Think back on your life over the past year. Do you feel like you have made significant progress in life? Can you say without a shadow of a doubt that you have grown as a person over the past year? Or, have you wasted important time on meaningless activities that lead you nowhere? Do you feel like you have no control over your life, spending your days in a rush? If you finally want to start the mechanism of your development, then write a personal development plan - this is an important thing that you must do.
You can write a plan any day, but as a rule, everyone has high hopes for the new year and expects changes. So why not finally start acting on the plan you made?
The power of having a clear plan is that you can guide all your actions in the right direction. Not only will this give you more control over your life, but it will also help you stop wasting your time.
The importance of creating a personal development plan
Do you know exactly where you want to be in the future? Can you answer in great detail where you see yourself in a year or even five years?
Most people have no idea where they are going. They let coincidence and luck decide their fate. They are all going somewhere, but most often it is a place where they neglect their own development. Don't be one of them! Don't let others decide for your life.
The importance of planning is carried out on several fronts. One advantage is that you will be faced with the rather difficult question of what your path is. This is an important issue that should not be overlooked. If you don't have a destination, it doesn't matter where you go. And if it doesn't matter which direction you move, you will eventually stop moving because lying down is more comfortable.
But once you start writing down what you want to achieve, you dramatically increase your chances of becoming who you want to be. Whenever you set carefully planned, realistic goals, you will always achieve what you want.
“Those who wrote down their goals achieved significantly more than those who did not write down goals.”
– Dr. Gail Matthews
The importance of planning has been backed by scientific research, which has shown that writing down your goals increases your chances of success.
Three paths to personal growth
And if the question of personal growth arises at all, it means that there is no harmony in your life and some changes are needed.
You can start practicing self-development at any age, at 20, 30, 40, and 50 years old. You can always engage in self-development!
Personal growth or self-development is the process of developing some new qualities in yourself that will lead you to improvement in many areas of life.
In 1959, the famous psychologist Karl Rogers indicated that personal growth must begin if you want fundamental changes in life and he highlighted
The law of “personal growth”, which fits into one phrase: “If..., Then...”.
For example, if I don't know how to swim, then I will drown if I don't take some action.
OR
If I learn to swim, then I will swim in any situation.
There are different methods, let's look at which ones.
- From the books
- Develop your own method of personal growth
- With the help of a coach (the most expensive and fastest way)
And a mixed path, when you little by little try what is closer to you, how better and faster you can achieve your goals.
How to write a personal development plan?
The personal development planning process revolves around creating an action plan that is based on your ambitions for development in areas such as career and education, as well as self-improvement. Basically, a plan makes a statement about your future life and how you intend to achieve it.
Most people struggle when it comes to figuring out what exactly they should include in their personal development plan. Your plan should contain the following five criteria:
- What do you want (or where do you want to be)
- Why do you want it
- How do you plan to achieve this
- Potential Obstacles, Risks and Hazards
- How do you plan to overcome difficulties?
You can also include alternative plans that you can quickly arrange if things go wrong.
Try to thoroughly answer the following questions before developing your plan:
- What do I really want to make of my life?
- What kind of person is this that I really want to be?
- Do I have a vision of what I want to achieve in this world?
- What are my goals and ambitions?
- What are my dreams?
- Are my current decisions leading me to where I want to be?
Error self-development plan
In order for your plan to work, try to follow the rules when developing it:
- Choose the right time to compile it. You should not do this hastily or in a bad mood or tired.
- Make both annual and weekly plans to see your final goals and a detailed algorithm of actions.
- Consider your options. There is no point in including diving training in your tasks if you don’t even have a vacation in the next six months.
- Balance your resources and performance. Today you are full of strength and energy, but tomorrow you don’t want to do anything; fluctuations in physical and emotional activity affect the process of realizing your desires.
- Make a plan for the sole purpose of executing it, and not for fun or because it is fashionable.
- Don't be afraid of failure.
- Adapt actions to real-world conditions.
- Consider the possibility of deviations from the plan and adjust it accordingly.
- Reflect the algorithm of actions and goals clearly (in the form of a table, graph, abstract, etc.).
- Create goals that inspire you to achieve them.
- Don't miss scheduled events.
