, and live events.

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8 Creative Projects to Help You Become Your Best Self

Melyssa Griffin

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We spend a lot of time strategizing and listening to other people talk about their dreams, so now it only makes sense that we give some fresh TLC to our own awesome selves. Read on and discover nine creative projects that can help you become your best self today.

Do you want to travel? Do you have a bucket list your dog has been using as a toilet somewhere in your apartment? Are there people you want to reconnect with but don’t know how without being a creeper?

The solutions to these problems and many more are laid out in today’s post so that you can move your dreams from inside your head to a visual medium where you can see and experience your goals and aspirations on the daily. So let’s get started!

1. Visual Bucket List

I’m sure we all have a bucket list, whether it’s floating around in our head or written down somewhere in our cluttered houses. But let’s take another look at bucket lists. They are so freakin’ important, man! Making a list of everything you want to do before you croak is a surefire way to get started on your goals.

Unfortunately, the typical pen and paper lists get stuffed into drawers, random shelves, and ultimately are not seen often. I love these visual bucket lists because they force you to come face to face with your dreams in tangible form.

If you use a jar, you could slowly pull out your dreams and work on accomplishing them little by little, or if you go for the idea on the bottom (my personal favorite!) then you can pull off your butterflies (or whatever you decide to use) and put them in your jar when you’re finished (each butterfly has an aspiration written on it). How awesome is that?

Credits (from left to right, top to bottom): 1. We Heart It ; 2. Summer Bucket Sticks by Gerbera Designs ; 3. My Life List by Have An Epiphanie!

2. Art journal

Art Journaling is getting huge! There are even books and magazines about how to art journal and finding workshops is becoming increasingly easier.

What is art journaling? It’s kind of exactly what it sounds like – a journal where you can write your thoughts, feelings, and emotions, and accompany them with art. I’d say they’re usually heavier on the art side rather than the typical writing side, but who says you have to follow the rules?

There are some cool examples of how to do an art journal at Lil Blue Boo and Julie Kirk’s Notes on Paper . Lil Blue Boo also has lots of interesting prompts to get you started.

Credits (from left to right, top to bottom): 1. Lady Reynolds; 2. Lisa Cheny-Jorgensen ; 3. Caitidid Designs; 4. Roben Marie-Smith

3. Where-I’ve-Been Map

I’m pretty sure everyone I know (and probably everyone you know…and probably everyone in the world!) says that they want to travel. Yet it also takes these same people (maybe even you) many years before they step foot abroad.

We need to change the way we think about travel!

If you haven’t gone to your dream spots yet, then maybe it’s time to make some visual representations of where you want to visit (and where you’ve been). The chalkboard ideas are something you can totally do at home with chalkboard paint (color in where you’ve been with one color and where you want to go with another…seeing the colors stacked against each other should help you visualize). I also like the collage idea. Make one framed collage of the places you’ve been with pictures from your trip and one in solid colors with places you want to go. Last, the scratch-off map looks so fun and visual-tastic. But in the end, make whatever you want.

As long as it’s on your wall, in yo’ face, and beckoning you to spend your money on plane tickets instead of McDonalds, then we’re good.

Credits (from left to right, top to bottom): 1. Buy at Dirtsa Studio on Etsy ; 2. Places on Earth by Oliver Jeffers; 3. Amy Crismer; 4. Buy at Uncommon Goods

4. Gratitude Cards

A Gratitude Card is basically a thank you card without a specific occasion. The research even says that sending a gratitude card makes you happier. So let me get this straight, you can send a card to a friend thanking them for kicking butt and you will feel happy, too? Score! It’s like when you were five and you gave your friend a present at their birthday party and received a goodie bag full of bubbles and candy in return. Ah the good ol’ days.

5. Dreamboard or Collage

A Dreamboard is basically a collage on a mission. Cut out and stick on anything that aligns with your dreams or goals for the year. Hang it where you’ll see it often and use it as a visual way to see your goals on a daily basis. On the other hand, just plain ol’ collaging is really therapeutic and spending a couple hours on it will make you feel more free (sounds like a long time, but it goes by fast because you’re in the “flow” stage).

