There are 8 major areas of personal development you need to place great importance on, if you want to be successful in life.
If you want to attract great levels of success, you need to commit to being a lifelong learner. In this article, I will discuss the eight major areas of life in which most of us lag and are not able to completely develop.
I will also share with you some helpful ways in which you can improve in those particular areas.
What is Personal Development?
Changing the way you live and improving the overall outlook of life from your perspective is known as personal development.
Developing certain areas of your life and reaching the ultimate level of personal development is not easy and requires some work.
It is a process that you should start on your path to success and it is totally worth it. The one thing that I want you to keep in mind is that you should never give up, even if you experience setbacks along the way.
Personal Development VS Personal Growth
Personal Development is a process through which you improve yourself through good habits and activities. Through this process you can uncover the skills you need to reach your full potential.
According to Thrive Global, “Personal growth is the process by which a person recognizes himself or herself and continually develops himself or herself to reach his or her full potential. Personal growth is an important part of a person’s growth, maturity, success and happiness.”
To achieve personal growth you have to engage in continuous education and develop the right skill sets that you will need to be successful.
The Benefits Of Personal Development
When you focus on your personal development, it will point you in the right direction of uncovering your life’s purpose.
You will learn about yourself, learn new skills and change your way of thinking. When you change your thought process, you will also develop your self-confidence.
Self-confidence is a stepping stone from which you can start on your journey to success.
Areas of Personal Development
Personal development is a broad concept. It can be classified into different areas of life which I will go into greater details on.
1. Spirituality
Spirituality is a wide concept with debatable perspectives. In simple terms, it’s the feeling of connecting with something bigger than ourselves.
Spirituality plays a very important role in personal development. According to The Hans India, “Spirituality brings us closer to who we really are by connecting us with our inner core, an attribute key for personal growth.”
Intuition and gut feeling is an example of spirituality. We are able to discover different things without any logic through spirituality.
You can develop spirituality by practicing some healthy mental activities like meditation, spending time in nature and positive thinking.
2. Emotions
Emotional development includes complete control over your emotions, feelings, and sentiments.
It does not mean having no emotions or feelings at all. It just means that you can use your emotions in an appropriate way to get benefits.
Emotional development determines one’s success in life.
Many successful people have described the importance of emotional stability. Warren Buffett says that if you cannot control your emotions, then you cannot control your money.
I understand that in some situations, it may be very hard for you to handle overwhelming emotions.
Similar to spirituality, managing your emotions is not a piece of cake, and a lot of successful individuals have had difficulties controlling their emotions.
Analyzing yourself, your reactions in different situations and the cause of emotional instability can help you to manage your emotions.
3. Social
To develop socially, communication is key. A socially developed person has the ability to interact well at events, functions, or any other public gathering.
Understanding the behavior of other people is another example of being socially developed. It is related to emotions because connecting with other people includes the involvement of emotions.
Shyness, lack of confidence, and social anxiety are some obstacles that can stop you from becoming socially well.
4. Physical
A healthy body is key to your personal growth. Being physically well is directly related to your mental and emotional state. When you look good, you feel good.
To achieve physical wellness, you need to exercise, have proper nutrition and get enough sleep. When you have achieved physical wellness you will have more energy to go after your goals.
5. Relationships
Relationships are a major part of life, and they affect our lives greatly. It is common to fail at relationships.
Lack of communication, spending less time with each other, not having an emotional connection, not trusting each other, and having high expectations are some common reasons why most relationships fail.
6. Finances
Financial literacy is sometimes considered more important than a university degree.
Andrew Carnegie was an illiterate person, yet he was financially educated. He had mentors who taught him about finances.
Development in finances means to become financially independent, and becoming financially independent is only possible when you are financially literate.
You can become financially independent by:
- Investing early
- Increasing your income
- Buying assets
- Getting rid of liabilities
- Always keeping an emergency fund
7. Work/career
Finances are related to work, or career as our total income and earnings depend on what we do. As a general rule, the more you are contributing to the world, the more the world will give you.
One most important thing to always remember is that you should not choose any career because of money. This mistake is very common and people who do it end up having regrets throughout their life.
Happiness and satisfaction are very important, and you should understand that doing the work which you hate will never be a cause of happiness for you.
8. Mental health
Mental health problems have increased dramatically in the past few years.
