Personal development is something that a lot of people talk about, but not that many people actually put a focus on. Each year, everyone writes down their New Year’s Resolution. Many of those goals are considered personal development. Maybe you want to become a better leader, or maybe you want to strive to be more efficient with your time. The problem is, too often, we let go of those goals by February and fall back into old habits. So how can we truly embrace personal development and start taking it seriously? After all, learning new skills can help us advance in our career or even choose another one. The first step is admitting that personal development isn’t a month long fad. It is a lifelong journey that never truly ends.
We Never Stop Growing and Learning
Have you ever heard the old adage, “every day you learn something new?” Almost everyone has heard the phrase, but very few people actually take it to heart and apply it to their lives. We’re constantly learning new things as we age, but often we don’t apply these new lessons to our lives, instead opting to fall back into old habits. Why not take advantage of the fact that we are always learning? Instead of a yearly personal development goal, you could even break things down month by month, or quarter by quarter. Perhaps one month you want to focus on becoming a better listener, and another month you want to work on improving your diet.
You Can Apply New Knowledge That You Learn to a New Career or Life Experience
There is a myth out there that personal development is nice, but an ultimately fruitless exercise. Nothing could be further from the truth. The skills you learn while becoming a better mentor, leader, and teacher are things that you can apply to your career. You can also use them to improve important relationships in your life. For example, if you are working on becoming a better listener, then you can improve your relationship with your partner and your children. If you are focusing on becoming a better mentor, you can use those skills as a manager in your career.
Helping Others On Their Journey
The difference between good employees and great employees is that the latter can make other people better. When you can improve the performance of other employees, you are more likely to be looked at for career advancement opportunities and management jobs. When you develop yourself, you learn a lot of things that you can also teach others, not just about work, but about life. Learning to become more compassionate and empathetic, for example, is a major life skill that will help you to better understand your co-workers and subordinates. Being able to help other people on their journey is part of what personal development is all about. You want to be able to reach a level where other people are helped by your knowledge as well.
Let us Help You on Your Journey
If the time has come to stretch outside your comfort zone then let us help you get started on your personal development goals. Schedule a free consultation at www.ReginaFasold.com to discuss your next step!