In high school and collage, I used to make huge, 6 foot tall collages on cardboard with my own pictures, paint, memories, quotes and anything that meant something to me. I always hung them above my bed and loved the constant reminder of things that made me smile.

6. Mixed Media Madness

This is probably my favorite way to do art and when I’m not doing graphic design or photography, I’m likely doing this: mixed media. Walk around your house for 5-10 minutes and look around for any little, odd, memorable, or interesting things you might be able to use in an art project.

Of course you’ll have your typical supplies already handy like paint and glue, but what I’m talking about are things like unused light switch covers, nails, receipts that have gone through the wash, small toys, old book pages, beads, old game controller buttons, the extra buttons that come with clothes, anything that you can use. And then? Just make something . Easier said than done? No, really, it’s not. This doesn’t have to be beautiful. You’re not going to hang it in a gallery (unless you want to!). This is for you to exert creativity by thinking about the world and your surroundings in a new way. Just have fun, that’s the whole point of this, isn’t it? 🙂

7. Journal + Respond

In college I was lucky to be part of a class and organization that integrated this into its curriculum. Basically, you write or type a journal entry, then give it to someone else (preferably someone older, like a mentor) and they read your response and respond to it. They don’t have to write a journal to you unless you want to do it that way. But writing down your stream-of-consciousness thoughts into a page or two every week or so is hugely therapeutic for you and will also give you great advice and a fresh perspective from your journal mentor. Another idea? Ask people you know who are doing the things you want to do and write to them .

But don’t confuse this with FAQ 101. This person isn’t supposed to be your dictionary for how to get ahead. They’re supposed to read your genuine journals about your recent life and aspirations and then help you clarify them into something that makes sense.

8. Something…Anything!

This last one may seem like sort of a cop-out on my part, but it’s so true. In many ways, art is a meditative experience where we are letting go of a piece of ourselves and letting it exist on a canvas or other medium.

I say “letting it exist” because art can be very personal, and often when we make something with our hands, a piece of us that once existed in our spirit now exists in our art. Certainly, it can still exist within us, but it takes courage to be willing to give that piece of ourselves up for the rest of the world. The point? Just make something… it doesn’t have to be great. What you’ll get in return is more important than how good what you’re making is.

What is your favorite way to explore your creativity? Let me know in the comments below!

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3 Ways To Set Goals That Actually Work

3 Reasons You’re Not Making More Money (And What to Do Instead)

The REAL Reason Why I Created an Email List 6 Years Ago

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Leadership: How to Start a New Project

A new project is an opportunity for developing new leadership skills..

Posted May 13, 2024 | Reviewed by Hara Estroff Marano

Even if you are an experienced leader, a new project will present new leadership challenges.
Contingency planning is crucial to new projects, where you can’t necessarily fall back on experience.
Plans are not straitjackets— they just save you the trouble of scrambling at the last minute.
Planning builds confidence; it helps you see down the road.

Even if you are an experienced leader, you should plan a new project from the ground up. There will always be contingencies that you cannot anticipate. Precise planning helps to build confidence . It enables you to get in touch with the project’s demands, including those it will make on you.

So, as you read this story, ask yourself:

Am I willing to acknowledge that my background as a leader may not suffice when I seek to lead a new, different sort of project?
Am I good at contingency planning—that is, am I willing to put aside any conviction that my plans are water-tight and will hold up even during rough sailing?
Do I leave the details to others, or do I get down into the weeds because I know that details can be important to the success of the broad outline?
Do I stay on top of things and realize when a plan is not working?
Do I view detailed plans as a straitjacket (“I can wing it!”) or do I use plans to avoid last-minute, crisis-related scrambling?

Leading and planning are two sides of the same coin. In a new project, this is even more the case. So, test yourself against Samantha who, in this case, plans her way towards a new venture.

Samantha would describe her production company as “niche.” It focused on how girls coped with just growing up. The formula seemed inexhaustible.

So, what was the problem?

By the time she came to see me, Samantha felt it was time to climb out of her niche and do something affecting the broader society. She was 40 and, for a self-styled creative, her work too circumscribed.

