What is Personal Development and Why It is Important for Us

Many of us want to grow and develop in each area of our lives, knowing ourselves and using our skills to respond to the new demands that the world has. Personal development allows us to find our sense of life, talents, develop skills and achieve the desired well-being.

What is personal development?

Also known as personal growth or self-development, the individual desires to achieve greater potential and productivity personally and professionally.

In personal development, a greater knowledge of oneself, one’s goals, limitations, and the virtues that must be strengthened, is sought.

It involves taking action consciously of what you want to achieve, a change in mentality and habits that hinder comprehensive well-being.

It is the constant and progressive way of acting or acting of the person in different situations or contexts that allow them to develop according to their interests.

Personal development occurs in social groups such as family, academic contexts, work, etc., in affective relationships with our partner or with friends.

Thus, personal development describes and shows the person, their interests, abilities, and deficits that they may have.

Types

The types of personal development are

Emotional – It implies an improvement in the recognition, control, and management of emotions.

Intellectual – Referred to overcoming and or acquiring new knowledge, enhancing skills, and having greater competitiveness.

Physical – Aimed at improving physical condition and maintaining good health.

Social – Seeks to improve relationship skills with others.

Family – Referred to strengthening family ties, overcoming limitations, and growing.

Professional – Aimed at professional aspirations, goals, and objectives. Improve leadership skills, decision-making, teamwork, motivation, etc.

Financial – Develop or enhance the capabilities of managing economic resources in addition to their production.

Characteristics

They are a set of continuous practices and attitudes. It is a constant work in finding strong potential. It implies a willingness to learn new things. People do not stop learning or modifying beliefs.

Personal development needs are individual according to the particular situation (s) you live in. Consider that every person has infinite potential for development.

It implies a tolerant, friendly, and optimistic vision of reality without being conformist, naive, or delusional. It generates a transcendent understanding of what we do, sets constructive goals that guide our actions towards happiness.

What is it for?

It improves self-knowledge, allows us to recognize values, beliefs and objectives in our life, where we want to go, what we have and what hinders the development of our potential.

It helps increase productivity, motivation, and self-esteem in areas you want to improve, develop a more comprehensive view of reality, and provide a positive attitude when facing various situations.

It improves the quality of life and well-being on a personal, professional, family, emotional level, etc.

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Personal development at work

It guides towards goals for professional growth, guides work activity along with values and life priorities, develops teamwork skills and relationships with others, gives greater meaning to work activity.

Personal development in adolescence

It guides the adolescent in the formation of an identity centered on fundamental values and principles towards maturity. It will strengthen self-esteem and promote self-knowledge regarding their interests and vocational decision-making.

Personal development in children

It seeks to develop adequate emotional ties with those around him. Explore and recognize their abilities and trust them, form their autonomy and main interests, also recognize and express their emotions in various situations

Personal development in youth

It seeks greater personal maturity to respond to new challenges, such as a profession, the search for work, independence, etc. In addition to developing emotional control, it seeks empathy and assertiveness for interpersonal relationships, greater self-knowledge, and achievement motivation.

Personal development in women

It allows them to overcome themselves, empower her, feel comfortable with what she does and what she is, inviting her to overcome any social stigma. Find their ideals, overcome their fears and bet on their family, work, academic, social growth, etc.

It allows you to identify where you want to go, develop self-knowledge and clarify your goals in life. It leads us to obtain a better quality of life.

Develop the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual level, enhance skills and discover your talents. It modifies the way of thinking, making it more positive and tolerant. It gives greater awareness of our attitudes and actions.

A greater appreciation of himself is achieved with respect to his beliefs, values, ideals, etc., maintaining coherence in his actions and feelings towards his goals.

Why the family is important in personal development

The family is the first and foremost environment for the education and development of the person. Here they build their identity according to the reality perceived in their environment and their value system, beliefs, behavior patterns, coping methods, basic communication, and relationship habits.

The family promotes the person’s development using affection, care, attention, security, and fostering autonomy according to the person’s capabilities.

You must show confidence towards your members, appreciate their strengths and values, accept achievements and defeats, encourage their independence and autonomy, respect their ideals, and treat them with dignity.

How to achieve personal development

To achieve this, it begins with defining what you want to achieve and what the person wants so that he can orient himself towards that goal.

Then specify the progressive objectives that will lead to the goal and specifically establish the steps for each objective.

Finally, implement what has been established to achieve each objective. It is important to be constant and eliminate those thoughts that could limit us or generate frustrations.

How personal development is reinforced

We can take into account

• Being open to continuous training, knowledge is essential for personal development
• Develop self-knowledge through relaxation or meditation, reading personal development books, etc.
• Accept the opinion of others from a growth perspective, integrate positive and negative observations
• Recognize, accept and overcome the personal blocks that limit us
• Accept diversity, be tolerant, understanding, use dialogue, listening, etc.
• See our goal as achievable, pleasant, get excited about it, and guide our forces towards its achievement

How does sexuality influence personal development

Sexuality is the interaction of biological, psychological, and social aspects that act in forming the personality.

It includes a deep knowledge of feelings and values that guide behaviour towards pleasure, understood as well-being with our goals, socio-affective relationships, and ourselves. This knowledge is dynamic and results from experiences.

It influences the identification and expression of emotions, the positive acceptance of reality and its confrontation, and assertive socialization in defining and building a life project.