- Believe in yourself and your success!
- Track your progress.
- Look for support, not only among close people, but also in interest groups.
Do not perceive the compiled algorithm of actions as the enslavement of your will; the plan should not burden your life, but, on the contrary, stimulate and inspire development.
Elements of a personal development plan
Planning is not difficult. The challenge, however, is creating a plan that actually reflects where you want to be and who you want to be. This also means that you will have to identify everything that will lead you closer to your goal.
Here's what you need to do to determine your individual development plan:
Making a list
Taking inventory may be the most difficult part of creating your personal development plan. It requires you to be honest with yourself and the situation in which you find yourself. Analyzing your current situation will help you identify areas you can work on in the future. This stage will also require you to reconsider your goals and ambitions.
Writing a mission
A personal statement can be useful for people who want to be able to evaluate the goals of their actions and activities. This statement helps you ask yourself whether what you are doing is contributing to your mission or not.
Short and long term planning
When developing a personal development plan, it is very important to divide it into short-term, medium-term and long-term parts. If you only plan for the long term, you are likely to ignore the importance of planning for the short term.
Re-evaluating your plan
Continuously re-evaluating your plan allows you to develop responses to recent events. This will help you come up with the best solution at the moment.
Taking and taking action
Why do you need a plan if you don't follow it? Make sure you don't forget your plan. Follow your plan and take the actions necessary to implement it.
Make a self-development plan
Having decided on your goals, the question arises of how to create a self-development plan. How to think through the actions correctly, what they should be? How to create a course of action to achieve your goals? Let’s try to figure out what exactly the steps may be on the path to professional or personal self-development, and we’ll also touch on other areas.
Personal self-development plan
There are 4 levels of life that you should focus your actions on to achieve harmonious balance:
- physical;
- social;
- intellectual;
- spiritual.
Based on this, create an algorithm for the steps of personal self-development:
- At the physical level, formulate a plan, taking into account nutrition, principles of a healthy lifestyle, physical training, breathing exercises, wakefulness and rest patterns, etc.
- The social level of self-development concerns such aspects as interaction with society, with loved ones, friends, and work colleagues.
- The intellectual level affects not only mental abilities and mental operations, it also includes the ability to control one’s emotions, purposefulness of development, the ability to see the essence of life and one’s true nature. Training, education and improving existing skills play an important role.
- The spiritual level touches on issues of awareness of one’s purpose, mental organization, and knowledge of the world around us.
Thus, a ready-made algorithm of actions should reflect these components of your life.
Creative self-development plan
Creativity is an integral part of every person's life. Some people devote time and attention to it, while others have completely different goals and objectives as a priority. But a person should have everything in balance, so you shouldn’t completely miss this area of life.
When drawing up a plan for your self-development, it is important to first understand what you have the ability to do. Some like to sew, some like to embroider, some like to design, etc. Based on your own priorities, formulate an action plan. Try to pay attention to your favorite activity not occasionally, but systematically. Improve your knowledge and skills, add something new, invent your own. Creativity has a fruitful effect on the development of mental operations.
Individual plan for professional self-development
The goal of professional development is not only and not so much to conquer the top of the career ladder. Yes, this is a confirmation of success, but the goal is to achieve a high level of professionalism in one’s activities.
Therefore, when you draw up a professional self-development plan, it should not include a listing of desired positions, but should write what needs to be done to get this promotion.
Some areas of activity require an increase in the level of knowledge, and some require professional skills. You need to make a plan depending on the specifics of the job. If additional training is required, set a goal to complete it; if more practice is needed, strive to increase your productivity.
In addition, do not forget about such components as relationships with colleagues and subordinates. A healthy microclimate in a team is the key to successful self-realization.
Personal Development Plan Examples
The personal development plan can be divided into the following areas:
What do I want to achieve in life?
What is the true purpose of my life? The importance of knowing that you were born to do something should not be underestimated. This gives you the necessary foundation on which to build your plans for the future. However, discovering your life's purpose is a complex process that takes time.
What are my dreams? We all grew up with our wildest dreams, but as we got older, we lost sight of them and then forgot them completely. Don't make the mistake of rationalizing - dreams that inspire and motivate you are very important.
What kind of person do I really want to be?
