Tips for Writing a Personal Development Plan


Writing a personal development plan is an important step in life that can help you achieve your goals as you get some kind of direction to follow and stick to. This is however not a simple task one of the reasons why many people don't get around to writing it at all. Below you will find some tips on coming up with an effective plan. To begin with, never settle to write down to write a plan when you are bored, tired, uninspired or feeling lazy. Take a deep breathe to calm down, you can even move around a little to get the energy levels flowing.
Discover strengths & weaknesses
While some people know what they are good at and what they cannot do, some struggle to discover it. If you belong to the former category, there is no need to worry as you can start by answering some questions like:
  • What are the areas/activities that you succeed in and which ones do you find difficult?
  • What do people say you are good at?
  • What are some of your good as well as bad habits?
  • What are you comfortable doing?
Naturally the things that you are not comfortable with or the ones you find difficult are your weaknesses. You can get help from others to compile a comprehensive list. Don't work on the entire list as about 3 skills/areas are enough to focus on.
Add details
Once you know your focus areas, it is time to think about the ultimate objectives for the specific areas. Make sure they are specific and detailed. It is also important to make sure that they are measurable and you should have a very strong reason that backs up each of the focus areas. This is important as it helps you to stay focused.
Some of the questions that you can ask yourself at this point include:
  • Reasons for achieving that
  • How will it help you?
  • What will you gain at the end?
  • What can it stop or prevent?
  • How does it impact your life as well as others who surround you?
Set goals:
The goals that you set while writing a personal development plan should be SMART i.e.
  • Specific- this helps you know exactly what you are aiming for
  • Measurable- this will help you know if you meet your objective.
  • Achievable- Process of getting to the final point
  • Realistic- the goals should be within reach
  • Timely-give yourself a timeline when you are supposed to achieve the goals
Taking action:
There are normally 2 process that are involved in this
Committing the plans to paper- this should ensure it is brief and easily reviewable.
Schedule development time- this is where you need to set some time aside that will be used for personal development.
Review your progress
The final step of writing a personal development plan is to review your progress to find out if you are on track or whether you need to go back to the drawing board to come up with plans that you can handle. Do not wait for too long to do this as you should check in at least every 3 months to ensure you are on target.
Find out more about setting personal development goals and how you can get more from your life.
You can also claim your free personal development plan and get helpful advice on how to make sure it turns from dream into reality!