What she needed, it turned out, was to lead a creative initiative that she devised, organized, and saw through to success. She needed to face down a challenge. “I need to mount a Broadway show,” she said, catching her breath and watching my face. “I know it’s a leap—in scale, in terms of what I know I can do—but it’s time for me to try.” I never discourage clients, but was Samantha being realistic?

Samantha’s urge to propel herself towards Broadway had been spurred by the conviction that Broadway now ached for upheaval. She would introduce Broadway to the life of a 16 th century martyr, Giordano Bruno, who was burned at the stake as a heretic but belatedly attained the stature of Galileo.

Where had this notion come from? Most immediately, did Samantha have the expertise to mount a credible attempt?

Bruno was an Italian philosopher, poet, and cosmologist. His theories extended to include the then-novel Copernican model (abhorred by the Church). Though he began as a Dominican friar, he later denied core tenets of Catholic doctrine, including eternal damnation, the trinity, the divinity of Christ, the virginity of Mary, and transubstantiation during the Mass. He wandered around Europe until the Inquisition imprisoned, tried, and executed him. Ultimately, he was celebrated as a martyr to science. As Samantha said, “His life is recognized as beyond dramatic.”

My interest was piqued.

But then came the real challenge. Samantha had never mounted a Broadway musical. Bruno represented a huge leap into novelty, a total change in long-standing direction.

Samantha would be heading a multi-pronged enterprise that would include writers, researchers, singers, costumers, dancers, financiers, actors, location managers, and publicists. Could she handle the practical, even emotional aspects of what she’d need to do? Could she anticipate some of it, to minimize stress down the road?

As we spoke, I advised her that the best way to assume a leadership position of a new enterprise is to have a solid plan. Be as organized as possible. Contingencies will always arise, but you should leave as little to chance as possible—even while the project takes shape over an extended period. So, we set out to devise a plan that was forward-looking, which over the next year or so would be augmented by careful, studied organization.

First, we discussed getting something down on paper, sort of a rough draft of a script that she could show to possible financial backers. But that itself would require initial funding. So, I suggested that she talk with some (moneyed) friends and associates and interest them in the idea, ideally, winning them over, as she had done with me.

It worked. She obtained enough funding for a researcher/writer to draft a script, delineating the main characters.

Then she would go back to those potential backers and secure greater funding, enabling her to firm up the script and hold an initial reading with potential actors. If all went well, she would secure more funding, based on a budget that would carry her through tryouts. Then, she’d make sure that her permanent investors were still on board. She would need to consult theatrical lawyers and get contracts for everyone. She would have to get a team of writers to refine the book; a group of professional actors; a librettist; a choreographer; stage managers.

Could she do it all? Samantha recognized that her practical preparations were an element of her psychological preparation. A leader, especially of a new project, should create their own support mechanisms, since everyone else may be too disengaged to provide the specific support that may be needed as challenges arise.

Samantha realized that, with sufficient planning and organization, she could take the right steps in the right order at the right time to achieve positive, reinforcing results. She would also need back-up plans, since plans may give way to other plans; the idea was always to be ready. Planning is a form of precise anticipation, not some immovable, blunt projection .

In a new venture, where you don’t know what you don’t know, leadership entails contingency planning so that surprise is held to a minimum.

So, as Samantha began to take the reins of Bruno, she focused on some important ideas:

Even if you have leadership experience, planning for a new venture should be careful and precise
Every plan should entail a contingency plan, so you’re not caught up short by surprises
Planning is a great way to bolster your confidence, since it literally lays out the steps towards where you intend to go
Complexity should not be a deterrent but only a rationale to plan ahead

Right now, Samantha is following through.

Ahron Friedberg, M.D., practices as a psychodynamic psychiatrist in Manhattan. He is a Clinical Professor at Mount Sinai Icahn School of Medicine and Editor of the Academy Forum.

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Talise, a new self-sufficient town, begins development

LAREDO, Tex. (KGNS) - Talise, a visionary project aimed at creating a self-sufficient community, broke ground Wednesday morning, May 15, with a ceremony signaling a new era of development. Located 18 miles north of Laredo in central Webb County, Talise is prepared to become a thriving hub for residential communities, commercial ventures, and extensive development.

