At some point, everyone wants to improve or change things in their lives. A personal development plan can help you reach the goals you have been dreaming about. Whether you want to take on new challenges, enhance your work performance or change unhealthy habits, creating a personal development plan is a great way to ensure success.
1Decide what you want to change. Get a fresh piece of paper, or start a new journal. Jot down notes on the areas of your life that aren’t working well for you. Some experts believe it is better to focus on one goal at a time to stay focused, however, you may feel like tackling several goals at once. Pinpoint specific areas in your life that have burdened you for months, or years. For example, if you smoke, now might be the time to make that goal to quit! Areas to consider:
- Health and fitness
- Relationships
- Career
- Finances
- Habits and lifestyle choices
- Educatio
Write down your goals. Get a piece of paper and begin writing down what you want to achieve. When you write down your goals, studies show it is more likely you will commit to them.[2]Create four headings at the top of the page. The first heading should be "Goal Area" and the next four headings should be "One Month," "Six Months," "One Year," and "Five Years." If you like, you can continue with "Ten Years" and so on. Under the goal area, make a list of things you want to change. For example, "Career" or "Finances." Then under the time headings, state what you would like to have changed by that time in your life.
- Make sure your goals are stated in the positive. For example, "I will.." not "I might" or "I hope..." The more confident your statements are, the more motivating they will be for you.
- Be specific when you write down your goals. For example, instead of "I will lose weight" try "I will lose 5 pounds by increasing my activity level and decreasing my caloric intake."
- At the bottom of the page make a section called "Action Steps" and write down all the steps you will take to help push you towards your goals. For example, "I will walk one mile per day" or "I will eat a fresh salad every day
3
Make sure your goals are attainable[3]. Do you have the skills, knowledge, tools, and resources to make it happen? For example, you may consider taking a night class, investing in exercise equipment, or hiring a business coach. You will feel more inspired and prepared to move towards your goals if you do everything you can to prepare.
Seek out a mentor. Most successful business people have had a great mentor along the way. Find a successful businessperson, athlete, or public figure that you admire. If you know them, ask them if they would be interested in mentoring you. If you don't know them, then read up on how they accomplished their goals. Study what they did and find inspiration in their motivation. They will most likely have a blog or article where they share their success story. For example, "How I made my first million dollars...
Believe in Yourself
Have faith in yourself and in the process. The first step to goal setting is to have total belief and faith that you can succeed. If you don't believe you can absolutely transform your life and get what you want, then you might as well forget about goal setting and do something else. If you are in doubt, look around at your world. Everything started with a single thought! Eliminate negative self chatter such as "am I good enough?" You are good enough.[5]
Commit yourself. If you are feeling like your commitment is wavering, get your goals out and read them. Also, write a few pages about how and why you are committing to each goal; why it is important to you, what it means to you, why the outcome is necessary and what you are going to do to make it happen. Without strong commitment, you are unlikely to follow through. As you go through the process of achieving your goals, you may want to check your commitment level.
Ask yourself if you are giving it your best effort.
- Check to make sure you are following through with each goal.
- If you stumble, make sure you are willing to recommit and move forward.
- Choose to learn from your experiences, win or lose
- Visualize the outcome. Some experts believe that taking a few minutes every day to visualize specific goals may have a significant impact on the degree of success you experience. In some cases research has revealed that mental practices are almost as effective as true physical practice. Before you go to sleep at night, try closing your eyes and visualizing your success
- Tell a friend about your goals[8]. Telling your support system, like your family and friends about your personal goals will inspire you to complete your goals and help cement the commitment you have made to follow them through. Your friends or family members may ask you on occasion how you are proceeding, which will keep you focused on what you set out to do. Without telling anyone about your goal, it would be easier to give up and not feel any guilt over failing.
- Stay positive. All great achievers had dreams that seemed totally impossible at the start, but instead of letting the difficulties stop them, they decided to go ahead. Keep your mind positive, as the biggest obstacle to your success is your thoughts. While you are driving in your car, or at home, pop in a motivational CD that inspires and encourages you and keeps you on track. Remember to keep things in perspective.
- Don't make a mountain out of a molehill.
- Don't let your vague fears hold you back from doing what you want to do.
- Find the optimistic viewpoint in a negative situation.
- Cultivate and live in a positive environment as best as you can.
- Add value and positivity to someone else's life.
Getting Organized
Make a list of resources. There are many ways to educate yourself in order to learn more about the area you are seeking to improve. Informing yourself on the topics you are committed to improving will help keep you up to date on the latest improvements in your field of interest and keep you inspired.
- Check your local paper for community educational classes.
- Go to your local library and source out books and read them.
- Learn from other people's experiences and knowledge and commit to an online course or seminar that will inspire you.
Ask friends that are successful in the area you want to improve in what resources they use.
Take notes. Note taking is an active process, making you an active learner. While taking a seminar, or listening to a motivational CD, write down notes on what you are learning. How does it apply to your goals? Taking notes will keep the information you are learning fresh in your mind and also help you keep track of your progress.
Review your goals weekly. Let's be honest, if you don't think about your goals, you won't make them happen. If you aren't doing anything about your goals, they are just wishes. At a set time, perhaps Monday mornings, review your progress for the last week and set new action steps for the upcoming week that push you towards your ultimate goal. Reading your goals weekly helps remind you of their importance and keeps you clear on what you truly want in your life.[9]
- Check to see if you are on track with your deadline. Perhaps you need to kick it up a notch and take more small steps to achieve your goal.
- Make sure you are challenging yourself enough. If the goal is becoming too easy to attain, perhaps you need to make the goal more challenging by adding a new component. For example, "I run two miles a day" instead of "I run a half mile a day."
Check to see if you are still inspired by your goals. If not, reorganize them until you feel more enthusiastic.