What are my beliefs and values? Ask yourself what are the beliefs you hold and the values that are important to you.
Who am I now and who do I want to be in the future? Analyzing who you are now and who you want to become in the future will help you determine the direction of your work.
What are my goals?
Don't underestimate the importance of realistic and inspiring goals. It is advisable to divide these goals into short-term, medium-term and long-term. Short-term goals are those that take about six months to achieve. Medium term goals are approximately 1 to 3 years and long term goals are 5 years or more.
What are the necessary steps?
Many people only focus on setting ambitious goals without realizing the importance of specifying the necessary steps they must complete. Stages allow you to break a goal into several subgoals. This will allow you to maintain the necessary motivation even when you are working on long-term goals.
Levels of Personal Growth
Your inner world should change a lot, and this will all be reflected in your appearance, and you will also get rid of the feeling of guilt if you consciously engage in personal growth.
To achieve harmony and happiness, changes must affect:
- Physical level
- Social level
- Intellectual level
- Spiritual level
The physical level affects everything that concerns the body: healthy lifestyle, proper nutrition, feasible physical activity, breathing practices, communication with nature to improve the health of the body, relaxation, sex life, etc.
Social level : these are relationships with loved ones and relationships at a professional level, other communication connections in society, adjusting all of your connections with the outside world, assessing your purpose, material security and improving life in general in society.
Intellectual level : correct setting of your goals, searching for the main goal in life, conscious understanding of the nature of your feelings, both positive and negative, working on your emotions.
Spiritual level of personal development : affects personal qualities and spiritual qualities, such as selfless help, acceptance of people with all their vices, non-judgment, the ability to forgive. Gaining knowledge not only about life around, but also accepting one’s destiny.
Yearly planning that works. 6 proven methods
Planning for the year is difficult for many people. It seems like a year is so long, and it is full of situations that we cannot predict in advance.
That's all true, of course. However, this does not exclude the possibility and necessity of planning the year. I'm not talking about planning in advance what you will do on a given day. Although this is partially possible, but more on that later.
First of all, we are talking about strategic planning. We choose a main course or landmark, mark control points along this long path that we already know about. And then, taking into account those very sudden and unpredictable circumstances, we plan for shorter periods of time and constantly adapt our plan to changing circumstances. This way it will not lose relevance and provide the necessary flexibility.
A plan for the year is not a vice into which we squeeze ourselves, making it hard to breathe. This is a useful tool that makes life easier. When used correctly, of course.
Does planning for the year work or not?
Every year, people actively share their goals for the coming year on social media. They put them on a grand scale, because in the pre-holiday period it seems that mountains can be moved, and energy will be on the rise throughout the 12 months.
But then January and February come, and everyone gradually returns to their usual pace of life. There is a feeling that there is still a lot of time ahead, so it is not necessary to sign up for the gym or English courses right now.
If there is a specific goal (for example, moving to an English-speaking country soon), or strong internal motivation, then there is a chance of achieving the goal. But, unfortunately, this is not the case for everyone. And the list of goals, instead of a ticket to a new life, becomes a silent reproach and a reason to criticize yourself for the whole year.
Planning in the style of “from January 1st, a new life: I will wake up at 5 am, run every day, learn 30 foreign words” and everything like that is nothing more than a wish list compiled in a state of emotional excitement caused by the pre-holiday atmosphere .
In particular, in the 63rd episode of the “Time for Change” podcast, the hosts discussed exactly this problem and shared their thoughts on this matter.
In this article I will talk about a practical approach to planning the year. These are several methods that can be used either separately or in combination with each other. I have been using them for quite a long time, I have managed to verify their effectiveness, and I am happy to share them with you.
Well, let's move on from general conversations directly to planning the new year.
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Method one: Franklin's Pyramid
I have an article on my blog about long-term planning using the Benjamin Franklin method. It is also called a pyramid because it offers six stages of planning. It all starts with defining your life values and priorities, long-term goals. On their basis, planning then takes place for 3-5 years, for a year, a month , a week and a day .
Read also:
Personal effectiveness. We plan things for the month
Planning for the week. Step-by-step algorithm and plan template
How to make a plan for the day?
