36 personal development steps, facts and questions

All of us have two distinct choices to make about what we will accomplish with our lives. The first choice is to be less than we can be. To earn less, have less, do less, and think less. These are the choices that lead to an empty life instead of a life of wondrous anticipation.

Our second choice is to strive, produce and accomplish as much as we possibly can. We have the worthy challenge to stretch to the full measure of our capabilities. The greatest rewards are reserved for those who bring the greatest value to themselves and those around them.

In this article you will find 36 tips, questions and examples which can help you understand yourself and be all you can be.

1. My talents, my genius

Instructions: We all have talents and we all have genius. The questions below give you an insight to where those talents lie and what you can accomplish with them.

1. What things do you believe you do better than most people around you?

2. What kind of things have you done which others have described as “outstanding”?

3. What kind of skills do you find come easily to you?

4. List past achievements of which you are particularly proud.

5. List future achievements you would be most proud of.

2. A strengths inventory

Instructions: We know our strengths from the yearnings we have to do well; from satisfying work; from rapid learning; and from moments of excellence. Use the following examples to find out your own strengths. Then decide how you can develop them.

A. Examples of longings and yearnings

B. Examples of work that I find satisfying

C. Examples of areas of rapid learning

D. Examples of moments of excellent performance

E. How The Strengths Can Be Built Upon…

3. Weaknesses

Instructions: We know our weaknesses from the tasks we dislike doing; from unsatisfying work; from areas of slow learning; and from repeated poor performance. The examples below can help you identifying your own weaknesses. Then suggest how you can manage them.

A. Examples of tasks I don’t relish

B. Examples of work that I find unsatisfying

C. Examples of areas of slow learning

D. Examples of repeatedly poor performance

E. How the weaknesses can be managed…

4. My Goals

Instructions: Goal-setting is the defining activity of self-development. It is the one activity that sets us on the path to accomplishing what we are capable of. Follow the instructions below to brainstorm your current goals and check that they are achievable.

1. Brainstorm your current goals. Make them as big as possible.

2. List up to 3 activities which would help you move towards one of these goals:

3. Describe one of the goals in behavioural terms (e.g. not status but how you will one day behave)

4. Check out your goals against the following…

• Are the goals based on your strengths?
• Are the goals ecologically sound?
• Can you visualise yourself when the goal has been achieved?
• Can the goal be broken down into small targets?
• Could the goal be adjusted if new information comes in?

5. Programming

Instructions: Programming is one of the quickest ways to ensure we reach a goal we have set ourselves. Try out the following 4 techniques for a goal you have set yourself.

1. When you have achieved your goal…

• What will things look like?
• What will things sound like?
• What will things feel like?

2. What pleasant experiences will result from achieving this goal?

3. What unpleasant experiences will you avoid by achieving this goal?

4. What “as-if” practice can you use to get familiar with achieving this goal?

6. New Birth

Instructions: Identify a time in your past when you found yourself in a new situation that was unfamiliar to you. Think about how you handled it and, using the seven steps of the change spiral, suggest how you could have handled it better.

Steps in the change spiral:

1. Letting go of the past

2. Letting yourself be in the new situation

3. Exploring the new situation

4. Thinking about what to do

5. Developing a new identity of who you are

6. Learning new skills

7. Integrating, completing and moving on

If you would like to see more personal development tips, then take a look inside “The “Managing You” Workbook” written by Eric Garner.