personal growth plan example

A Personal Growth Plan That Works

Personal Growth And Development In 7 Steps

personal growth plan exampleIf you are stuck in a rut and stagnant, life can get boring. Maybe there are things you have wanted to do and goals you wanted to meet, but they are not happening.

Working on a Personal Growth plan is the answer. It will make your life more enjoyable and fulfilling. Say you are broke, or overweight, don’t have many friends or you lack goals. It can be overwhelming as to where to start.

The key to beginning your personal growth and development journey can be found in setting your priorities. And realize there is a lot that can be done in five years, five months – not nearly as much.

Spend time where it is most effective:

First evaluate your current situation. What is a typical day and weekend like in your life? Write that down in detail, along with your feelings, as this will help you examine where you can improve.

  • I get up at 6:00 to go to work – I hate getting up early and I do not like my job.
  • I shower and think about not being able to pay my bills. Having to get undressed reminds me that I don’t like the way I look with 20 extra pounds.
  • I drive to work – I really like my car.
  • I work until 5:00 – I dislike my boss
  • I drive home – I am bored with the long drive.
  • I open the door and find the dog peed on the carpet – I blame myself for not giving him enough time this morning to go potty properly.

Now rate each of these experiences. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the worst, rate each thought. It would be the 1’s, 2’s and 3’s that are dragging you down the most. Raise those thoughts to at least a 5, and don’t worry so much about raising a 6 to a 10. Clearing the most negative is more important.

Create a 10 Experience

So for an example, let’s take the weight issue as an example. You rate your issue as a “2” because it impacts your self esteem and confidence. And you know it is a health issue and believe it is affecting your social life.

So to change your thoughts and feelings on this, write yourself a little story.

I am stepping onto the bathroom scale and I find I am at my ideal weight of ___. This is a very good weight for me. I look nice in my clothes and I feel good. My medical Doctor is happy with my blood pressure numbers and I am within normal range on my cholesterol. My friends are asking how I lost my excess weight. I have my confidence back.

Read this daily. You are going to have weight loss as an objective and be consistent in working towards accomplishing this.

What Do You Need To Make It So?

So what do you need to do to get down to a healthy weight? Here are some ideas:

  • Remove unhealthy foods from your diet and don’t bring them home.
  • Get out a couple cookbooks or buy them, for healthy recipes and variety.
  • Plan your meals. This aids in sticking with a weight loss plan.
  • Focus on creating new habits, while letting go of the habits that caused the excess weight.
  • If you are a stress eater, choose 3 or 4 things you will do instead of eating, such as exercising or writing in a journal.

Focusing On Your Habits

The things in your current life are often the result of years of habit, which has been re-enforced by doing them so long or so often. Choose better habits for a better outcome. By making small changes everyday, you can work towards a different outcome, by choosing your areas of personal growth. Be patient with yourself and stick to your plan of making new habits.

There Will Be Some Discomfort

As you change, there will be some  discomfort and maybe fear. The faster you change, the more discomfort you may have. Just accept that discomfort is part of change. Uncomfortable feelings can be dealt with. Something like Emotional Freedom Techniques takes the emotional charge out of one’s feelings fairly rapidly, leaving you with much better ability to cope.

barriers to personal growth and development

The People In Your Life

One last thing I want to mention is the people in your life. There are people who will encourage you to make good changes and people who will hold you back or sabotage your efforts, consciously or subconsciously on their part.

Add in more people to your life that are supportive and encouraging. If there is not an important reason to have negative people in your life, then let them go.

You Are On A Journey

It would be daunting to change dozens of aspects of your life at once, so I don’t suggest it in  your personal growth and development plan. Focus on the negative aspects of life first, then turn to the less critical but important things.

Your personal growth plan has begun! Enjoy your self along the way and be patient with yourself. You will see changes, given a little time.