Personal Self Development

As you may know from my previous communication with you, personal self development is a big deal to me. I could easily say this industry saved my life. When I was living in my car, selling above ground swimming pools in Louisiana, I hit a new low. I was sitting in my car wondering if there was a better way.

I pulled out a cassette tape of Anthony Robbins a friend had given me. I had heard it before but I hadn’t LISTENED to it. My mind was open and the time couldn’t have been better for me to LISTEN to his message…. from that point on, my life became “the better way”. I hope this message finds you pondering the same questions and that you are ready to “LISTEN”.

This topic can encompass anything that involves your transformation as a person. It means becoming the best you can be and reaching towards your potential. When you become a ‘better’ person than you were yesterday (this does not mean better than another person) your life and it’s circumstances improve. This is usually achieved by looking internally and then changing the way you act externally.

When it comes to doing something, planning what you intend to do is essential. Writing down what you want is the first step. It’s no different when it comes to your personal self development. Plan for it. Keep it brief and monitor what happens. Write down the results in a diary. Writing down what you want and what you get clarifies your thought process and cements your intention.

You are allowed to change or adjust your plan whenever you wish. If there is no success as you follow the steps in your plan, that’s your signal to review what you have done or to adjust your plan.

Here are 10 tips to consider for your self development plan

1. Start Now
Do something about your personal development plan today. It’s going to take some time to achieve lasting change so you need to start now. You can build on what you do today, tomorrow. Don’t become a pro at crastination! 😉

“You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”
– Abraham Lincoln

2. Baby Steps
To make a plan you need to include steps. Break a large goal into it’s smallest components. Keep the end result in mind as you focus on the smaller bite sized steps.

3. Learn From Other People
You can gain from the success of other people and you can learn from their mistakes. Your own experience is a harsh teacher so learn from the mistakes of others. If you can find a mentor or coach your task will be easier. Read as many books as you can. Here’s my top 20 books to help you maximize your personal self development plan.

If you can’t afford to buy books or don’t want to spend the money borrow them from the library or do what I did when I was homeless… I would hang out in the bookstore, read as much as I could from a book, remember the page number I was on and then the next day go back and finish.

4. Embrace Change
The world is changing all the time. Even if you do nothing you will change by default as the world turns. There is no escape from this. If people and ideas didn’t change we would all still be living in caves.

Your personal self development plan needs to include how you are going to change, what action will you take? Only action leads to results. “I see better than I hear” comes to mind here.

5. Be Accountable
You are responsible for your own progress. You are responsible for what you are today and where you are today.

That means it’s your job to initiate the steps involved in your personal development plan. If you don’t bother, no one else will. It also means you own the result and no one else is to blame. Buck stops here!

6. Be Grateful & Recognize Your Worth
Focus on what you already have. Think about how others benefit from what you do. If you improve yourself, those benefits will increase. Your personal development is for others, as well as for you.

7. Be Intentional
Whatever you intend becomes your reality. Find your true intention before you resolve to do something and make sure you really want what you say you want. If your goal and your intention are not aligned, then you’ll think up lots of excuses and all sorts of situations to prevent your progress.

8. Challenge Yourself
Your goals need to be just out of reach. If you reach for an impossible target, you’re setting yourself up for a failure. If you stick to what’s easy, you’re denying yourself the satisfaction of achievement and only minimal change will occur. Find that middle ground with a stretch goal in your personal self development.

9. Follow Your Passion
It’s no good doing things that you don’t like. Chose actions that appeal to you and are in line with your values. Click here for a video on values and you’ll see how to align them with your self development plan.

Pick people to help you that you like being around. Make sure you’re following your heart while not running from the hard issues. Become a Master in the Art of Living where people can’t tell if you’re working or playing because, to you, you’re always doing both!

10. Keep Going & NEVER Give Up
Life works in cycles and moves to a rhythm. You will have up and downs. When you hit a slow point or things don’t seem to be moving, don’t give up, keep going. There is no such thing as continual rapid advancement and that means your personal development plan needs to be achievable and balanced. Find your rhythm and go with the flow. There’s no such thing as finished personal self development. You can go on learning, changing and renewing for all of your life.