Do You Need a Personal Development Plan?

The questio
"Do I need a personal development plan?" is a hard one to answer, because it's not as simple a question as it seems.

When someone asks me this, what they usually mean is, "Do I need to sit down and plan out everything I'm going to do to create a new life?"

The answer to that question is no.

In fact, you cannot create this kind of personal development plan, because you don't and cannot know everything you need to do to create the life you want.

But I believe anyone who wants to become the person they want to be, does need a personal development plan.

Here's what I mean by that.

You need, at the minimum, a plan that declares what you want out of your life in the following areas, at some definite future time:

* personal (who do you want to be in terms of character, personality, emotions, vocation/avocation, hobbies, fulfillment)

* relationships (spouse, family, friends)

*career/business

*financial

*spiritual

*health/fitness

*intellectual

I recommend creating a structure for how you're going to get there, at least by listing books and programs you'll use or resources you'll consult.

I do not recommend creating a formal structured personal development plan with everything laid out exactly the way you intend for it to go. Things never go as planned, and you'll only create frustration for yourself.

I recommend a personal development plan because knowing what you want and having some idea of what you're going to do to get there will help you stay on track and move forward.

Personal development is fluid and you'll always find yourself doing things and discovering things you were not expecting, but a plan will help you create and maintain forward motion. That's the key here.