Led by the Walker family, renowned in the community for their contributions to ranching, oil and gas, real estate, and commercial sectors, Talise represents their newest venture and a legacy project for future generations.

Kandy Walker, a member of the Walker family, expressed their vision for Talise, stating, “Something that would serve as a legacy on our behalf that would be cared for by future generations of Walkers. What initially began as a discussion of possibly creating beautiful subdivisions and hosting several new homes, grew to plans for hundreds of apartment units, the creation of a beautiful town center, featuring numerous stores and shopping opportunities, restaurants, and entertainment features.”

Spanning 13,000 acres, Talise is already underway with development with a budget of $12.6 billion. Crews have begun clearing acres for the construction of four distinct neighborhoods, offering residential communities ranging from half-acre lots to expansive nature lots.

In addition to residential offerings, Talise is in talks to introduce various commercial businesses, including an industrial area, airport facilities capable of accommodating Boeing flights, and retail outlets. Notably, plans include the establishment of a non-profit water company to cater not only to Talise’s needs, producing approximately 50 million gallons of water within the development, but also to address water requirements for Laredo and Webb County. This water supply would primarily come from the Sparta and Carrizo aquifers.

Speaking about the project’s long-term goals, A.B. Barrera, a representative for Talise, affirmed, “This is a long-term development so it’s really never going to be completed until the next 20 to 30 years but everything officially kicks off this fall in September.”

The project aims to generate thousands of job opportunities, with plans to initiate an industrial component first. Talise also intends to offer vocational training opportunities, such as a CDL trucking school.

As Talise moves forward, questions regarding tax implications, educational facilities for children, and healthcare services remain to be addressed, with details to be determined as the project progresses.

For more headlines. click here .

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Harlow & Hem apartment development proposed for Wauwatosa Village gains initial approval

A developer's revised plans for the Harlow & Hem apartment development proposed for the Wauwatosa Village has gained initial approval despite concerns and opposition from residents.

The Wauwatosa Plan Commission approved the Mandel Group's requests for a planned unit development, rezoning and certified survey map to combine parcels in three separate 6-0-1 votes Monday night, with Mayor Dennis McBride voting "present" on all three votes.

When asked by the Journal Sentinel why he recused his vote, McBride declined to answer.

But according to campaign finance records , Phillip Aiello, president and chief operating officer of the Mandel Group, donated $250 to McBride's recent campaign for reelection.

After Aiello presented the development plans Monday, about two dozen members of the public spoke in opposition of the project.

Approval from the commission, which is made up of the mayor, two City Council members and four citizen members, is the first step in an approval process that includes multiple public meetings.

Here's what to know.

Where's the site of Harlow & Hem and what parcels were combined?

The apartment is being proposed for a 1.63-acre site located on the northern corner of Wauwatosa Avenue and Blanchard Street.

The plan commission approved Mandel Group's request to combine five lots in the area into one: 1330 Wauwatosa Avenue; 7463 Harwood Avenue; and 7460, 7462, and 7470 Blanchard Street.

The combined lot includes a major Village parking lot, a property that will become a new surface parking lot on Harwood Avenue and a duplex residence on the southeast part of the corner of Blanchard Street and Wauwatosa Avenue. The closed Swan Interiors store at 1348 N. Wauwatosa Ave. is not part of the land that would be built on for the development.

What is Mandel Group's plan for Harlow & Hem?

Harlow & Hem would have 157 apartment units on five levels, according to the Mandel Group's latest plans. The U-shaped building would have 59 studios, 53 one-bedroom, 28 two-bedroom and 17 three-bedroom units available, according to Aiello.

Harlow & Hem would have 193 private parking spaces and 98 public spaces. Fifty-one public spaces are planned for two levels of enclosed parking that have an entrance on Wauwatosa Avenue under a "green roof" turf on the first level of the building.

Forty-seven public parking spots are also planned for a new parking lot at 7463 Harwood Ave.