The reasons behind it are not confirmed, but we can estimate that lack of human interaction in our lives can be a cause of this increase.
Mental health concerns are relatively more dangerous than physical ones. They have the potential to completely change your life. Even mental health can also cause death in severe cases.
Some of the most common mental diseases are bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, social anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, and major depressive disorder.
Mental disorders are very serious and that is why I highly suggest visiting a psychiatrist even if you observe minute problems.
Creating a Personal Development Plan
Your Personal development is ‘personal’ to you and you should plan for it. If you are at a certain point in your life and you are asking “How did I end up here?”, it means you failed to plan.
To be successful in life or at anything in general, it’s important to define your goals and create a clear map that you can follow to achieve them.
When you create your personal development plan, use it to identify the skills you need to have and the mindset necessary to achieve all your goals.
To create your best personal development plan, you need to begin with the end in mind. This is a concept introduced by Stephen Covey in his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People.
As promised, here are some tips to get you started right.
- Clearly define your goals and line them up with your vision.
- Learn what skill sets you need to have to execute your plan.
- Create a list of the habits you need to change and the habits you need to develop to achieve your goals.
- Avoid procrastination and make it a priority to do those activities that will help you to achieve your goals.
- Identify and remove anything that will stop you from following through with your plan.
- Frequently check your progress and tweak your plan if necessary. Remember to celebrate your wins and accomplishments.
35 Personal Development Quotes
Here are some personal development quotes you can use to keep you motivated and inspired along the way.
- “Personal development is the conscious choice to improve one’s life to become a better person and to grow as an individual.” Anonymous
- “Investing in yourself is the best investment you will ever make. It will not only improve your life, it will improve the lives of all those around you.” Robin Sharma
- “Look in the mirror, that’s your competition.” Anonymous
- “What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “Income seldom exceeds personal development.” Jim Rohn
- “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Gandhi
- “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “Personal development – the never ending chance to improve not only yourself but also attract opportunities and affect others.” Jim Rohn
- “You will never influence the world by trying to be like it.” Anonymous
- “The only person you should try to be better than, is the person you were yesterday.” Anonymous
- “Your job is to be the best that you can possibly be.” Brian Tracy
- “Personal development is essential for a positive mindset, self-motivational, increasing self-belief and raising your standards.” Anonymous
- “You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one.” Henry David Thoreau
- “Every time we push personal development aside, we invite personal struggle into our lives.” Hal Elrod
- “Learn to work harder on yourself than you do on your job.” Jim Rohn
- “Change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end.” Robin Sharma
- “Personal development separates you from the crowd.” ATGW
- “If you want to get more, you must become more.” ATGW
- “Life gets better when we get better, life changes when we change.” ATGW
- “Set a goal so big that you can’t achieve it until you grow into the person who can.” Zig Ziglar
- “To grow yourself, start from knowing yourself.” Anonymous
- “Personal development is the belief that you are worth the effort, time, and energy needed to develop yourself.” Denis Waitley
- “An investment in your personal development is the best investment you can make.” Jim Rohn
- “The best investment you can make is in yourself.” Warren Buffet
- “Personal development is a major time-saver. The better you become, the less time it takes you to achieve your goals.” Brian Tracy
- “Without continuous personal development, you are now all that you will ever become.” Eli Cohen
- “You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight. If you want to reach your goals and fulfill your potential, become intentional about your personal growth. It will change your life.” Jim Rohn
- “We can’t become what we want to be by remaining what we are.” Max DePree
- “People don’t grow by accident, they grow by design. Design yourself. Design your future. Success never just happens.” Anonymous
- “Personal development brings forth your greatness from within.” ATGW
- “The greatest gift you can give to somebody is your own personal development.” Jim Rohn
- “The longest journey is the journey inward.” Dag Hammarskjold
- “If you want to become successful, you must first become the person who can be successful.” Anonymous
- “To double your income and success, triple your investment in personal development and professional mastery.” Robin Sharma
- “You are essentially who you create yourself to be and all that occurs in your life is the result of your own making.” Stephen Richards
Wrap Up
The process of personal development is not easy and requires constant learning and growing. It should be your goal to learn from every day, and you can do this by following the above-mentioned steps.
Try not to start practicing all of the steps simultaneously but adopt one thing and make it a part of your life, and then move towards the other.
What steps are you taking for your own personal development? Please share in the comment section. I would love to hear from you!
