Personal Development

"Personal development (also known as self-development, self-improvement or personal growth) is the development of a person's abilities to be more effective or enhancing the realisation of their inherent capabilities or human potential. It involves developing self-awareness, self-confidence and emotional competence. It represents the way a person can improve his/her professional performance, personal or social life by finding motivations, eliminating complexes, changing her/his vision of life, etc"
Wikipedia

Personal development is a byword within coaching, and can incorporate anything from losing weight to improving relationships or seeking the means of realising personal goals.

In scope, it is as varied as your ambitions and hopes. In practice, many of the approaches to helping people on their personal development plan remain routed in the same principle: that people need an external influence or guide to help them to achieve what they want to achieve.

Nowadays, there are more and more organisations and individuals specialising in personal development. Some have central missions and beliefs. Other will readily adapt according to what their particular ‘clients’ want. Both approaches have advantages and disadvantages.

The motivations to engage in a personal development programme are slightly different from executive coaching, not least of all because it is you – rather than your boss – who will be paying for the coaching. Personal coaching is also a lot more personal!

Personal development may well incorporate Life Wheels and Personal Development Frameworks through to more detailed psychometric tests, designed to let you take an objective look at where you are and where you want to be.

Some people are put off by these disciplines because they see them as ‘tests’ that may illustrate weakness. However, the aim is quite the opposite: to assess existing personality traits and behaviors in order to move quickly to a place of learning and acceptance and personal development. You can take these ‘tests’ for free on a number of different coaching sites.

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