There comes a time when everyone wants to change or improve how things are in their lives. That moment doesn’t have to be due to midlife crisis or any other incident. It naturally occurs for many reasons.
You may no longer be satisfied with how your life goes on. You may see yourself daydreaming about your goals but you find yourself stuck in a rut. Or you could suddenly realize that you want to see some changes in your life.
Whatever the reason may be, the road to personal growth is available for everyone. It may not be an easy path to take, but it comes with the most fulfilling rewards. Asking yourself, “How do I start?” is the beginning of your journey toward personal growth.
Develop a Personality Development Plan
As Leonard Bernstein once said, “To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time.” Making up your mind is one step toward personal growth. The next step is making a plan that will guide you throughout the journey to achieve all your goals.
A personal development plan can build positive lasting change in your life. There are many self-help books out there, indeed, but you can get overwhelmed with all the information. You may wind up stuck just as you were before.
Use your will into developing the plan that will help you step by step toward what you want to achieve. The plan will pull you back whenever you feel yourself moving away from the supposed guide. It will stay you rooted because it will keep reminding you of why you need to keep going.
It’s simple: make up your mind and create a plan.
Set Your Goals
The next step is focusing on the changes or improvements that you want to see for yourself. The journey begins once you have established a local plot toward your personal development goals. Make a list consisting of the aspects in your life that you want to have a positive impact on.
Here are several life areas that you can use as a starting point:
- HealthÂ
- Career
- Finance
- Learning
- Emotional
- Relationships
- Home
- Spiritual
- Character
- Contribution
- Fun
You can choose more than one area. Make sure your goals are attainable and they won’t leave you exhausted or stressed. Of course, be logical and realistic as much as possible. Don’t doubt yourself, but, at the same time, don’t try to take on too many areas that might affect your progress in other areas.
Once you are done with your list, it’s time to develop steps on how you will traverse your personal development quest.
Create a Weekly Action Plan
Motivation is the fuel that drives you toward your dreams. It will keep pushing you to go on despite any challenges that come along the way. But an action plan will give you a concrete compass and a sense of direction toward that path.
It’s easier to make your goals possible and plausible by breaking them down into manageable pieces. It will be easier for you to manage your time and your energy for each goal if there are steps that you can follow. It will make you worry less if you missed out on something in a day.
With a weekly action plan, you can even monitor your progress. Seeing how far you’ve come will motivate you to keep going. A weekly action plan will also include reminders on the deadlines you set. The entire timeline will present your personal growth actions into specific and measurable milestones.
Jotting down the progress you made could also help. It helps you go back and see how you handled a particular day and what actions you took to brave certain obstacles. An action plan at hand will keep you mindful of all the things you need to do in a day.
Talk to a Mentor
It always helps to seek out a mentor. Talking out your personality development plan will help flesh out the nuances in your plan. A person you admire or look up to can help you prepare the right steps for your plan in case you’re not certain about the ones you initially prepared.
A mentor can be anyone you consider successful in a certain field. It could be a successful businessperson, an athlete, or a public figure that you truly admire. Your college professor may even serve as your mentor. Asking them for advice on how they accomplished their goals could help you a lot.
Letting another individual view your plan could give you a fresh perspective on how to tackle your goals. Your mentor could contribute different tactics that will help you face your goals head on. A different mind could resolve issues that you may overlooked when preparing your plan.
Talking to friends could also be helpful. Conversing with them could give you honest opinions about the personality development plan you made. They will help in motivating you, but they will also sit down with you, listen to you, and be realistic about the goals you set.
Take Action
Most people often fail in this stage. Negative thoughts suddenly cloud their mind, making them question if they can honestly do it. Yes, personal growth will involve a lot of hard work. But it shouldn’t discourage you.
Set your mind and set your goals. That’s it. It’s natural to feel scared and uncertain, but dwelling on those feelings will only leave you empty and nowhere. The first few steps are over, so keep going toward achieving your goals.
There is no other way around it. Keep yourself motivated by not focusing on how long it will take. The process may take a while, but focus on little achievements. In that sense, you know you’re on the right track and the motivation won’t let you fall behind.
Commit to the process and visualize your goals. Stay positive all throughout your journey toward personal growth. Dreams may seem impossible and too far away, but with optimism and commitment will slowly get you there. So trust the process and keep going.
If you start asking yourself, “Can I do this?” The answer is yes.
