The are many models for shaping your personal and professional development. This sections focuses on how you can continue to develop yourself, your relationships and your work.
Some people want to change everything in their lives at once but this seldom works. Taking steps in one area, however, can have a positive effect in other areas. Let’s explore how you may want to take some of these steps.
Developing Myself
On a scale 0-10, how would you rate your health and wellbeing? How would you rate your development? How can you maintain or improve the rating?
Different things can trigger a person to focus on their development. One person expressed this in the following way.
“During the last few years I have concentrated on doing well in my work. This has been rewarding but I have neglected other parts of my life.
“My health is suffering and things are not great at home. I want to get my life back on track. I know it impossible to change everything overnight, but have you any suggestions?”
Exploring the options, he chose to improve his health. Like many people who develop positive habits, he started with the physical things. He chose:
To eat healthier food at breakfast and throughout the day … To walk more than 7,000 steps a day and restart playing five-a-side football … To relearn how to breathe deeply and feel more relaxed.
Different people focus on different things to develop themselves. They may choose to become fitter, learn a language, develop a new skill, embark on an adventure or do other activities.
Imagine that you may want to take steps to develop yourself. You can then move on to the next theme.
Developing My Relationships
On a scale 0-10, how would you rate the health of your key relationships? How can you continue to encourage people? How can you aim to find win-win solutions to differences?
The person mentioned earlier described his challenges in the following way.
“The most critical area of my life is my relationships. Returning home from work, I sometimes dive straight into my emails rather than take time to talk with the family.
“My son is not academic and is suffering problems at school, so I need to give him more encouragement. I would also like to rebuild relationships with some old friends.”
Exploring what he wanted to improve in his relationships, he settled on the following actions:
To create time each evening to talk with his wife … To encourage his son to focus on what he did best – sports, music and film making – and learn how to manage the more difficult issues at school … To think before saying something that could be hurtful to another person.
You will have your own approach to developing your relationships. Imagine that you have clarified some of those steps. It may then be useful to focus on the next theme.
Developing My Work
On a scale 0-10, how would you rate the satisfaction you are getting in your work? How can you maintain or improve the rating? What will be the benefits of taking these steps?
There are many ways to develop in your work. One approach is to focus on your career goals. This involves exploring the following themes.
You can clarify your career goals
Imagine that you are looking back at the end of your professional career. What would you like to have achieved by then? Here are some of the things that people mention when exploring this theme.
My Career Goals – Looking back at the
end of my career, I would have liked:
To have done satisfying work … To have used my strengths to help other people achieve success … To have earned a salary that has helped us to have a good lifestyle.
To have been a good educator … To have helped many students to develop their talents … To have provided them with skills they can use to shape a positive future.
To have built several pioneering organisations that have shown people a better way … To have created positive environments that have helped people to grow … To have done work that helped people or the planet.
Imagine that you can clarified some of your own career goals. It may then be useful to explore the next step.
You can clarify the steps you can
take towards your career goals
People like to feel in control. They also like have a sense of purpose, follow their principles and work towards their picture of success. Bearing this in mind, you may want to continue to take the following steps:
To build on your strengths and do satisfying work;
To encourage yourself and other people in your work;
To do something each day towards your career goals.
If appropriate, you can clarify the steps you can take to follow these principles. One approach is to do something practical early each day that delivers a quick success. You may then feel more in charge of the day.
There are many models for development. This piece has focused on how you can continue to develop yourself, your relationships and your work.
Imagine that you may want to follow elements of this approach. How can you do this in your own way? What may happen as a result of taking these steps?
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on these themes. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
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