PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT: A CONTINUOUS PROCESS

 

Personal Development is a lifelong process of developing yourself ; it gives you the opportunity of discovering yourself and relating with  others around you. It is a process that helps you become a better version of yourself. As the name implies, it is "personal" because it involves a conscious and personal decision to progressively improve on yourself in pursuit of excellence---one which can't be taken by anyone other than yourself. Then it is called "development" because it is gradual---not automatic. Therefore immediate results shouldn't be expected, neither should you be carried away by societal pressures or standards. Instead, you must be patient enough to observe yourself, identify areas of adjustments and watch your progress. It is your life not anyone else's. So no one should make you feel inferior, rather be motivated by their successes, learn from their failures but never forget that your growth and development is actually "personal".

No matter your level in life or what you think you have achieved, there is always room for improvement.

Hence, personal development is about investing in yourself in other to manage yourself effectively regardless of what life might bring your way. It is a way to improve every aspect of your life. It is a way to realize so many different possibilities and to achieve more than you ever thought was possible.

Personal Development begins with self-discovery. You first must find out where you are in order to move on from there. Personal development entails understanding or assessing your unique personality and potentials, your strengths and weaknesses, your aspirations and your talents. The essence of this is to help you build on your weaknesses by focusing on your strengths.

It can therefore be established that personal development can be measured. In other words, we can measure our progress and growth levels, and this is best achieved when we have goals that can be broken into simple daily disciplines.

A common rule in goal setting is setting S.M.A.R.T goals which means, your personal development goals must be Specific; Measurable; Achievable; Realistic and Time bound. For instance, if after conducting a self assessment, you realize the need to work on your study habits, you can best achieve your results by creating a system where you can aim at specifically studying in the area you choose, and then check your daily progress by journaling. 

Personal development, practiced right, is all about the whole self. Fortunately, there are several materials that can aid our development in books, courses, skills acquisition and implementation. But then, the rightness of our decision must not be based on unhealthy competitions with other people, but on experiencing true improvement from within, that is void of pressure.

One secret you may not find in books is that, you may not get the expected results immediately. We must learn to see investing in ourselves as sowing, and so the fruits may not be evident until a later time, however, we must not stop sowing or watering. Just keep doing it!

Furthermore, we shouldn't only focus on one aspect of ourselves. However, it is safe to begin one step at a time to avoid feeling pressured or frustrated in cases where we don't stick to our goals.

Finally, personal development is beyond mere goal setting or deadlines. It requires discipline or commitment and determination.  Because as humans, we could easily get demotivated at different points, hence it's safe to not only be aware of our human frailties, but also create a system to checkmate ourselves, and especially get back on track when we miss out on anything. This is the hallmark of personal development---true progress.

Name: Ruth Emuobonuvie

State Code: OS/20B/0524

Discipline: History and International Studies