Tips for Writing a Personal Development Plan

A personal development plan can take you far in life; your relationships and career can change when you prepare with a blueprint. Do not think of a personal development plan as a strict follow-the-steps guide. It can be fluid as you work to achieve your goals, assess what is working and what is not, and make changes along the way. It is a set of guidelines and steps to reach your goals.

Steps to writing a personal development plan.

Although the plan can be fluid, the steps to get started should follow an order. You need to know what you want and why before declaring a goal. Your goal should mesh with your values. Work is involved in reaching any goal; you must learn new skills to level up to reach your goals. Next, you must follow your plan, reassess as necessary, and take action daily.

Get clear on what you want.

You cannot plan your future without a clear vision. You need to get clear on what it is you want. This is not the time to make vague statements. When you focus clearly on a goal, you notice opportunities to make that possible.

Pray for God to give you wisdom and insight into reaching your goals. Ask Him for a clear vision.

Clarify why you want to reach this goal.

What makes your goal so important to you? Why do you want to reach this goal? As you answer these questions, dig deeper than your knee-jerk response.

For example, you want to work from home. Why? Initially, your answer might be to be available for your children. But why is that important to you? Your answer might be an emotional one.

Maybe you were a latch-key kid growing up and only saw your parents for an hour before bed during the week. Perhaps you spent your younger years hustling at work, and now you want to spend time with your teenagers before they leave the nest. Find your emotional why.

Determine if the goal aligns with your values.

If your goals do not align with your values, you will experience inner turmoil and frustration. If your goal is to work from home to spend more time with your family, accepting a job that keeps you chained to your desk for more than forty hours a week or requires work on weekends and holidays when your children are home will not make sense.

Not every good opportunity will align with your values. Ask God to bring the ones that will promote peace in your mind and spirit.

Assess what you need to learn.

To accomplish a worthwhile goal, you must learn new skills. These skills can include communication, time management, and public speaking. Your needed skills could have more to do with the goal specifics, such as learning a new software program or foreign language.

Assess your strengths and weaknesses and determine what skills you need to reach and maintain your goal. Be prepared to continue to learn once you reach your goal. For example, if your goal is to work in information technology (IT), you must know specific programs. Once you get certification and accept a new job, you must maintain those skills by learning about new programs and certifications. A growth mindset will serve you for a lifetime.

Map out your goals using the S.M.A.R.T. goal-setting method.

The S.M.A.R.T. goal-setting method requires you to set a Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound goal. When you set goals this way, you clearly understand what you want to achieve.

For example, if you want to save money for Christmas next year, your goal might look like this: I will save $1000 for Christmas by depositing $39 into my savings account on payday every two weeks until December 15^th.

This goal is specific ($1000 total and $39 every two weeks), measurable (dollars into a savings account), attainable ($39 is affordable with your budget), relevant (Christmas comes every year, and you need a plan), and time-bound (save the money by December 15^th).

Once you have your plan, reverse-engineer your goals to decide what steps to take to reach them. Add these tasks to your to-do list and take action daily.

Finding a counselor.

The most challenging parts of writing a personal development plan are clarifying why you want to reach a specific goal, aligning that goal with your values, and finding the most productive steps to get you there.

A counselor can help you reach your goals faster by assisting you in preparing a personal development plan. Contact our office at Mission Viejo Christian Counseling today to schedule your goal-setting appointment. Reach your goals faster this year with a plan.