Whether you realize it or not, your best asset is yourself. Learning this could come as a bit of a shock, but knowing this will cause you to invest in yourself more vigorously.
Perhaps one of your precious material assets is a car or a home, think about the time you spend upgrading it, taking care of it, and spending effort and time on it to increase its performance and ability.
This insight might offer you a whole new perspective on yourself and self-development because, without you, there is nothing.
Developing skills work very well in a professional setting but also helps you to make the most of your life no matter which type of life you have chosen.
What is Personal Development?
Personal development is standing back momentarily and assessing your life holistically. Are you in the job you want? Do you have the kind of relationship you’ve always wanted? It is taking a snapshot of your life now and deciding how it will look in the future.
We might be stuck, but we never have to stay stuck.
We often seek these skills when we feel our lives are not entirely on target. Or we are off-kilter, which is perfectly OK, it takes being uncomfortable with ourselves to make change happen.
This dynamic process is changeable and moves as we attain our goals and find the skills we need to move forward.
As we go through life, we go through different self-developmental stages. The stage where we build a career, start a family, become more authentic to our true selves, and also spend retirement in a certain way. The skills here will help you achieve everything you want, whether career-driven or seeking internal growth, to reach your full potential. The process of change and growth is known as self-actualization.
Skill 1 – Communication and Interpersonal Skills
Never buy into the idea that you cannot do something meaningful for yourself. Perhaps people told you that you were never great at communicating or networking. That is fine because these are skills you can learn. Not everyone is born a great communicator. Yes, some families and schools help a lot with this, and others do not, but there are many courses you can take to improve this skill set.
You want to be listened to in your personal and professional life, and by the same token, you want to learn to listen to others. By default, this leads to a growth in interpersonal skills, self-development and self-improvement.
There are loads of training courses in the areas you might find you are lacking, but in the meantime, knowing that being heard and listening is all about confidence. If you find it challenging to communicate your point, join a debating society. Here you will learn to share your point without being angry, for example, and that people will hear you instead of being ignored.
In business, there can be a time when public speaking is required and if you don’t feel that up for it, consider joining Toastmasters. They teach people how to speak professionally and get their points across.
Communication encompasses more than we might have realized at first.
Communication transcends regular communication. It can also encompass your ability to write professional emails, answer queries effectively, master the ability to put up a great website, write engagingly and speak in a clear voice that is pleasant to people listening.
On a personal level, it also means being able to talk about tricky relationship issues and get resolutions without arguments and fights. Â
Skill 2 – Get Growing
If you feel you are stuck in your ways, and in some cases, this becomes obvious to us when our lives are static and we are getting nowhere. Consider if you are in a growth mindset or a fixed mindset. Being static can mean doing the same things every day and getting the same results. This type of mindset can be very frustrating and self-defeating.
The reason so many people get stuck is fear of the unknown.
On the other hand, being in a growth mindset is letting go of that fear of failure. The only way you will get ahead is to take that chance. It is uncomfortable and can make a person uneasy, but change will not happen without it, and the thrill you will feel at succeeding will quickly replace the feeling of fear.
If the fear is too much, consider hiring a life coach and face your fears by focusing on what you want instead of what you don’t want. Filling your mind with positive images of your new life will spur you on more than ruminating about what is not working out for you now.
The bonus is that in your personal life, you can move forward with issues you find difficult by facing your fear and moving past it.
Skill 3 – Think Like an Entrepreneur
Every person who has done well and become well known, whether in business or in their personal lives, has a vision.
That means they knew what they wanted and didn’t leave a stone unturned until they got it. It also involves finding information, researching your market or your desire, and setting about getting it.
In business, it means understanding the opposition, both in your chosen field and being able to sell your idea to people who need convincing. This precedent can be from the largest to the slightest idea. Entrepreneurs never give up and refuse to let go of their goals. They might modify it, but they will not give up on it. If you have heard the adage ‘Like a dog with a bone,’ this is an entrepreneur.
Modifying your goal is part of the growth and realization stage of change.
Learn more about: Tips for Personal Growth
Skill 4 – Become Flexible and Dynamic in Your Thinking
You cannot be set in your ways while developing your business or personal life. Life is always about change, that is one thing you can bank on. So your choice is to embrace it and give what it takes or to create the changes you want to see before the shift changes you. This idea is far more difficult for people who hate change, so keeping that in mind might spur you on.