10 common mistakes when planning
In the article about the Franklin pyramid , I spoke in detail and with examples about this planning method, so I will not repeat it here.
If you approach planning using Franklin's method, it's likely that planning for the year won't cause you much difficulty or take much time.
The advantage of this approach is that you will always keep your long-term goals in focus. And, even if a lot changes during the year, it will not affect plans that are distant in time. Unless it speeds up their achievement.
Let me give you an example: one of my long-term goals is financial freedom. At the beginning of the year, I can set plans for existing sources of income or think about how to create new ones. But, regardless of how the methods of income change (you can get a new job, open an online store, close an old project, etc.), the long-term goal will remain the same. And all my actions will be aimed at choosing the optimal way to achieve it.
So, within the framework of this goal, it would be logical to close the old project if the new one in the future will bring in more money with less effort. Or it will be completely passive, etc.
Method two: write down everything we already know about
I said a little higher that already at the beginning of the year we can fit a lot of things into our annual plan. I'll tell you with my own example.
— At the beginning of the year, I enter in the diary the birthdays of family members, friends and their children, and the birthdays of good acquaintances. I also mark the dates in advance when it’s worth taking care of gifts for birthday people.
Next, I write down important family dates: anniversaries, etc.
Instead of a diary, all this can be entered into a calendar, planning application , mind map , depending on the method convenient for you.
- The next step is to add information about other events, affairs, trips that I know about in advance. I also note the approximate dates when you need to start preparing for them.
— In America, every year we fill out and submit tax returns. I know the deadline for submission in advance, it is April 15th.
In order to submit a declaration, you need to collect a number of documents. I have a checklist for this in Trello . And in my diary I note exactly what needs to be done and when.
— Another stage is entering information about holidays. I mark on the calendar the main state and national holidays of the United States (the country in which I live), as well as Russia and Ukraine, since my projects are associated with these countries. There is no point in planning any business if it is a day off, banks are closed, etc.
I also write down information about religious holidays, as well as dates and events that are important to take into account in my projects (for example, many events have discounts and other events in the online store, I need to prepare content for blogs in advance, etc.) So this This point in planning is very important for me and saves a lot of time in the future.
Read also:
How to sum up the year? 15 questions to yourself
New Year's to-do list
— If I know the dates of some payments, for example, for credit cards, payment for hosting services and renewal of domain names for blogs. This is also displayed in advance in my diary.
— At the beginning of the year, I note the approximate dates for general cleaning of the house (with subsequent possible adjustment of dates depending on busyness) and other periodic household chores.
Since I have them tied to events and seasons that repeat from year to year (before the New Year, during spring break, etc.), there are no difficulties with this either.
— If there are other things that are done regularly (for example, weekly writing an article for a blog, preparing a video for a channel, etc.), then you can safely include all this in your plans in advance.
I usually try to assign tasks to specific days of the week, this simplifies the planning process and saves time. In my diary, I mark such things in pencil so that I can easily make changes if necessary.
I don't always specify the topic of a specific article, but simply note that an article should be published on that day for a planning blog or for a blog about the USA. And what exactly it will be about, I will determine closer to this date based on the list of topics in Trello .
“I also mark on the calendar the beginning and end of the school year at my daughter’s school, information about vacations and holidays when school is not open. This helps in planning work tasks.
For example, when choosing a date for a planning consultation with clients or a webinar or live broadcast, I most likely will not schedule them on a day when school is not open and the child will be with me.
Method three: planning for the year from point B
Another popular approach to strategic planning for the year. The point is to write down in as much detail as possible where you see yourself after 12 months. What do you do? Where do you live? Who do you work for or what projects are you developing?
If you already have a business, what happened to it in a year? What new directions are you developing? How did your income increase?
Where have you visited during the year? What courses did you take and what did you learn?
How long do you rest? How much time do you spend with your family and how often do you see friends?
These questions are ideas for visualization, you can come up with your own in accordance with your desires and goals.
The point of the exercise is that knowing exactly where you want to go makes it much easier to plan your route. That is, determine exactly what actions will lead you to this point. Planning from point B also helps with prioritization.
Such a plan, as in previous versions, can be compiled in the form of a list on a sheet of paper, in an application , mind map or in the form of a vision board. This is a little different than a wish card , but the meaning is the same.
