PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

Personal development is a lifelong process. It is a way for people to

assess their skills and qualities, consider their aims in life and set goals in order
to realise and maximise their potential.
This page helps you to identify the skills you need to set life goals which
can enhance your employability prospects, raise your confidence, and lead to a
more fulfilling, higher quality life. Plan to make relevant, positive and effective
life choices and decisions for your future to enable personal empowerment.
Although early life development and early formative experiences within the
family, at school, etc. can help to shape us as adults, personal development
should not stop later in life.
This page contains information and advice that is designed to help you to
think about your personal development and ways in which you can work
towards goals and your full potential.
There are many ideas surrounding personal development, one of which is
Abraham Maslow's process of self-actualisation.
The extent to which people are able to develop depends on certain needs being
met and these needs form a hierarchy. Only when one level of need is satisfied
can a higher one be developed. As change occurs throughout life, however, the
level of need motivating someone’s behaviour at any one time will also change.
At the bottom of the hierarchy are the basic physiological needs for food, drink,
sex and sleep, i.e., the basics for survival.
Second are the needs for safety and security in both the physical and
economic sense.
Thirdly, progression can be made to satisfying the need for love and belonging .
The fourth level refers to meeting the need for self-esteem and self-worth . This is
the level most closely related to ‘ self-empowerment’.
The fifth level relates to the need to understand . This level includes more
abstract ideas such as curiosity and the search for meaning or purpose and a
deeper understanding.
The sixth relates to aesthetic needs of beauty, symmetry and order.
Finally, at the top of Maslow’s hierarchy is the need for self-actualisation.
Maslow (1970, p.383) says that all individuals have the need to see themselves
as competent and autonomous, also that every person has limitless room for
growth.
Self-actualisation refers to the desire that everybody has ‘ to become

everything that they are capable of becoming’ . In other words, it refers to self-

fulfilment and the need to reach full potential as a unique human being.
For Maslow, the path to self-actualisation involves being in touch with your feelings,
experiencing life fully and with total concentration.
There are a number of steps to take in managing your personal development.
1. Developing a Personal Vision
Personal development can simply be for fun. Most of us, however, find it easier
to motivate ourselves to learn and improve if we have a purpose in doing so.
Developing your personal vision - a clear idea of where you want to be in a few
months or years, and why - is a crucial part of developing this purpose.
2. Planning Your Personal Development
Once you are clear about where you want to be, you can start planning how to
get there. Drawing up a personal development plan is not essential, but it does
make the planning process more realistic.
For more about this part of the process, take a look at our page on Planning Your
Personal Development .

If you are struggling to identify which areas to target for development and
improvement, you may find it helpful to read our pages on Personal SWOT
Analysis and Identifying Areas for Improvement .

3. Starting the Improvement Process

There are a number of different ways in which you can learn and develop.
Our page on Improving Performance – Some Specific Techniques explains some
ways of learning, including a technique called expertise transfer.
Our page on Learning Preferences suggests how different types of learning
process may be more effective for certain people. You may also find our page
on Learning Styles helpful in understanding how you like to learn.
4. Recording Your Personal Development
It is often a good idea to keep a record of your personal development. By
writing down key developments in your learning and development as and when
they occur, you will be able to reflect on your successes at a later date.
There is more about this on our page, Recording Your Personal Development .
This reflection may well help to motivate you to learn more skills in the
future. Try keeping a learning log or journal as you develop your skills and
knowledge.
See our page on Reflective Practice for some ideas of how to do this.
5. Reviewing and Revising Personal Development Plans
Our page on Learning Styles uses Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle to show
that learning is a cycle. For more effective learning, it is important to reflect on
your experience, and consider what you have learnt from it. Regular review of
your personal development plans, and your development activities, will ensure
that you learn from what you have done. It will also ensure that your activities
continue to move you towards your goals, and that your goals or vision remain
relevant to you.
Personal development is looking inward and focusing on ways to better
yourself. Personal development increases your self-awareness, your self-
esteem, increases your skills, and fulfills your aspirations.
At BetterUp, we’re big believers in the practice of Inner Work®. In many
ways, personal development is a form of Inner Work®. It is the act of looking
inward to achieve a purpose or result, especially in the pursuit of clarity, purpose,
and passion in life.

