Self-Development—It’s Time to Empower Yourself

Think it’s time for a little self-development? There is no better time to start than now!

Self development takes some time and attention, but when you do it right, it is not as difficult as you might think. If you take a little time to think about it, self-development techniques can be easy to apply. The perfect starting point is to literally ask yourself, “What is one thing I can do today to stretch outside of my comfort zone in the area where I want to get better?” This can apply to any area of development from listening skills to being strategic, from conflict management to business savvy.

Identify your GAPS
Your first step is to analyze your needs or GAPS. Using this simple acronym can help you define the four areas most critical to helping you uncover your development objectives.

□ Goals: what do you really care about, what are your interests, values, and career aspirations?
□ Abilities: how you see yourself, what do you think you are capable of, what you are good at and not so good at?
□ Perceptions: how do others see you? Find out what those around you think.
□ Success Factors: what matters to others, what is expected of you to be successful around your workplace?

Do A Little Every Day
The key is to be consistent. Look at your self development the same way you would look at exercising to stay healthy, you have to be consistent or it doesn’t work. You can’t just go to the gym once for a great workout and think that’s all it will take to stay on track. Unfortunately, this is exactly how a lot of people approach their self development. They go to a seminar and think it is all taken care of. No matter how good your intentions are, this is not the ultimate solution. What happens is they are all fired up after the seminar and think, “That was great; I can’t wait until I get back to the office on Monday and start using what I learned.” Then Monday rolls around, that seminar feels like it was a lifetime ago, and they fall back into their old patterns.

Start With What You Know
Conferences, seminars, classes, and books can all be helpful, but better yet, put into practice the stuff you already know. You are a wealth of knowledge, start practicing what you have learned. This will help you get in the habit of growth and self development. Most people know what they need to work on. So, next, take the time to reflect on what you want to do. Taking time for your self development can be difficult, but you deserve it! You may want to get a coach, mentor or a friend in the HR profession that you can be accountable to. This individual will help give you some guidance and then you can go from there.

GOOD LUCK!