personal development essay pdf

Home — Essay Samples — Life — Life Experiences — Personal Growth and Development

Essay Examples on Personal Growth and Development

Cultural plunge reflection, cultivating a fruitful life: dimensions and pathways, made-to-order essay as fast as you need it.

Each essay is customized to cater to your unique preferences

+ experts online

"Brian's Winter" by Gary Paulse: Quotes of Surviving The Wilderness

Achieving personal and professional development, how people around are helping you to become the better version of yourself, my personal values and its effect on my actions, let us write you an essay from scratch.

450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

How I Learned to Be a Person Who is Unafraid to Express Himself

Personal experience that made me better than before, the importance of positive people around you, how my future self is my hero, get a personalized essay in under 3 hours.

Expert-written essays crafted with your exact needs in mind

The Concept of Self and Development of Identity

The 9th of april, my defining moment, from childhood to adulthood: emotional and physical changes, my perseverance through the difficulties in my education and life, self-confidence: how to become self-confident, personal narrative example about life and future aspirations, my experience of learning a new language, my personal core values: performance task, critical reflection of my productivity during studying, a personal experience of a course of multicultural education, the usefulness of self-assessment tools for personal development, why i want to join internal medicine residency, the impact of social media on productivity, why a college degree is important, personal development skills and planning, a role of society in life, the ladder of sustainable development and its steps, methods of improving personal skills, personal development and self-assessment exercises, the attributes that complement professional growth, relevant topics.

Childhood Memories
Personal Experience
Life Changing Experience
Overcoming Obstacles
Overcoming Challenges
Professionalism
Law of Life

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Bibliography

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

Instructions Followed To The Letter
Deadlines Met At Every Stage
Unique And Plagiarism Free

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).

Download 3 Free Goals Exercises (PDF)

These detailed, science-based exercises will help you or your clients create actionable goals and master techniques for lasting behavior change.

Download 3 Free Goals Pack (PDF)

By filling out your name and email address below.

Email Address *
Your Expertise * Your expertise Therapy Coaching Education Counseling Business Healthcare Other
Comments This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

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.

Share this article:

Article feedback

Let us know your thoughts cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Personal Development Goals: Helping Your Clients Succeed

In the realm of personal development, individuals often seek to enhance various aspects of their lives, striving for growth, fulfillment, and self-improvement. As coaches and [...]

How to Perform Somatic Coaching: 9 Best Exercises

Our bodies are truly amazing and hold a wellspring of wisdom which, when tapped into, can provide tremendous benefits. Somatic coaching acknowledges the intricate connection [...]

Training in Lifestyle Coaching: 8 Best Certifications and Courses

What makes the Wizard of Oz storyline so compelling? Maybe it’s that we relate to Dorothy’s struggle and her feelings of being stuck, lost, and [...]

Our range of over 180 online courses are fully accredited, trusted by more than 2 million learners and ideal for training you and your team.

Food Hygiene
Health and Safety
Safeguarding
Asbestos Awareness
Fire Safety
Mental Health
Health and Social Care
Business Essentials
Team training

Welcome to the Hub, the company blog from High Speed Training.

Select a topic to find the most up to date, practical information and resources produced by our experts to support you in your professional life.

Health & Safety

A Personal Development Plan (PDP) Guide & Template

What is a personal development plan.

Personal development is an ongoing process that drives you to improve your knowledge, skills and experience, so that you can achieve your goals. A personal development plan (or PDP) is a method of focussing your goals into achievable steps, which helps you keep track of your personal development.

Download Free PDP Example/Template

Why Should I Create a Personal Development Plan?

Your plan may be aimed at your education, career or personal goal, or a mixture of all three – that is up to you to determine. Whatever the case may be, a good plan will provide you with a clear sense of focus. It helps you map out a path towards your goals, strategise a plan to achieve them, record the actionable steps you will take, and set a timeframe for completing them. Focussing your goals into a PDP helps you maintain your vision, keep on track to achieve your targets, and reflect on your progress.

Simply put, a PDP can help you build a clear understanding of what you want to achieve and how you are going to achieve it.

Interested in Learning More?

Let us help with your personal development goals this year. Choose from a wide range of business essentials courses , whether it be Leadership and Management , Starting a Business , or Coaching and Mentoring . You could have your CPD recognised certificate in a matter of hours!

A clear plan can also support your positive mental wellbeing and improve your level of satisfaction. It can provide a sense of direction, purposefulness and a feeling of success as you start to fulfil your potential. All of these can have very positive impacts on your mental health.

Therefore, discovering what your goals are, getting organised and giving yourself a sense of direction can be incredibly beneficial. This article will give you an understanding of how to write a personal development plan, as well as provide you with a handy template to support your development journey.