Personal development is much larger than just career development or

self-development. It encompasses all aspects of your life where you’d like to
see personal growth — and it doesn’t discriminate on where it shows up for
you.
When it comes to personal development, it’s hard to not reference Maslow’s
hierarchy of needs. According to Maslow, your basic needs need to be fulfilled
in order to reach your fullest potential. In other words. To reach self-
actualization means we’re reaching the highest levels of self-awareness, self-
confidence, personal growth, and self-realization.
Much like Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, we see five different areas of personal
development. Different personal development goals can fall into different
categories.
Exercising your brain and staying mentally fit is critical to personal
development. At BetterUp, this comes to life in a few ways: coaching, learning
opportunities, and career growth. For example, right now, I’m taking a creative
writing course to help keep my mental creative muscles going strong. (And
BetterUp foots the bill as part of our learning stipend.)
Mental development can be anything from workshops, training sessions, or
even just rest. Rest is just as (if not more) important than mental exercise. And
as your mental fitness improves, so does your resiliency, innovation, and self-
awareness.
Social connections and relationships are also a must-have for any
personal development. After all, self-improvement is not a solitary pursuit.
Humans are social creatures — we need that connection to learn and grow.
And from social connections, we gain important skills. Like communication
skills, problem-solving, relationship-building, and the ability to receive (and
give) feedback. We also learn from those around us and their experiences.
Spiritual
Personal growth and development — whether you’re religious or not — can
come through in spirituality. It’s important to recognize that religion and
spirituality are not synonymous. In fact, far from it.
Spirituality means you’re investing in a deeper understanding of your own self
in the world around you. It helps you get to know yourself and uncover your
values. And in the context of Inner Work®, the spiritual personal development
tool can bring greater awareness to self and change.

Emotional
Emotional personal development often goes hand-in-hand with emotional
intelligence. At its simplest, emotional intelligence is the ability to understand
feelings. Beyond feelings, it’s understanding how those feelings shape our
thoughts and actions.
Any number of experiences lends itself to emotional personal development.
And those experiences can help you in your pursuit of self-improvement.
Take your own Inner Work® journey so far. What experiences have shaped you
into who you are today? When you reflect on your journey, what have you
learned?
If you’re looking back at your journey and identifying the growth, it’s likely
you’ve fostered a sense of emotional development along the way. This requires
emotional intelligence to understand what role your feelings and thoughts
played.
Physical
A healthy body nourishes a healthy mind. There’s an intrinsic link between
your physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
This aspect of personal development is focused on physical health — like
nutrition, sleep, exercise, and movement. When your physical self is nourished,
it’s likely your mind is also reaping those benefits. Consider ways you can
build this area of personal development and take note of how your
body and your mind feel.
There are plenty of benefits to personal development. Personal growth isn’t
easy but the benefits will make the journey worthwhile.
My friend at Google has worked with a BetterUp coach for the last year. In her
own personal development journey, she's shared why working with a coach has
transformed her personal growth journey.

 "My experience with BetterUp has transcended the professional

workplace. My coach knows me on a personal level, which allows for her
to help me set boundaries, manage expectations, and receive feedback.
Ultimately, it's helped me reach my biggest goal of having a work-life
balance."
 Increased self-awareness and self-esteem. Personal growth requires
looking inward at your own thoughts, feelings, habits, and reactions. It
requires attentiveness — and awareness — to who you are as a person in
a present state. But it also challenges you to look to the future to where
you want to go. By investing in yourself, you’re increasing your self-
awareness and by default, self-esteem.
 Increased mental fitness. Becoming mentally fit requires work. And
many aspects of personal development aid in building strong mental
fitness. With increased mental fitness, you’ll see a ripple effect of
positive benefits. We’ve gathered data around the impact of mental
fitness. People with strong mental fitness are more productive, are less
likely to experience mental illness, and are more creative and innovative.
 Greater resilience. With personal development, you gain greater
resilience. This is another positive symptom of strong mental fitness, too.
Investing in your personal growth means investing in your ability to
bounce back after rough patches.
 More knowledge and learned skills. Oftentimes, personal development
comes with more knowledge and learned skills. This can come to life in
different ways. For example, you may take courses in digital marketing
that help you gain the skills you need to further your career development.
 Or, you may sign up for art or pottery classes, which help you gain
skills in entirely different areas of your life.
 Improved personal and professional relationships. Another personal
development benefit is improved personal and professional relationships.
This is an area that flourishes when you invest in your personal growth,
especially in emotional and social aspects.
If you’re not sure where to start, consider working with a coach. Personalized
coaching can help serve as your guide while you’re building your roadmap to
self-actualization.
Your coach will work one-on-one with you to help identify key skills to work
on catered to your own experience. You can start by taking the Whole Person
Assessment to help assess where your strengths and areas of opportunity lie.
We’ve identified some common areas of self-improvement and personal
development you may consider investing in:
1. Communication and interpersonal skills
2. Problem-solving
3. Cognitive agility and adaptability
4. Self-compassion, self-care, and self-reflection
5. Conflict and conflict resolution
6. Navigating change and uncertainty
7. Future-mindedness
8. Organizational skills
9. Growth mindset
10. Teamwork and collaboration
11. Self-awareness