Some tips: Be realistic in your plans. Don't set too many goals that will require you to spend too much time and effort to achieve. It's better to practice small steps. By acting in this way, even after a year you will achieve impressive results.
You can take stock of your progress monthly by referring to your roadmap. Are your actions leading to point B? Have any of the described goals been achieved? If not, what progress? Are there goals on which you have not made any progress at all? If so, why? What is the next action to take? Or maybe there are some goals that have lost their relevance altogether?
Method four: Brian Tracy's method
To make the coming year productive, I recommend taking the advice of the famous time management and efficiency specialist Brian Tracy. He gives it in the book “Get Out of Your Comfort Zone. Change your life" .
Book on the topic:
Brian Tracy's book Get Out of Your Comfort Zone. Change your life" on the website of the publishing house MYTH
Below is a quote from the author:
“Take a blank piece of paper right now and make a list of ten goals that you would like to achieve over the next twelve months. Formulate them as if a year has already passed and they have become a reality. Use the present tense, indicative mood, and speak in the first person to ensure that the goals you list are positively received by your subconscious.
For example, you could write: “I earn X dollars a year” or “I weigh X kilograms” or “I have such and such a car.”
Then re-read the list and select one goal that, if you achieved it, would have the most significant impact on your life. Now write it down on a separate sheet of paper, indicate a deadline for its implementation, make a plan to achieve it, start acting in accordance with this plan, and then do something every day that brings you closer to your goal. An exercise like this in itself can radically change your life!”
Method five: 12 weeks a year
This approach is described in the book “12 weeks a year. How to do more in 12 weeks than others manage to do in a year .
As the authors explain, when planning for 12 months, many people (and companies) raise their expectations and set too many goals. Then they procrastinate most of the time, not doing much to achieve them. But at the end of the year, in the last few months, they make a push to complete as many tasks as possible.
As an alternative, Moran and Lennington suggest shortening the period for which plans are made. So that, in essence, there is simply nowhere to put it aside. After all, a deadline in 12 weeks is not at all the same as a deadline in 12 months.
The book describes all this in some detail and gives many practical recommendations. I definitely recommend reading it and trying this approach.
Book on the topic:
The book “12 weeks a year” by Brian Moran and Michael Lennington on the MYTH publishing website
Method six: improving our life in different areas
This is one of my favorite approaches to planning for the year. The idea is simple: we make a list of everything that we would like to improve. For example: “I want to spend more time with my family”, “I want to add more physical activity”, “I want to increase my income”, “I want to travel more often”, etc.
You can do this in the form of a list or using the “Balance Wheel” exercise. I already talked about it in the article about planning the month .
This approach sets a certain course for the year and identifies areas that can be improved. At the same time, there is room for imagination.
Physical activity can be running, hiking, cycling or walking in the park. A five-minute charge, after all. This can be done every day, on weekends, on vacation. That is, combine in different variations.
As a result, the actions will correspond to those stated in the list, but will not create pressure or provoke a state of procrastination. But this will help keep the issue under control throughout the year.
Same thing with the example of increasing income. You can talk to management about increasing your salary, moving to a higher-paying position in the same company, or changing jobs completely. Other options: try yourself in business, launch a new project, start investing. There are a huge number of ways.
The very fact that the list is compiled from the position of “want” and not “need” motivates you to look at it more often.
Then, based on such a list of wishes (or resolutions, as they are more often called), specific items can be included in monthly , weekly and daily plans.
Planning for the year in paper or electronic form?
What else should you take care of when planning for the coming year? Of course, you need to choose a planning method (if you haven’t decided on this issue up to this point).
Some people like to keep a paper diary. Others prefer to use special programs and applications. You can also combine both options. That's what I do.
I talked about the experience of combining these two methods in an audio release dated December 18, 2022 in my Telegram channel “Planning is Easy” .
Summing up
The most important thing is that you plan your affairs not in your head, but in writing. Over time, this becomes a habit and is not difficult. Then everything is organized, and your head is not filled with unnecessary information about small tasks.
And in closing, I want to quote Brian Tracy again:
“Of all adults, only about three percent are able to clearly formulate their goals in writing. These are the people who manage to do ten times more than their colleagues.”
