DO YOU: How Planning Your Personal Development Can Change Your Life

Do you have a personal development plan? Do you recognize the need for one? As a Leader in Corporate America it is an absolute requirement. It’s almost completely focused, though, on career development and progression. What are your strengths and opportunities as a leader? Where are you now, where do you want to be, and what are you doing to close the gap? What is the plan (composed of SMART goals) to get you to the future you’ve envisioned?

Although most of my exposure to a development plan has been in the professional sense, I have since become a strong believer in having a personal development plan. A personal development plan can most definitely include professional goals, but it is not limited to that. A personal development plan is more holistic. It can be focused on one specific goal or on your life as a whole (life plan).

Your personal development plan (PDP) is your current roadmap for achieving a happy and fulfilling life. I say current because just as we as individuals are ever evolving; so must our PDP be.
I am a firm believer in our ability to create the life we want. At the same time, I know that you can’t do that without some planning and disciplined execution. Knowing yourself is at the heart of a personal development plan. It’s about having a healthy amount of self-love; and having a desire to be your best and live your best life. I have previously shared 4 steps to getting what you want in life. This post is a double click into the planning piece “Plan Purposefully” of those steps. Here are a few tips on developing and executing your personal development plan.

Assess your current situation and clearly identify your future state

It all starts with the vision. You’ve got to know what you want, specifically. Don’t be afraid to engage in some deep self-discovery here. The goal is to obtain clarity of vision. Be crystal clear on what matters most to you and what it is that you really want to achieve. Assess your current state and clearly identify what you want your future state to look like. What are your strengths and opportunities for improvement related to your vision? You’ll carry this information forward into the development of your plan.

Be an immediate Professional

Mentally allow yourself to immediately become a “Professional” in whatever it is that you’re trying to do. For example, a simple goal might be to run a 10K. Even if you’ve never run a mile in your life, your attitude must immediately shift to “I’m a Runner. That’s my Profession”. When you take on the attitude of being a professional, you fully commit. A Professional practices her profession without regard for feelings or circumstances. A Professional shows up to get the job done and is completely committed to seeing it through.

Develop the Plan

The goal is to develop SMART goals that will get you to your vision. Remember, you’re a professional. Your plan should reflect that attitude. Research requirements, best practices, etc. for your goals. Interview some people already doing what you want to do. Seek out expert advice on the goal you’re trying to accomplish. Knowledge is power! Plan development is all about breaking your big goals into smaller specific action steps. In project management, planning is everything. The degree to which you’re able to successfully execute is closely tied to the effort you put into planning. Remember that great things are accomplished one step at a time.

“failing to plan is planning to fail”

Act!

You’ve taken the time to put a plan of action in place. Now…Jump! Take the leap! Start, even if you feel you aren’t completely ready. While I completely agree that “failing to plan is planning to fail”, I also know from much trial and error myself that nothing ever goes perfectly according to plan. The research you put into developing the plan, though, will be a critical factor in your ability to make fast and effective decisions and successfully adapt and overcome when things don’t go according to plan. When you reach a stumbling block, course correct and keep it moving! Don’t let it stop you from continuously moving forward toward your vision.

Track action

Discipline to act and discipline to track! Self-correct as necessary, but act and track! You have to have the discipline to move past what’s comfortable and what’s easy. What metrics will I use? How will I measure my success? I call tracking out as a separate step because it is so crucial for measuring progress, giving yourself credit when necessary, and making an educated decision when it comes time to make an adjustment to your plan. The level of detail you put into your tracking is up to you. A calendar, an actual project plan, or a simple journal are all totally acceptable tracking tools. The important thing is that you keep track of your progress and record major milestones.

Spend time reflecting and capturing lessons learned

It’s so important to take time after goal accomplishment to reflect. In the Army, we always had the after action review (AAR). We’d get together after any major event and discuss lessons learned. The goal here is to note what went well as well as what can be improved so that we can implement those improvements in the next project. Often times, we simply make a mental note to refrain from making “that mistake” again. Spending a little extra time reflecting on and recording things we’ve learned, though, can improve our planning process for the next phase of our personal development.

Interwoven into my personal development is a personal philosophy of continuous improvement. My PDP evolves as I do, but the one element that stays the same is my desire to be a lifelong learner. I love reading and learning about things that can improve my effectiveness, my productivity, and my happiness. Blogs, podcasts and audio books are excellent tools for the lifelong learners’ toolkit. A few of my favorites include The Suitcase Entrepreneur by Natalie Sisson, Live Your Legend by Scott Dinsmore, Glambition Radio by Ali Brown, Create Your Leadership by Jeremy Hritz, and Expert’s Enterprise by Hugh Culver. You can find great blogs, podcasts, and audio books for any topic that interests you. Talk about great learning on the go!

Key take-away:

If you’re thinking of making some changes or improvements in your life, consider putting focused effort into creating a personal development plan. Ask yourself what will happen if you continue doing exactly what you’re doing without making any changes or putting any plans for improvement in place. Is that what you want? If not, are you ready to get to work on your personal development plan?

I’m happy to help! Just drop me a line. Send me an email and let’s get started! ☺