Personal Development Goals

What are your own personal development goals?Every person no matter where or whom has something in and around their life that causes them concern or, at the very least, pause to think how an aspect of their life may not be exactly what they want or desire. Thus, when I talk to various people about their life in general, or their job, or their current situation I am often led to ask: “What one thing would you change about your life?” The answer could end up being one of your personal development goals.

Brian Tracy’s inspirational quote summarizes this thought: “If you wish to achieve worthwhile things in your personal and career life, you must become a worthwhile person in your own self-development.”

What Is Your Answer?

In most cases, the people I talked with usually have an answer as to what would make their life better. Before you read further, however, think about what one thing you could change in your life that would make your life better or more enjoyable. To answer this question be as specific as you can focusing on just one thing.

Okay, now that you have chosen one thing, I would like you to keep that thought in your mind for a few minutes longer as we proceed to the next question.

The Next Critical Question

My next question to you is this: “What are you doing to make that change come true; to make that one thing a reality?”

So often people answer the first question with no problem. Everyone can think of the one thing that would make life better for them. But people are not so quick to answer the second question: “What are you doing to make that change come true.” Notice here that the question does not ask what you are going to do (an action in the future) but the question focuses on what you are doing right now.

The Real Situation Is A Sad Reality

Sadly, most people are not taking any action to change their current situation or taking any action to make a significant change in their life that would lead them to create a kind of life that would be better. The only thing many people do is talk about it.

Or, on the other hand, it is a sad reality that sees a lot of people complain about their current situation, or current issue, but that is all they do. Just for a moment, let’s shift our focus away from the individual level and take these similar thoughts to one’s work environment.

Does Complaining Positively Influence Change?

Have you ever noticed that there are a number of complaints you hear day in and day out at your place of work? Have you ever stopped to think that each of these complainants is usually engaging in all talk and no action? And, have you ever witnessed anything changing because of complaining? Maybe you have but I would suggest that for the most part, there has been no change because there is no action initiated that could help make a positive change.

Does Personal Talk Implement Changes?

Now, let’s go back to talking about personal issues or the desire to make a change in one’s life with the understanding that talking is not action; talking is like attempting to drive a car to a specific destination that has no wheels. You may want to go somewhere but you can’t go anywhere without having wheels. And, keeping with our analogy of a car without wheels, it would also be fair to say that even if you did have wheels on your car, how would you eventually arrive at your destination without having a map to follow especially if you have never been to that location ever before?

Grab Your Map And Mark Your Route

One analogy that I think explains the process of making a positive change in one’s life is to use the comparison to utilizing a road map to guide a person’s journey to a new destination. This analogy basically provides the step by step process to formulate a journey rather than just talking about a journey to a new destination.

Think of using a road map as your guide by understanding that the first course of action is to set a specific destination to which you want to travel. This means, when compared to your desire to make a positive change in your life, that you first need to know to where you want to go. There is no point in talking about a journey unless you first pick a specific destination.

The first step to make a change in your life, to get what you want from life, to make your life better is to first specifically decide what it is you want. Unless you know what you want you will never arrive because you have no final destination.

Specify Your Final Destination

The aspect of choosing a destination, or in personal development terms, your goal is to write down what it is your want to achieve. This means that you must have a clear idea of what it is you want to change so that when you complete your goal you will have arrived at a specific destination in your life.

Let’s use the example of picking a destination, a goal, that sees you complete your college education. In this example, securing your college graduation will provide you with a positive change in your life. This may mean that at this time you do not have a college education and the receipt of such would allow you to be a candidate for a much better job, and a much better job would not only bring you additional income but would also provide you with a sense of personal accomplishment and additional self-worth.

Chart Your Path

The next part of your journey means that you must first chart your course. This is the process of picking how you will arrive at your final destination by choosing which highways to travel that leads you to where it is you want to go. Similarly, in order to reach your goal of obtaining a college degree, you need to pick how you are going to get there by choosing which particular courses you want to focus on recognizing that there are many different concentrations of study to choose from.

Along this educational journey, you will need to decide when you will be able to attend classes either on a full-time basis or a part-time basis dependent on your financial ability. As well, you will also have to decide on how long you will allow yourself to obtain your college degree. Will you endeavor and plan to finish within four years or a shorter time? Will you be able to take your courses in your home town or will you have to travel to another town or city? Or, will you be able to take all or the majority of your courses by distance education using the Internet?

Make Your Dream a Reality

I often use the saying: “May All Your Dreams Turn Into Goals”. And when a dream is turned into a goal then action can be dedicated to achieve the goal. A critical factor in goal setting for personal development is to ensure that each step of the process is given a target date by which time it must be completed. The same applies if you decided to go on a trip. If you never set a time target for each leg of the journey, you may never arrive at your destination. The reason for this non-arrival is basically because you might allow other things or circumstances to distract you from your final destination.

A Personal Note

I can speak from personal experience. I have had many dreams which I turned into goals and now they are my reality. When I first started setting goals, I never imagined that they would have such an impact on my life. It’s awesome to have a dream and even more rewarding to see that dream come true. Take your dream and start taking action according to your set action steps. Before you know it, your dream will be a reality. It really works!

Never Doubt Yourself

The dreams I only thought about and the ones where I didn’t take action are still only dreams. But, the ones where I took action on are now a reality. I have accomplished many things in my life that I never realized I had the potential to achieve. But, without a specific goal and a specific plan I would never have accomplished any of my dreams.

YOU also have the potential. Pick your destination, set your personal development goals and put those wheels onto a designated route and get motoring.