How to Write a Personal Development Plan

There are seven steps to writing a PDP:

Set yourself goals.
Prioritise those goals.
Set yourself deadlines for when you want to achieve them.
Recognise threats and opportunities.
Develop your skills or increase your knowledge.
Use your support network.
Measure your progress.

1. Set Yourself Goals

The first step is to set yourself goals . Think about what you want to achieve, whether that’s within a few weeks, within a year, or over your lifetime.

Deciding what you want is not only the first step in planning, it’s also the hardest. Once you’ve figured out what you want to do, that goal will provide clear direction and a structure for your resulting plan.

At this stage, your goals will feel big. You might be wondering how you are ever going to achieve them. Don’t worry – the next step is to prioritise and turn those goals into smaller, actionable steps that will support you on your way to achieving them.

2. Prioritising Your Goals

Now that you have your goals, the next stage is to break them down into smaller steps. When doing this, it’s important that your goals are SMART:

Specific. Avoid large, ambiguous steps. These won’t support you on your way to achieving your goals. Insted, make sure that your goals are specific and clearly highlight the skill, knowledge or experience you want to develop.
Measureable. You need to be able to monitor and reflect on your progress. Therefore, your goals need to be measurable, such as by setting a goal to develop your SEO knowledge with a measurable target of growing your website traffic by a set, defined percentage.
Attainable. Your goals need to be achievable and realistic. You need to think about if it is something you can realistically achieve with the time and resources you have. If not, you will likely be setting yourself up for failure.
Relevant. It’s important to keep your overall goal in mind and make sure that every step you take is supporting you to achieve it. You don’t want to be spending time doing things that don’t get you where you want to go.
Time-bound. Set yourself key targets to achieve and deadlines in which to achieve them. This will help you stay focussed on achieving your goals. However, it’s important to make sure you are realistic in what you can achieve in any given period. Don’t try to achieve everything all at once. It’s unrealistic and you won’t be setting yourself up well to achieve them. Remember that personal development is a journey – your PD plan can continue to grow and develop as you take those steps towards your goals.

Once you have your goals, you’ll need to prioritise them.

In your PDP, you should be setting yourself mini goals to make the big ones happen.

For example, if you wish to pursue a career in academia as a senior lecturer and then a professor, a necessary step to succeeding in this goal is to achieve a PhD. So that would be one of your long-term goals. You then need to break it down into steps, such as:

Learn about the PhD application process.
Find a suitable university and supervisor for a PhD.
Look at routes for funding.
Find studentships to apply for or apply to your university of choice.
Write and submit your PhD application.

3. Set Yourself Deadlines

Knowing when you want to achieve a goal is crucial, and picturing your future is an important source of motivation and inspiration.

Having goals and a set deadline will drive your motivation to achieve them. For example, if your goal is to buy a home, knowing when you want to achieve it will help you calculate exactly how much money you need to save each year in order to get your deposit. The same is true for your skills, knowledge and experience development. As mentioned above, setting realistic and time-bound goals are essential to achieving them.

One good way to understand more about achieving your goals is to speak to those who have previously trodden a similar path. Learning about their experiences can help you understand key barriers to, or methods of, success that may also be applicable to your PDP.

4. Recognise Threats and Opportunities

When considering your goals, you should identify your own strengths, consider areas of weakness you can develop, look at the opportunities available to support you in achieving your goals, and any threats that may hinder you in your progress. This is called a SWOT analysis. Note that these threats may be external or they may be core skills that you can develop as part of your PDP.

For example, a lack of motivation could hinder your plans to apply for a PhD. However, once you’ve identified your tendency to procrastinate or lose focus, you can put in place methods that will keep you motivated.

There are also going to be things that you could do, and connections with people or resources you could take advantage of, that will help you on your way. These are your opportunities that you should commit to doing.

For example, if there’s a conference coming up, take advantage of that. Go along and network, stay up to date on the latest knowledge, or even present a paper. These are all opportunities that could help you achieve your goals.

5. Develop Yourself

Once you have an idea of what could help or hinder you, this is when you can capitalise on those opportunities you recognised. Make an action plan about how you’ll make that progress.

Whatever it is that hinders you, there’s a way to stop it. Your plan is the first step to making sure you stay on track.

So, why not take a look at how to upskill yourself , develop transferable skills in today’s rapidly changing jobs market, or even discover an online learning opportunity .

6. Use Your Support Network

The next thing you need to realise is that:

You don’t have to do everything by yourself.

And you shouldn’t. The support network around you is a valuable asset, so use it and don’t underestimate it.

In your PDP, list the people who can help you. This could be a financial advisor, a friend, or a colleague. People are often so happy to help you, more than you might realise.

7. Measure Progress

After you’ve achieved some progress, whether it’s big or small, take time to reflect on how far you’ve come.

Recognising what has gone well is an effective way to bolster your motivation and remain dedicated.

