Have you heard about the ‘Miracle from Chandigarh’? Man Kaur, a 103-year-old sprinter, was given that title after she took up running at the age of 93! She has been widely recognized for her sportsperson spirit, especially for her passion despite her advanced age.
Kaur sets an example through her life and her dedication to sports. Her story also tells us that it’s never too late to set goals and work towards achieving them. Even the most successful people continue to set self-development goals because personal growth is a never-ending journey. Let’s see why it’s important to set such goals and successful ways of doing so.
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The Need For Personal Development Goal-Setting
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How Does A Self-Development Goal Help?
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How To Set Self-Development Goals For Work
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Conclusion
The Need For Personal Development Goal-Setting
As the name suggests, self-development refers to the process of making conscious efforts towards improving your knowledge, skills and behavior. It’s a quest to enhance the quality of your life by improving various aspects of it. Just like learning, personal development is a lifelong process, as it helps you become a self-fulfilled person. When you set personal growth goals, you’re taking action to maximize your potential and improve your performance.
Personal growth is a key performance-driver in the workplace. This is why professionals often set self-development goals for work. It helps them achieve self-selected outcomes through personal development goal-setting. In a typical goal-setting process, professionals
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Set their goals to understand what’s to be done and how
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Take action to achieve their goals
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Control the external stimuli that impact their growth
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Instead of following changes, bring in changes when required
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Measure progress and keep track of their improvement journey
Some examples of self-development goals are learning a new skill, upgrading your professional qualifications, taking a mid-career course, advancing or renewing a hobby, setting a fitness challenge, creating a work-life balance and drawing up financial goals.
How Does A Self-Development Goal Help?
In addition to driving successful business outcomes, setting self-improvement goals helps in career advancement. Here are the various ways in which the process benefits your career:
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You have something to focus on and you’re able to envision your goals with greater clarity. You proceed towards your targets with a strong sense of direction and clear focus. You get rid of distractions as you have a clear understanding of your expectations from yourself.
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A self-development goal is motivating. When you have a clear vision and a list of targets to achieve, you approach tasks with dedication. This further boosts your productivity and efficiency—improving your overall work ethics.
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Personal growth is instrumental in building and maintaining positive interpersonal relationships. As you work towards self-improvement, you realize the value of healthy social relationships. You’re more accepting of others and aren’t afraid to team up with them.
How To Set Self-Development Goals For Work
They say that ‘if you aren’t learning, you aren’t living’. Here are several tactics that’ll help you identify your list of self-improvement goals, grow with them and learn from them. Here’s how you can effectively set a self-development goal.
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Identify Your Vision
Assess your performance, make a list of your strengths and weaknesses and identify what you want to achieve and how. Once you get clarity about your goals, you can envision where you’d like to be in the future. Like your goals, your vision should be clear, specific, measurable, time-bound and realistic. Creating a vision statement can act as a great reminder of the things you’d like to achieve.
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Develop A Plan
Once you have your vision in place, create a plan that helps you achieve that vision. If it’s a long-term goal, it’s best to break it down into smaller, achievable goals. This will help you articulate your objectives and create manageable steps to achieve them. Use this opportunity to know more about your learning and working styles, what motivates you and what helps you stay on track.
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Monitor Your Progress
One of the key strategies to stay focused on your self-development journey is to track your progress. Every change you make impacts your plan. Use a planner or spreadsheets to map your journey—the things you’ve achieved, the setbacks and the things you’re going to pursue. By doing so, you’re self-regulating and exercising greater control over your progress. Depending on the progress, make sure that you adjust your timelines and goals.
Conclusion
The most fulfilling path to success comes from the pursuit of your own self-development. Harappa’s Leading Self course will help you grow into the best possible version of yourself at work. This online leadership course is armed with powerful frameworks that’ll teach you how to embrace new opportunities for growth and learning. The Ladder of Learning framework in particular will guide you as you develop new competencies and knowledge. Cultivate a growth mindset and dare to grow with Harappa’s courses today!
Explore topics such as Factors Influencing Self-Esteem, What is Planning, How to Set SMART Goals & The Power of Positive Thinking from Harappa Diaries and pursue success in your personal and professional life.