| Tip: Get a folder or notebook which you will carry around with you at all times to jot down ideas,
observations and actions which you can then turn into objectives and/or goals (see below). This will become
your own PDL (personal development log) so find a way of organising it in the best way for you.
It is important that anyone starting up in
business identifies the strengths and personal objectives in their
business plan.
The first question you should ask yourself in any personal development undertaking is “why do
I want to develop?” The next question comes naturally, i.e “In which areas do I want to develop?”
These areas for development can be broken down into headings like:
- Work
- Family
- Health
- Finance/Wealth
- Relationships
Creating a personal objective, for example: Why do I want to develop my relationship area? I
want to develop in this area because relationship building will be important to my business and I need
to sharpen these skills if I am to succeed. How will I begin to develop this area? I will ask my friends,
colleagues and family how they see me relate to them and others. Therefore my objective in this area is:
Within the next two weeks, I will seek out the opinions of others regarding my relationship building skills
and record them in my PDL.
This will give you an overview from an outsider’s perspective and will provide you with a springboard
for development. Try to create one objective for each relevant area listed above, or come up with the
headings to suit yourself and your situation.
Other useful steps on your own personal development journey might include the following:
List your achievements – what makes you proud?
As human beings, we are more motivated by the positive than the negative, so a useful starting point is
to analyse your strengths. And it’s more useful to consider “weaknesses” as “areas
for development”. Reflect on your achievements in detail rather than simply listing them. Good questions
to ask might be: Where was I in my life at that time? How long did this achievement take? What exactly
did I do to ensure success? Who was there to help me? What am I particularly proud of?
Focus on today - Where am I now?
This is a good exercise to undertake because you will be able to review it periodically and see how far
your personal development journey has taken you. Record this in your PDL under the following:
- My business is … (eg. Still a dream/just opening/expanding)
- Who or what is helping me at the moment?
- Who or what is hindering my development at the moment?
- Where do my skills lie?
- What are my current short-term plans?
(eg. Next week/month/three months).
Clearly, there will be other questions specific to your situation which you can come up with yourself.
Where do I want to go? Dream a little (or big!) dream
There is nothing wrong with dreaming about the future. Some of our most successful entrepreneurs were
considered “dreamers” at school. However, they would probably consider themselves goal setters
of the highest order! See the section on Goal Setting below to discover how to set and achieve your goals
successfully.
Finally, Plan Plan Plan for the future.
You will now have collected rather a lot of information about yourself. Now is the time to turn all of
these thoughts, ideas and intentions into solid, workable plans for the future. Organise this information
so that you can create objectives and goals which in turn will help you on the road to success. When we
say success by the way, we leave the definition of that entirely up to you. Success comes in many guises
and only you will know when you have become successful. Perhaps you want to create a not-for-profit organisation
or even a co-operative, or you simply want to become more focused in your life. All of these methods suit
any number of situations and success is therefore a relative term.
Remember it is important to identify both strengths and personal
objectives.
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