Among other requests for flexibility on city code, the Mandel Group proposed the drive aisle on the surface parking lot have a width of 22 feet. That's a change from Wauwatosa's parking lot standards that require a drive aisle width of 24 feet for two-way traffic with 90-degree parking lot stalls.

The group would install permeable pavers to help with water drainage in exchange for flexibility on city landscaping standards.

Residents ask Plan Commission to pump the brakes on Harlow & Hem development

More than two dozen people showed up to the May 13 Plan Commission meeting in opposition of the development.

Some residents opposed a multi-family apartment at that location entirely, worried that more than a hundred additional residents at that development alone would oversaturate the area and make traffic unimaginable and pedestrians unsafe in an already congested area.

Some asked that the city pump the brakes on Harlow & Hem since Three Leaf Partners' proposed apartment development is already planned for the nearby site of St. Bernard parish.

"It's OK to suggest Mandel Group look somewhere else," Wauwatosa resident Katherine Whitlock said.

Ursula Twombly, a resident and member of the Wauwatosa Housing Coalition , asked the Plan Commission to deny approvals unless members address affordable housing in the development first. The original request for proposals included an ask for affordable housing, and the city should ensure that Mandel Group sticks to it because Wauwatosa needs housing now, she said.

Wauwatosa, like other communities nationwide, needs more affordable housing, according to a local housing study.

The affordability component of the project and requests to fund the project with tax increment financing, or TIF, will have to go through Financial Affairs and the Common Council, Mayor Dennis McBride said at the meeting.

Other residents who live nearby said they're frustrated they hadn't heard from the Mandel Group about the developments' plans.

The Mandel Group hosted a neighborhood meeting May 1 that had eight business owners and community members in attendance, according to a summary from the developer. Aiello said that he and his team reworked the project's design to include a path from the planned surface parking lot to the retail in the Village. He also said they would try to provide more space between the development and the patio of Draft & Vessel at 7479 Harwood Ave.

What's the timeline for Mandel Group's Harlow & Hem project

The May 13 Plan Commission action is just one step in a long approval process to determine zoning, design and financial assistance. Here's the timeline of what comes next for the proposal:

Thursday, May 16 at 7 p.m.: The Design Review Board will review architectural designs for the project.
Tuesday, June 18 at 7:30 p.m.: A public hearing will be held at the Common Council meeting as the next step in the zoning process.
Tuesday, June 25 at 7:30 p.m. : The Community Affairs Committee will consider the preliminary PUD and rezoning for the project.
Tuesday, July 2 at 7:30 p.m. : The project would return to the Common Council for an initial vote on the preliminary PUD and rezoning process.
Once the project gets preliminary PUD approval and submits revised plans that address conditions brought up by officials during the process, the project must get final PUD Approval from the Community Affairs Committee and Common Council. Those dates are to be determined.
Any TIF and affordable housing decisions would have to go through the Financial Affairs Committee and the Common Council. Those dates are to be determined based on completion of a negotiated term sheet, according to the city.

Mandel Group has until April 1, 2025, to obtain all necessary permits, licenses and approvals from the city and Milwaukee County, according to the offer to purchase. Mandel can extend the deadlines three times for a month each at a cost of $50,000.

More information on the development and city process can be found on engage.wauwatosa.net/ harlow -and-hem.

Mandel Group's proposal for the location has changed over the last four years.

In the last four years, Harlow & Hem has been revised from a proposed project with 89 apartments and four two-story townhomes , to a 130-unit apartment building , to today's proposal for a 157-unit apartment building.

In fall 2020, Wauwatosa sent out a request for proposals for developments at the Blanchard Street parking lot. The Wauwatosa Community Development Authority in early 2021 voted to choose the Mandel Group's submitted proposal and approved plans to conduct negotiations on selling the parcel to Mandel Group.

On previous plans, the development received approval for a final planned unit development in July 2022. But increased project costs and new project managers re-evaluating the project put the project on hold. In the latest designs, Mandel Group cut the townhouses and increased the apartment units due to the market.