Like any other goal, it’s important to put together a plan. By assembling your
personal development plan with some structure, you’re more likely to achieve
your goals.
1. Identify areas where you’d like to improve
This first step will likely require some Inner Work®. Take a minute to reflect
on where you are right now. What are your strengths? In what areas do you
want to focus? What growth and development do you want to see in yourself?
If you’ve taken the Whole Person Assessment, this can help as a useful tool.
Once you’ve reflected on your personal goals, identify the areas where you’d
like to improve.
2. Work with a coach or mentor to assemble a plan
Even if it's your own personal development plan, you don’t have to do it alone.
Lean on support systems — like life coaches or mentors — to help frame a
plan. With the right structure in place (and feedback along the way), you’ll be
better equipped to put the plan into action.
3. Structure your personal development goals
Stick to a routine — and build consistency. Start to examine your day-to-day
and try to find ways to either build habits or stack new habits onto existing
ones.
In this last year, I wanted to build strength training into my fitness routine. The
kicker? I never use weights. I decided to put a yoga mat with weights next to
my running shoes. Every time I go for a run, I have to think about those
weights sitting next to my shoes. It helps to remind myself to do a quick 5-
minute exercise with some dumbbells.
Find an accountability buddy
Sometimes, having someone holding you accountable makes all the difference.
If you and a friend are both setting intentions and goals, consider ways you can
support one another.
Every new hire at BetterUp gets a stack of great books during the onboarding
process. My teammate reached out today to see if we could create an
accountability plan. We’re each holding each other to 100 pages of reading a
week.
Be honest and aware of your progress
Your personal development plan requires integrity. Be honest with yourself
about your growth and progress. This also requires a level of self-awareness.
You can also gather feedback from friends, family, and colleagues to help
gather insight on how you’re progressing in your goals, too.

Factor personal development into your mental fitness plan

How does personal development factor into your mental fitness plan? Consider
ways you can work with your coach on building aspects of personal
development into your overall mental fitness.
Personal development is just that: it’s personal.
Every human is different. If our society cracked the nut on personal
development, every self-help book would help everyone. Or every learning
process would benefit every student.
But we know from our life experiences that there’s no “one-size-fits-all”
solution to anything when it comes to human nature.
It’s important to lean on personalized support like coaching to help craft a
catered plan that works for you. You won’t have the same needs, strengths,
opportunities, and skills as your neighbor. So why would your personal
development plan be the same?
Push yourself outside of your comfort zone. By doing so, you'll be on the path
to reaching your full potential.
While self-actualization and Inner Work® is a lifelong process, your personal
development goals shouldn't be daunting. Start small — like building a new
skill or even investing in work-life balance. By doing so, you'll set yourself up
for success in all areas of your life.
If you're ready to make a change to improve the quality of your life, consider
how personal and professional development coaching can help. With help from
BetterUp, you can awaken your full potential.
Many people strengthen their personal development skills through education,
mentorship and self-help advice. Understanding the best ways to improve your
personal development skills can help you reach your full career potential.
In this article, we discuss personal development skills and how you can develop
these skills for career success.
Personal development skills are qualities and abilities that help you grow
both personally and professionally. In other words, they are skills that help you
nurture your personal development. Understanding and improving these skills
is a process also known as self-development or personal growth.
ersonal development skills are important because they allow you to create
strategic and tactical plans for personal and professional growth toward your
goals. It can be helpful to hone personal development skills so you can
naturally work them into your daily routines and use them to:
Achieve personal and career goals
Advance in your career
Improve your strengths and talents
Better yourself
Find fulfillment and satisfaction
You can enhance your personal development skills in several ways, such as by
taking classes and learning from the people around you. Here are seven
strategies to help you develop your skills:
1. Face your fears
Fear can prevent you from growing and progressing. If you are afraid of public
speaking, take a class or join a group that helps people become better public
speakers. If you are afraid of taking risks, find a mentor who can help you
make good decisions and build your confidence. Grow and learn by trying
things you might not be comfortable doing. If you are shy, try starting a
conversation or introducing yourself to new people at a reception or workshop.
2. Read
Reading can expand your knowledge and vocabulary and keep you informed. It
can also stimulate your mind and can improve your critical thinking skills . Try
reading at least one educational or motivational article a day or book a month.
3. Learn something new
Whether you do it yourself or sign up for a class, learn a new skill or topic.
You might, for instance, take courses to learn another language, a new software
program or how to write creatively. Consider watching a webinar on
professional development topics such as entrepreneurship or social media
marketing.
4. Be open to feedback
Approach a family member, friend, colleague or manager, and ask them to give
you feedback on a recent project or accomplishment. Use their positive
comments as well as their constructive criticism to find ways to improve.
Sometimes you need an outside, unbiased opinion to get a different perspective.