PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANNING – Part 2

In the last post, we looked at what personal development planning is, highlighted the P.C.D.A tool for improvement & took a stab at SMART goal setting.

Now let’s answer the question WHY personal development planning is important?

There is a management concept & competitive strategy called Kai zen.

Kai zen is Japanese for “good change“, its the practice for continuous improvement. We as human beings want to gain mastery of our world, our craft, our profession, hence we strive at getting better at what we do each & every day.

Mastery & the recognition that comes with it is the main reason why personal development is important. The Grammy Award & Oscar winners work tirelessly to perfect their art to win these awards & they strive very hard to ensure they continue to win it each & every year. Those that didn’t win are also motivated to work harder because of the recognition that comes with that level of mastery.

According to Earl Nightingale “People with goals succeed because they know where they’re going.

Martin Luther King Jnr. said ” I have a dream that my four children will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character”

You have a dream to fulfill, a goal to achieve, you want to be successful, this is why you need personal development.

The key to personal development is to focus on the “growth”, ensure that there is continuous improvement, the journey is much more important than the destination.

How to plan for personal development? There are 2 things to do in order to start planning personal development:

1. Strategic ( SWOT) Analysis

2. (SMART) Goal Setting

We took a detour in Part 1 to discuss SMART goal setting so I wont repeat that.

SWOT Analysis is a strategy analytical tool that looks at 2 sides ( internal & external). SWOT means Strength, Weakness, Opportunity & Threats.

The internal side of the analysis looks at the individual’s strengths & weaknesses. You are expected to identify your strengths, build & enhance them, while the reverse is expected of your weaknesses, you resolve & reduce them.

For me analytical thinking, forecasting & mathematical calculations are my strengths so I have worked really hard to build them up & enhance them, on the flip side, I was terrible at keeping to time ( noticed I said I WAS). I’ve had to use available technology to ensure I keep to time in terms of attending or finishing meeting.

The external side looks at opportunities & threats, you are expected as an individual to explore & expand opportunities as they come your way & to totally avoid threats.

I will jump on projects or activities that shows my mastery, it’s always an opportunity & I will avoid conflicts or anything that will dent my integrity to the best of my ability.

I have developed an habit over the years with the teams I  lead to ask that each member should conduct both a SWOT analysis of themselves as well as a 5-year development plan. Some people take it seriously & some don’t, but I tell them it’s for their own good, they will be on the road to success if they take both seriously.

There are many websites that helps individuals in conducting a SWOT analysis & personality test, but I particularly like  www.123test.com/personality-test/ for the level of accuracy over the years.

On the road to success!!

what does success mean to you? Is living a balanced life success?

I will attempt to answer these questions in another post.

This is my snippet, I am SHALOMESQ