Because there were substantive changes to the previously submitted and approved Harlow & Hem project, Mandel Group was required to resubmit an application and go through the planned unit development approval process again, according to Eva Ennamorato, communications manager for the City of Wauwatosa.

Contact the reporter at [email protected]

Editor's Note, 5/15/24: This story was updated to reflect the votes cast by the Plan Commission were 6-0 with Mayor Dennis McBride voting "present" and that McBride didn't specify why he recused his vote. The story was also updated to reflect that Phillip Aiello donated $250 to McBride's 2024 campaign.

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Honey, I Love You. Didn’t You See My Slack About It?

Some couples are using professional project-management software to maintain their relationships. Why does it bother other people?

Ben Lang using his laptop and his wife, Karen-Lynn, holding her phone, in their living room.

By Erin Griffith

Ben Lang didn’t expect to get so much hate just for being organized. For the past three years, he and his wife, Karen-Lynn Amouyal, have been using Notion, a popular software tool, to optimize their household and relationship. His version of the tool, commonly used by businesses to manage complex projects, functions like a souped-up Google Doc, with sections for a grocery list, to-do lists and details of upcoming trips.

More unusual is a section Mr. Lang, a venture capital investor who previously worked at Notion, created about principles (“what’s important to us as a couple”). Another section, called “Learnings,” outlines things the couple have discovered about each other, such as their love languages and Myers-Briggs test results. There’s a list of friends they want to set up on dates. They also maintain a log of memories from their date nights. Mr. Lang, 30, was so proud of the creation that last month, he started promoting a template of the setup to others. “My wife and I use Notion religiously to manage our day-to-day life,” he wrote on X. “I turned this into a template, let me know if you’d like to see it!”

The internet responded with a venomous outrage. “People have told me my wife is cheating on me, people have told me I have a dead body in my basement, people have told me I’m autistic,” he said.

But his approach isn’t entirely unusual, especially among people who work in the tech industry and want to manage their personal lives the same way they manage their professional lives. For a class of young workers, it’s only rational to apply the tools of the corporate world to their relationships and families. Businesses have goals and systems for achieving them, the thinking goes. They get things done.

Anastasia Alt, 35, uses Kanban boards — a visual tracking system where tasks progress from left to right — in Trello, a project management tool, for “literally everything.” This includes work at Yana Sleep , her e-commerce start-up, but also planning trips and events with her partner. The two of them also have a dedicated Slack work space, named after a mash-up of their surnames with a logo created using the artificial intelligence software Midjourney. She acknowledged, in jest, that some of her systems were “a little psychopathic,” but said she’s always been an optimizer.

Ms. Alt said the Slack work space has emotional benefits for her relationship, too: freeing up their text messages and in-person conversations for the fun stuff.

“I’m glad, when the workday is over, that I don’t need to address 20 minutes’ worth of semi-urgent logistical items before diving into eating takeout food and hanging out with our dogs,” she said. “Sitting in person and hashing out a schedule together is less high-quality time than sitting in person and, you know, telling jokes.”

A #gratitude channel, where the couple posts messages of appreciation or acknowledgment of what the other person is doing, has become a repository of memories she likes to look back on, almost like a photo album, she said.

Lessons From Business

Relationships are work, but no one wants to admit it.

But this particular flavor of life hacking often causes observers to collectively recoil. It threatens to take the romance and spontaneity out of life, in their view. It feels cold.

“There is a phenomenon whereby the more you try to manage your life, the more you risk squeezing the vibrancy out of it,” said Oliver Burkeman, author of “Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals.”

And yet, the crushing overwhelm of modern life, with daily to-do lists and schedules and notifications and digital logistics can feel so never-ending that any solution offering to optimize even the tiniest task — or most meaningful relationship — looks like a lifeline worth grasping for.

Emily Oster, a parenting expert and economist, rose to popularity by promoting a data-based approach to managing pregnancy, including in her latest book “The Unexpected.” She also wrote a book in 2021 called “The Family Firm,” which advises using a “business process” to make family decisions about, for instance, extracurriculars or getting your kid a phone. Some critics have attacked her approach for the same reasons they recoil from a Notion template for married couples — it can feel detached.

