Where would you like to be in 5 or 10 years? Do you have a plan?
This post is for anyone that would like to stop daydreaming about how they will push their career forward, get fit and get that certification they need and start planning how they will make things actually happen. Don't worry – it's easier than you think, you just need a Personal Development Plan.
What is that thing? PDP is a super handy tool for setting your goals, listing step by step how you can make it real and helping you to keep track of everything. It works for both long and short-term goals so you can put some easy things along with the big, hard-to-achieve ones (and having a mix of those will make you more motivated, as you cross off everything that you already completed every now and then).
What you need is one simple worksheet, tea or coffee and 30 - 40 minutes of free time:
Start from the beginning. What would you like your life to be in a year? What kind of job would you like? How would you like to feel? What kind of changes would you like to make? When you have a somewhat clear vision of where would you like your life to go, try and think about what needs to be done to make it happen and strip it down to specific goals.
Do you need to find a new job, get some new qualification or start a freelance project? What is it that you would like to achieve?
Always write down why is it that you want to do something – if you have a reason and you remind yourself of it from time to time, your motivation will last way longer.
Also, set a clear deadline on finishing every single one of your goals. It's only for you and you should use it for reference – will you manage to complete everything in time?
Everything that you want to do can be broken into smaller pieces. So you want to change a job? You have to prepare a CV, find a job that you like, send out applications, interview. You would like to get a yoga instructor certificate? You need to find a course that will give you qualifications, attend, pass the exam. Put everything into tiny, achievable pieces that you can cross off as you complete them - easy as that!
You always need to know what exactly is it that you want. Do you just want to move to a different city, or do you want to find a new studio flat on a specific street? What outcome is good enough to be considered a success for you?
If there are any things that you need to make sure to send/check/hand in before a certain date – put them on the list whenever you find out about them (with a date when you will do it next to whatever it may be). This is simply to make sure that you are on top of everything.
If there are some things that are not so clear in your head (yet...) write them down in the four squares at the bottom. This space is for ideas that will develop as you go. Remember that your Personal Development Plan will change with time and will need to be updated – maybe things from the bottom part will reach the top? Maybe they are just the next goals that are slowly growing on you?
You can find a full .pdf version of this Personal Development Plan worksheet on Tiny Upload my SlideShare.
Have fun!