Good luck to you and may the new year be unforgettable!
Watch the webinar:
Other interesting blog articles:
11 Quotes from David Allen on Personal Effectiveness and Planning
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This article contains affiliate links. This means that I receive a small commission for recommending such products or services. This does not make them more expensive for buyers. The funds received help me develop my blog about planning and make it more interesting and useful for readers.
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Where to begin? Your first steps
Before you create a plan for self-development, you first need to carefully analyze your life now: all its aspects, from work to personal life. This analysis helps to identify all the “gaps” in your life, and, among other things, shows what needs to be changed in the near future. After such a “medical examination”, start drawing up your plan.
There is only one piece of advice here - a self-development plan is a purely individual thing, which the individual must draw up himself without anyone’s help. This does not mean that you cannot use individual fragments, but you should not copy it completely. Don’t forget, you adapt it to yourself, taking into account all the features of your character, as well as other traits of your personality.
When creating a self-development program for yourself, first of all, do not be afraid to experiment - decide on something new. It is not necessary to radically change everything at once, but it is necessary to build a gradual change. When creating a plan for personal self-development for the year, do not forget to also pay great attention to your creative development - this will make the abstinence period much easier for you, which will begin to appear some time after changing your behavior pattern.
Don't focus on one thing - develop comprehensively - let your knowledge deepen in different areas of activity with the same progress - this way you will have a significant advantage over other people.
Feedback
My team provided feedback on this tool.
It has both pros and cons. Pros of IPR:
- A convenient and effective practice that allows you to determine the goals necessary for individual growth and methods for achieving them.
- Constant monitoring makes it possible to evaluate acquired skills or, conversely, to pay attention to lagging areas.
- Self-education is very productively integrated into the work process.
- Allows you to evaluate where to move, which areas to pay attention to first, and they will be useful in your work.
- Allows you to avoid trying to optimize all metrics at once.
- With the selected materials, it is easier to move on to the actual study, because there is a list of specific books and courses.
- Partially answers the question “What do I even do?”
- It creates the feeling that you are not standing still, and you can even see what new things you have learned over the year.
Disadvantages of IPR:
- A situation may arise where there are no tasks for certain goals. Of course, even with independent projects, sometimes there are no current tasks to consolidate.
- It is not clear how to evaluate the items from the Soft skills section.
- Somehow it turned out that for the last two months we hardly met, which allowed us to forget about the plan. That is, I would like to emphasize the regularity of meetings.
conclusions
So, here are the basic recommendations for working with IPR:
- Have a plan—having a plan is better than not having one, and the team agrees.
- Distribute tasks taking into account the IPR.
- Create materials lists with your team and use them as a self-development tool.
- Use independent projects as an experimental platform for strengthening skills when current projects do not have such tasks.
useful links
- Programmer Competency Matrix.
- How to create a Skills Matrix for Success.
- Harvard Manage Mentor - Developing Employees.
- A framework for evaluating data scientist competency.
- Data Science Competency Matrix.
- T-shaped, Pi-shaped and Comb-shaped skills.
On May 25,
a two-week festival “Russian Internet Technologies” begins - everything to spur professional development. Here are a few master classes that will be useful to team leads and those who are planning to become one:
- Two-way interview: how to interview a company? / Anna Afonina, Vitaly Levchenko, Alexander Shvetsov.
- Tools for decomposing, planning and accepting tasks / Alexey Yagur (YouDo).
- Practices for developing personal effectiveness of a leader / Irina Shilova (SCOUT Academy).
And the selection of the program for the autumn Saint TeamLead Conf is proceeding as usual. If you want to speak, write. The sooner the better, because we are not waiting for a deadline to start accepting papers for the conference program.
Deadlines
For newcomers, in the vast majority of cases, it is customary to set plans for a period of approximately six months, and for already existing employees this time period can reach a year. For HiPOs or employees with increased potential, such a plan can be drawn up immediately for a period of three to five years.
In the best case, a regulation on personnel training or some other document should include not only the steps of the career ladder, but also the criteria by which the professional skills and knowledge of a specialist are assessed. Thus, employees, together with their manager, can assess their current competencies and determine what needs to be developed to achieve the next career step.