Dr. Oster said the problem is not systems like hers — it’s not having difficult conversations about priorities and principles. Her spreadsheets and other tools are designed to set people up for the lives they want, she said.

“Surfacing conflict on purpose is something we don’t generally like to do,” she said. “It’s hard to do at work, also, but it’s even harder to do with someone you want go to sleep with at night.”

Dr. Oster said the lesson she takes from the business world to her personal life is to make thoughtful, deliberate decisions. “I don’t think there is a limit to how far you can take that,” she said.

She’s not alone in that thinking. Even amid the backlash to Mr. Lang’s template, more than 2,400 people liked it enough to download a copy, with an option to pay up to $25.

‘They Are Craving a Solution’

Claire Kart, 40, was among those who bought the template, in part, she said, because she was amused by all the jokes about it. But also, with two kids under the age of 3, the allure of a better, more productive, more organized way of life at home was irresistible.

Ms. Kart, a marketing executive at a cryptocurrency start-up, already has some optimization systems in place with her husband, a start-up founder. They use Google’s Keep app for a shared grocery list and Google calendars to manage their schedule. She has elaborately color-coded Google Sheets for Christmas gifts and vacation planning. (She calls herself the family’s chief creative officer, as well as chief investment officer. Her husband is the chief financial officer and chief technology officer.)

Ms. Kart said systems like hers were necessary for splitting up household management duties. One person can keep everything in their head, she said, but “dividing and co-owning that work” leads to “coordination friction.”

Like Ms. Alt, she believes the systems free up their limited in-person time for more meaningful conversations. “Using that really rare time to talk about a grocery list feels lonely,” she said.

Since her second child was born a little over a year ago, Ms. Kart and her husband have been “cutting scope,” she said, using a project management phrase for doing less. “We’re in survival mode,” she said. “Just cooking dinner feels like a win.”

Mr. Lang’s template could help, she said. The only problem so far? She’s been too busy to set it up.

A smaller subset of people have always used tech tools in their personal lives, but the practice has spread in recent years. Mei Lin Ng, the co-founder of the family tech start-up, Hearth, said that one reason past attempts to create technology for the family have failed was that consumers weren’t as open to it. Her company’s product, a 27-inch screen that families can mount in their homes to display schedules, assign chores and help kids with morning and bedtime routines that became available last year, is being adopted by digitally native millennials.

“Consumers are really, really ready for something like this,” she said. “They are craving a solution.”

After Ms. Alt told her friend and fellow optimizer, Ryan Matzner, about her couples’ Slack, he immediately started his own. It was a bit of an uphill battle to get his fiancée, Kate McKenzie, on board — she is a medical school student and preferred analog tools like a paper planner — but they’re now using Trello, Slack and a shared Google calendar to plan their wedding.

Mr. Matzner, 39, co-founder of a product development agency called Fueled, realized that he had been avoiding responding to text messages from Ms. McKenzie because their thread had turned into a to-do list full of tasks.

So they dumped all their administrative tasks into Slack, which has expanded beyond wedding planning into regular life with more than 40 channels including #house-parties, #travel and #ludwig-the-car.

Being hyper-organized and efficient is a natural outgrowth of having a very active work and social life, Mr. Matzner said. He sends calendar invites the minute he makes plans and saves new friends into his contacts with their city — searchable anytime he’s in town — as well as a note if they’d be fun to invite to a dinner party. He wishes someone would build a “personal C.R.M.” (customer relationship management, the kind of system sold by companies like Salesforce), since none of the options he’s tried are entirely satisfying.

Being the organized person in a relationship can lead to friction. Kate Reznykova, 27, a venture capital investor, used to frequently field random queries like, “How do we log into our internet?” from her partner throughout the day, which tested her patience. She recently started using Mr. Lang’s Notion template to establish a “shared source of truth” for such questions. “If I get a text, I say, ‘Go to the page, it’s all there,’” she said.

Mr. Lang was amused by the attention his template got online. There were memes about divorce rates spiking in San Francisco, about “offboarding” one’s wife and about requiring your partner to submit a “purchase order approval form” to spend money. He posted his own joke version, with quarterly objectives and annual reviews for relationships.

