What is personal development and why is it important?

Are you someone who wakes up every morning and goes through your day-to-day work and go to bed, and then wakes up and does the same things all over again? You always feel like you are doing nothing except for the fact of just existing, and your dream, goals ambitions are getting buried in the thick molasses. Good news! You are not stuck, and neither alone. Well, thanks to us. We all know the feeling of getting stuck and dragging someone out of it is a work worth taking credit for. We bring you complete knowledge of personal development and how to plan one for your benefit.

What is personal development?

Self-development means looking inward and focusing on ways to improve yourself. Personal growth builds self-confidence, self-esteem builds capacity and fulfils desires. Personal development is much more important than career development or self-development. It encompasses all aspects of your life in which you want to see personal growth and does not discriminate where it appears for you.  

Five areas of personal development

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs cannot be ignored when it comes to personal development. According to Maslow, to reach our full potential, we need to satisfy our basic needs. In other words. Achieving self-actualisation means reaching the highest levels of self-awareness, self-confidence, personal growth and self-realisation. In personal development, there are five different areas. Different personal development goals can be grouped into different categories.  

• Mental - Training your brain and staying mentally healthy is very important for personal growth. Spiritual development can be anything from workshops, training sessions, or rest. Rest is just as important (if not more important) than a mental exercise. As your mental fitness improves, so do your resilience, innovation, and confidence. 
• Social - Social connections and relationships are also essential for personal growth. After all, Humans are social creatures and need this connection to learn and grow. Also, through social connections, you develop important skills such as communication skills, problem-solving, relationship building, and the ability to receive (and give) feedback. We also learn from our fellow humans and their experiences.  
• Spiritual - Personal development and growth can be achieved through spirituality, regardless you are religious or not. It is important to recognise that religion and spirituality are not synonymous and certainly far from it. Spirituality means investing in a deeper understanding of yourself in the world all around you. It helps in self-realisation and clarifies your values. And in the context of inner work, and spiritual and personal development, tools can lead to more self-awareness and change. 
• Emotional - Emotional personality development is often closely related to emotional intelligence. In simplest terms, emotional intelligence is the ability to understand emotions. Beyond emotions, we understand how those emotions shape our thoughts and actions. Many experiences are available for developing an emotional personality. And these experiences will help you in your quest for self-improvement. Get here on your own inner working journey. What experiences made you who you are today? Looking back on your journey so far, what have you learned? 
• Physical - A healthy body fosters a healthy mind. There is an essential connection between physical, mental and emotional health. This aspect of personal development focuses on physical health, such as diet, sleep, and exercise. When the body is nourished, the mind can benefit from these as well. 

Importance of Personal Development

There are numerous Personal development importance. Personal growth is not easy, but the benefits make the journey rewarding. Some of the guaranteed benefits of personal development are:  

• Increased self-awareness and self-esteem -Personal growth requires introspection of one's own thoughts, feelings, habits and reactions. It requires attention and awareness of your current state. But it also challenges you to look into the future to see where you want to go. Investing in yourself boosts your confidence and self-esteem.  
• Increased mental fitness - It takes effort to be mentally healthy. Also, many aspects of personal development help build strong mental fitness. As your mental fitness improves, you will see a positive ripple effect of benefits. People with strong mental health are more productive, suffer less from mental illness, and are more creative and innovative.  
• Greater resilience - Through self-development, resilience is achieved. Again, this is another positive sign of strong mental fitness. Investing in personal growth means investing in your ability to bounce back from difficult times. 
• More knowledge and learned skills - Personal growth often goes hand in hand with more knowledge and acquired skills. This can be achieved in various ways. For example, you can take a course in Digital Marketing that helps you acquire the skills you need to grow professionally. Or sign up for an art or pottery class that will help you develop skills in an entirely different area of ​​life. 
• Improved personal and professional relationships - Another benefit of personal development is improved personal and professional relationships. This area thrives when investing in personal growth, especially the emotional and social aspects.  

11 skills to work on

We have identified some general areas of self-improvement and personal development that you may want to invest in, including primarily identifying your key competencies: 

• 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 
• Organisational skills 
• Growth mindset 
• Teamwork and collaboration 
• Self-awareness

Steps to developing a personal development plan

As with any goal, it's important to have a plan. Combining your personal growth plan with some structure increases your chances of achieving your goals.   

Identify areas where you’d like to improve 

This first step will probably require some internal work. Take a moment and reflect on where you are. What are your strengths? What areas would you like to focus on? What kind of growth and development do you want for yourself? If you have completed a Whole Person Assessment, this can be a useful tool. Once you've thought about your personal goals, identify areas you'd like to improve.   

Structure your personal development goals 

Stick to routines and build consistency. Examine your daily life to find ways to build habits or build new habits on top of existing habits. 

Find an accountability buddy 

Holding someone accountable can make all the difference. Once you and your friend have set your intentions and goals, think about how you can support each other. 

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 into how you’re progressing in your goals, too. 

Factor personal development into your mental fitness plan 

How does personal growth affect your mental fitness plan? Consider how you can work with yourself to incorporate aspects of personal development into your overall mental fitness. 

Believe in these simple factors and consider these simple plans, and it's guaranteed that you will get results after a fixed period of time and hope you don’t forget the most important factor, “consistency”. If you are someone who always has great plans and clear ideas but fails to attempt those and decide that you’ll start working on them from the next 1st of January, check this article which will help you to eliminate procrastination from your life. Don’t worry you just have to take a step at a time and try not to get yourself into serious stress. Already there!? Check this article out to know the tips to deal with your stress.