Personal Development Planning and Skills

Personal development polish all the activities that helps one advance awareness and identity, gain talents and potential, build human capital and aid employability, enhance the aspect of life and adds to the realization of dreams and aspirations. It also takes place over the course of human’s entire life. Not limited to self-help, the main aim include formal and informal activities for growing others in roles such as teacher, guide, counselor, manager, life coach or mentor. When personal development takes place in the background of institutions, it assign to the ways, programs, tools, techniques, and assessment systems that support human development at the personal level in organizations. This is an enduring process. It is a method for people to assess their skills and qualities, consider their aims in life and set goals in order to realize and maximize their potential.

Growth is an important aspect in one’s life. Apart from physical growth people should also be ready for personal growth including our communication skills, our interaction skills, our maturity and growth in our thinking too. Throughout this course, many ways have been evaluated in which one can grow in order to improve human relation. It is the experiences as well as the skills that we gain as we go through life that really contribute to our growth. As we transverse in this world, we will notice that there are various kinds of people who we get to interact in various ways because different people will have different personalities. Personal development planning is the process of creating an action plan based on awareness, values, reflection, goal-setting and planning for personal development within the context of a career, education, relationship or for self-improvement.

The PDP, also called an IDP (individual development plan) or a PEP (personal enterprise plan), usually includes a statement of one's aspirations, strengths or competencies, education and training, and stages or steps to indicate how the plan is to be realized. Personal development plans may also include a statement of one's career and lifestyle priorities, career positioning, analysis of opportunities and risks, and alternative plans, and a curriculum vitae. In higher education, personal development plans typically include a portfolio containing proof of the skills gathered over a particular timeframe. It is presumed in education that undertaking PDPs will greatly assist in creating self-directed independent learners who are more likely to progress to higher levels of academic attainment. Human-resource management also uses PDPs. Personal development plans are often a requirement for employee CVs. People who have been employed take part in business training are often asked to do a personal development plan.

According to my initial PDP, communication and social skills acquisition was the main goal for the semester. I had planned to discuss more with my teacher in the areas that I am failing. The good use of the instructors’ office hours and the doing of extra time to get in touch with them enabled deeper understanding of the concepts taught in class. This was the main change that I had to make, I have been able to increase the amount of time spent with instructors on learning after classes and ensured that I went through everything I learned in class. If there was a point or an idea that needed clarification, I have left it to myself to talk to the teacher so that I can understand the question very well before the next class.

Social development was another significant part of my PDP. I discovered that I lacked soft skills in relation to other people. The vital part of these skills in the workplace is significant, and I need developing them in order to escape the skill mismatch in the workplace. The improvement of interaction with other people was one of the main goals of my PDP. During this semester, I related with people by leaving more time for the interaction with them. I was able to achieve this by seeking an elective post as a representative in one of the professional clubs at the school. Acquiring this leadership position was important for my development of leadership skills. The acquisition of this post has also helped me develop communication skills since I had to communicate the needs and issues of the club members to the club leaders. It has also made me a good listener and a more focused person due to having other responsibilities besides schoolwork.

I also intended to improve my social interactions inside and outside the campus. One effective way that I chose to achieve this goal was getting involved in extra-curricular activities. Choosing a sport or a club was not easy because I am not too athletic. However, I knew the importance of this and thus decided to join the badminton team and have become an active and competent badminton player over time. Having an extra-curricular activity and a social group outside of classroom has enabled me to deal with stress more effectively. It has also allowed me to relax actively and to live a more productive life. Joining the badminton team has proved to be helpful and beneficial in many ways.

On the issue of time management, I planned a weekly schedule of the things I would be doing every week in order to make sure that I was not falling behind on time. The weekly schedules have been effective but I have had problems achieving some of the overall goals set for the semester. The time schedule has been a difficult one to follow due to overcrowding and poor execution. Some of the milestones that had to be achieved by the end of the semester such as reading inspirational books have not been completed. The schedule made for the reading of inspirational literature has been too overcrowded, and I have only achieved half of what I had planned. According to Zenger and Folkman (2009), inspirational literature is very important for motivation (p. 24).