He and Ms. Amouyal used Notion to plan their wedding — a life event that, anecdotally, seems to turn many couples into project managers — and decided to keep it going after their honeymoon. The most hated part of his template, the date night log, was simply a way to follow all the marriage advice he kept hearing, he said. Everyone told him how important it was to keep the connection strong as life gets busier and more complicated. Why not create a journal of all the fun things they’ve done together? The outsized reaction was a surprise.

“I thought a few people would respond and think it’s cute,” he said.

Erin Griffith covers tech companies, start-ups and the culture of Silicon Valley from San Francisco. More about Erin Griffith

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Take a 30-Day GumRoad challenge and see what you can make. A community like Reddit with r/SideProject/ is a good place to start. Think of a problem around you. Work on the solution as a project. Action Step: Think of side projects as "experiments". Go crazy and don't fear failure. 2. Find a Mentor.
How to Write a Self Evaluation (With Examples)
3. Professional Development Examples. Describe your professional development activities since last year, such as offsite seminars/classes (specify if self-directed or required by your supervisor), onsite training, peer training, management coaching or mentoring, on-the-job experience, exposure to challenging projects, other—please describe.
3 Self-Development Strategies to Help You Feel Positive Every Day
Probably not; so don't do it to yourself, either. You deserve better. 3. Stop expecting defeat. Don't tell yourself not to expect great things because you had a setback. Running negative thoughts through your mind accomplishes nothing. You are in control of your thoughts; always flip the negatives upside down to form a positive.
How to Stand Out in Project Management with Personal Branding and
Imagine your personal brand as a project. Much like steering a project, managing your personal brand demands documentation, planning, stakeholders, and strategic thinking, and you can set similar benchmarks for your personal brand—like objectives for growth, milestones, target audience, and the strategic actions needed to realize your ...
Project Athena: At one year, the Army's self-awareness and improvement
TRADOC's new "Project Athena" initiative promotes personal, professional self-development Leader Self-Development Tool customizes 'action plan' for improvement
About The Self Project
The SELF Project offers tools and curriculum that are practical, honest, engaging, and data-driven so that you can help the adolescent(s) in your life take advantage of the unique development happening during these years. You can help them improve their relationships, communicate effectively, develop a strong sense of identity, and create a ...
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The SELF (Social Emotional Learning Foundations) Project empowers adolescents at the most pivotal time of their development to provide tools that encourage their social-emotional development, resilience, and communication skills. Utilizing science-backed curriculum, books, workshops, and live events.
8 Creative Projects to Help You Become Your Best Self
Ah the good ol' days. 5. Dreamboard or Collage. A Dreamboard is basically a collage on a mission. Cut out and stick on anything that aligns with your dreams or goals for the year. Hang it where you'll see it often and use it as a visual way to see your goals on a daily basis.
Leadership: How to Start a New Project
Key points. Even if you are an experienced leader, a new project will present new leadership challenges. Contingency planning is crucial to new projects, where you can't necessarily fall back on ...
Talise, a new self-sufficient town, begins development
LAREDO, Tex. (KGNS) - Talise, a visionary project aimed at creating a self-sufficient community, broke ground Wednesday morning, May 15, with a ceremony signaling a new era of development.
Harlow & Hem in Tosa gets initial approval. Here's what's next
On previous plans, the development received approval for a final planned unit development in July 2022. But increased project costs and new project managers re-evaluating the project put the ...
Apple Is Developing AI Chips for Data Centers, Seeking Edge in Arms
The company is leaning on its long history of chip development in the effort, code-named Project ACDC. ... For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1 ...
The Apple Car "Project Titan" Reportedly Is Delayed and In ...
The report suggests the project has shifted from a target of launching a limousine-like car with full Level 5 self-driving capability to a "less-ambitious design" that now includes a traditional ...
Honey, I Love You. Didn't You See My Slack About It?
Anastasia Alt, 35, uses Kanban boards — a visual tracking system where tasks progress from left to right — in Trello, a project management tool, for "literally everything."