An open mind opens more doors and allows you to fit into any market at any level or time.
Skill 5: Get Studying
If you are stuck and have no goals, consider what you are good at now. Perhaps you have a blog and love doing it, but it is not going well.
If you love blogging, it is worth adding this to your skill set and learning how to become a better blogger. There are courses available to help you hone your skill.
Also read: How To Choose A Career
If you are already halfway there, growing your skills and adding to them is a must, not a ‘maybe.’ You have to stay on top of your game. If you have a future idea of what you want to do or want to be, start adding to that skill set. The more you put action into your thoughts, the more of a reality they become.Â
Skill 6: Set Goals
Some goals might seem more realistic than others, and that is OK. You have to set them anyway. Try and visualize how long you think they will take. Then, when you get down to a particular goal, you will see precisely the actions and periods needed to achieve them. Start with the easier ones first. More manageable goals can spur you on to make new goals.
You can rehash your goals every month or every quarter, plans are flexible, but having a start and finish will help you complete your task. Be daring in your goals but make sure to understand the difference between dreams and realities in order to set realistic goals.
Skill 7: Make Fears Your Friends
No one likes to be fearful, and having fears hanging over you can be draining and self-defeating. You can turn this around for yourself. If you don’t face your fears, you can count on one thing, you will stay where you are, maybe forever!
See fears in a new light. They are like highlighted areas of your life that you need to work on that can start real change occurring. It is your future on a plate. Fears are great determining factors for guaranteed change. Face them one at a time, and soon you will find fears are, in fact, your friends.
Skill: 8 Learn to Love Reading
Changing how your life is and getting to your aspirations can take a bit of research and some reading. Be selective, though, reading is super critical but makes sure you have chosen a good book. There are so many books out there you have to find the right one for your challenge.
So, before reading, ensure the person writing the book has a good background and some years of experience. The more you read, the more you learn, that is what you are after here, not for every goal but for many objectives. Reading can also encompass any skill you are currently learning. Courses and skill set training will have referred reading lists. If you hate reading, you can still listen to books via audible devices. Knowledge is power.
Skill:9 Wake Up Earlier?
Waking earlier for some is more manageable than others, and not everyone who wakes up early is successful! The wake up earlier adage is about giving yourself time to complete all you need to do in one day. It is also about being able to access business during business hours.
If you find you are more of a night owl, this can work for you too. Decide whether working late or getting up earlier will move you to your goal quicker, and use that method. One thing that does help everyone is a good night’s sleep, so when planning, make sure you get enough hours on your sleep schedule too.
Skill: 10 Don’t Forget Your Health
Attaining goals and getting ahead does not mean bashing yourself up and neglecting your health issues, whether they are mental health or physical health issues. The best way through this is to check in on yourself. You might require the help of friends, your therapist, and people who care about you. They can give you honest feedback and also help encourage you in the areas you do well. Sometimes we are too close actually to see what is happening ourselves.
Embracing your so-called flaws or areas of weakness and getting in touch with those areas is exciting. Most successful people on earth understand their shortcomings and then, through this process, find their strengths and overcome challenges.
Skill 11: Plan and Write it Down
Many people will go ahead with a new development track and not write down their progress or goals.
Keeping a tracker of some sort helps keep you on track!
The path to success requires visual cues. Visual cues feed into that success loop, and you can see where you are going wrong or right! Either way, growth is occurring.
As long as you are moving forward with a goal and set dates and times, you will be moving forward. If you leave it all in your head, you can often forget or not put too much importance on that idea because head goals are easy to avoid.
If you are an avoidant at heart, writing things down can get you moving, and you cannot beat the satisfaction of ticking things off as you go along. Success, after all, means different things to different people, and even small changes have ripple effects on our lives.
Wrap Up
When we are seeking self-development, the reasons can vary. Some want a happier personal life, a more fulfilling existence, or a great new job or career. Perhaps you want all of the above. If you are reading this now, maybe you are ready to make changes.
Making changes need not be uncomfortable, but understanding that there will be challenges ahead and moments of difficulty will stand you in good stead for handling anything that comes your way. The person that wants to change things will!