Currently I am not that good of a leader as often I tend to shy away from leadership roles such as being a team leader in a group. In one’s career in order to go far, then you may need to possess various leadership skills including how to work with people. Team work is an important aspect in trying to make things happen. When people come together people great things get to happen. A team leader should be able to group people to work together and lead them throughout a process in order to ensure what they are working on comes to success or rather completion (Mind Tools Content Team, 2019).

Gaining hands-on experience in the field has been an important factor and determinant of success. I intended to work part time during my free time to gain experience and practice in the field to aid the theory learned in class. This step has only been partially achieved because I could not secure employment in my field of specialization. The job I acquired was in car sales, which is not what I consider perfect for the practicing of the skills learned in my course of study. I actually spent more time than the experience I gained was worth. Yet in my next PDP I will surely include more time for finding suitable work to ensure that experience is gained in the perfect field and the perfect job.

I would want to possess is conflict resolution skill. Personally I hate getting in a heated argument and often I will retreat before the situation escalates. In this world there are chances we are going to end up in conflicts us or our colleagues. It is important to deal with these conflicts in amicable ways by employing various skills including negotiation. At times in order for one to reach a point of agreement people may have to compromise on certain demands that they have. As a leader if a conflict occurs it is important to ensure while settling it, one party does not get to feel as if the other party is being favored but rather everyone needs to feel their grievances were addressed and they are contentedMy current performance level is average and needs to be improved by the end of the semester to ensure that I graduate with honors. Therefore, more time will have to be spent on activities that improve the amount of knowledge gained during class time and outside of class. Practice is also required; therefore, the time spent practicing the learned skills will have to be increased over the next four semesters. My academic performance is the most important aspect of my studies, thus more time will be dedicated to it alongside the inclusion of other activities such as sports. I will keep a record of the activities that I am involved in concerning work experience, personal character development, and other life experiences. The main aim of the plan will be to achieve the knowledge and skills that will match the market requirements.

The plan will also integrate academic development with personal development. Personal learning activities such as spending more time in the library conducting research on some important aspects of my professional field will also be considered. This means that I will require dedicating more time to find work that is in line with my field. This learning experience will be aimed at learning from other people and encompassing the learned ideas and methods into my skill set (Niven, 2006, p. 295). Developmental changes are necessary to ensure improvements in the overall well-being of my career prospects. I will undertake more involvement in social activities and situations to develop confidence. The goal is to attend at least one social event every two weeks. In addition, acquisition of leadership and interpersonal skills will be given proper attention since these skills are what the professional world requires.

Establishment of learning habits will become a major part of the plan since life is all about continuous learning (Fry, 2009, p. 124). Motivational literature will form a significant part of my learning culture and habits. I will improve my time management skills to ensure that I read two or more motivational books every month. In order to improve my employment prospects and recognize the weak points I need to work on, I will ask one teacher to become my mentor. I will then make sure that I meet with the teacher at least once a semester. During these meetings with the teacher, I will ask for feedback on my career prospects in the field and the type of skills I need to work on. I will also ensure that the teacher gets a chance to criticize my efforts and improvements, and suggest areas for improvement.

Another important aspect of life that has to be included in the development plan is the achievement of financial goals. This is one of my main weaknesses and it was not included in the previous PDP. The goal is to achieve financial freedom and independence by the end of the four semesters. This will be achieved by ensuring that I obtain the habit of saving money. I will save half of the money that I earn during holidays. This goal will be achieved by ensuring that I change my spending habits to only spend on the necessary things. Avoidance of unnecessary and non-value adding activities will be the main weapon against excessive expenditures. The personal development plan is very important in enabling the tracking of developmental changes that are necessary for the achievement of set goals. Planning is very important since it provides a medium for a person to set goals and decide how they will have to be achieved.