Why Put Together a Personal Development Plan?
“He who fails to plan is planning to fail.”– Winston Churchill
Three big reasons for having a personal development plan include:
- Knowing what I am trying to accomplish gives me a clear idea of what I’m working on.
- Define The Why. Oftentimes, along the way I’ll come across tasks and situation that I simply don’t enjoy doing. Having a personal development plan shows me why I’m doing what I’m doing.
- My Compass. I’m a very driven, ambitious person – but if I don’t have a plan of what I’m trying to accomplish, I end up expending energy in many different directions. A personal development plan keeps me headed towards consistent goals.
Personal Development Plan Template for Goals
One of the areas many people struggle with is setting goals. That is a whole other article in and of itself on how to effectively set goals, but let’s talk specifically in the context of a personal development plan. How can you get a good overview of the direction you want your life to head? Once you’ve settled on your life purpose and your big dreams, you should sketch out some goals in the most important areas in your life, at regular intervals. We might like to go ten years out, but three or gives years is great too. A very simple personal development plan template for goals might look like this:
| Goal Area | One Year | Three Year | Five Year | Ten Year |
| Career | ||||
| Finances | ||||
| Physical/Body | ||||
| Social | ||||
| Personal |
For each box, one may need to answer these questions:
- What specifically do I want to accomplish?
- Why?
- Who can help me?
- How do I get there? (What actions do I need to take?)