And after a setback, this is another time to take stock.

Wallowing – briefly – is a good way to feel what you need to without holding on to it. Holding onto sadness, anger or frustration, however, will only deter you. These emotions will take you nowhere and will only hinder you.

You should also spend a little time figuring out why it went wrong. Can you identify a skills or knowledge gap?

If you can, then you can get yourself back on track by focussing on your next step. This will reignite your sense of purpose and help you regain control, which is integral to making progress.

Continue to reflect on your progress. You can gain significant insight from your reflections and this can help you grow. Remember that you should update your plan where necessary. Don’t overload it at any one time but, once you have achieved your small steps, reflect and then update your plan to focus on your next move.

Free Personal Development Plan Example & Template

In this article, we have discussed how you can create your own personal development plan, so you should now feel ready to start considering your goals and developing your own plan. To help you produce an effective personal development plan, we have created an editable template that you can use. Take a look at our example PDP, and download your free template below:

Further Resources:

How to Upskill Yourself
What are Personal Development Goals for Work?
Using Key Phrases in Performance Reviews & Appraisals
Resilience Quiz
Resilience in the Workplace: What are the Benefits and How Can Businesses Develop It?
How to Stand Out in a Virtual Interview: Preparation Tips
What is CPD? A Guide to Continuing Professional Development
Writing A Professional Development Plan – Example & Template
Business Essentials Courses

Post Author

Her favourite article is Five Top Learning and Development Trends for 2020

My Personal Development 1 Running head: My Personal Development A Paper Describing My Personal Development

Related Papers

Elite Ben-Yosef

This was a study of one school's struggle to afford access to meaningful education to all of its students, most of whom came from backgrounds of disenfranchisement, distress and hardship on many levels. From being stuck in a quagmire, the Tel-Aviv school reinvented itself through processes of reflection and action to the point of becoming nationally and internationally recognized for educational excellence. A video I made of the school and its pedagogy can be found at my website: http://literacy-power.com/pedagogy1/the-learning-process : A pedagogy of fusion or at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN7eZ_MtbAQ

Clive Palmer (National Teaching Fellow)

The focus of this paper is to consider what might be learned from personal narratives about educational experiences with the pedagogical aim of gaining some real-life insight to both learner and therein, teacher behaviour. 14 first year B.A. (Hons) Outdoor Leadership students (average age 18-20 years) were asked to write about positive and negative experiences in their education spanning Primary and Secondary School, and Further Education Colleges. Using rich descriptive writing each student wrote approximately 500 words on what has been broadly grouped as a ‘good pedagogy’ or a ‘bad pedagogy’ with unique titles for each of their stories. Thus, 28 vignettes with interesting and often complex contrasts in motives and outcomes for learners emerge, all from a learner’s perspective, but much to inform the aspirant or practicing teacher. A significant outcome from this research is to realise that both the learner and teacher exert considerable forces upon each other to get along in a highly pressurised world i.e. the educational establishment. From working with these students’ accounts and reflections, it seems all too easy to overlook that as educators, we are catering for individuals in a mass education system.

Vajra Watson

Education and Urban Society

Carol Mikoda

Philip Tonner

Nazlı Sönmez

Sumi Hollingworth

Michelle Haj-Broussard

Sherell A McArthur

This study is situated at the nexus of three bodies of literature and research and sought to contribute to all three: the socialization of Black girls, hip hop as a pedagogical tool and critical media literacy. My research explored how might the Black parent-daughter relationship serve as a vehicle by which the girls come to know, submit to, and/or resist the stereotypical images prevalent in the hip-hop culture? I co-created a critical media literacy collective with high school, African American girls where we explored personal identity development in relationship to representations of African-American women in the media through my interactions with the girls in the collective, named Beyond Your Perception (BYP). Through this collective, the primary data sources were qualitative interviews, focus groups, and documents. A thematic analysis revealed Black girls represent the dominant narratives within the cultural movement of hip hop by ascribing to cultural mores like fashion trends, hairstyles and language. They also consciously choose to resist the stereotypical imagery (e.g., loud, angry, sexually loose, etc.) and are able to compose powerful counter-narratives to the monolithic depictions of Black women in the media. By examining the data it was evident that parents engage with hip hop media by listening to the music and watching television shows and music videos, however the ways in which they engage their daughters in dialogue pertaining to the messages within hip hop media is sporadic and suggests the need for parents to become media literate. The implications of this study suggest the need for the creation of collaborative and emancipatory spaces for Black girls, media literacy education for parents, and culturally relevant pedagogy.

RELATED PAPERS

Journal of Research in Science Teaching

Felicia Moore Mensah

Cecilia L . Calub

Felicia Mensah

Proquest Llc

Melissa Landa

Daniela Griffin

The Urban Review

Courtney Bell

We Magazine Africa

Sofia Fernandes