By spending time on your personal development, you are working towards being the best version of yourself. This can be a time-consuming process where you don't always know where to start. After all, what exactly is personal development? We have listed the definition, a short step-by-step plan, and several personal development examples for you. Please read on quickly!

What is personal development?

Personal development is working on skills that you consider important for yourself. It is about the way you work on your skills, for example by learning them, developing them or improving them. Personal growth is therefore always about becoming a better version of yourself and being aware of what you are capable of.

Personal development is a broad concept. To make it easier for you, we have broken it down into a few personal development components:

• Self-awareness → knowing what your personal strengths and weaknesses are. What are you already good at and what do you want to improve? This is a perfect starting point to begin your personal growth;
  
• Social skills → the way you deal with your emotions and express them to the outside world. How do you come across to other people and how could you improve this?
  
• Health → how is your physical and mental health. How do you treat your body at the moment and how could you improve on this? Think about exercising, eating healthier, and reducing stress factors.

Personal growth consists of many more components than just the ones we list here. It does not matter how you grow, as long as you are working on becoming a better version of yourself. It can definitely help to set learning goals for yourself.

Personal growth: 3 steps

Now you know what personal development is, it's time to go to our step-by-step plan. By following the three steps below, you will start your personal development in no time.

Step 1: Self-analysis

In a self-analysis, you determine your skills and competencies to enable personal growth in the future. What are you currently good at and what would you like to improve on? The results of this analysis are best placed inside a personal SWOT analysis: this makes it immediately clear where opportunities for your personal development lie and what your potential pitfalls are. After doing the self-analysis, it is time to set goals.

Step 2: Setting goals

Setting goals gives you a perspective for the future. To work on your personal growth, it is advisable to set learning goals for yourself. This provides more motivation and makes your growth measurable.

Step 3: Create a personal development plan

Now you know what you want to develop personally and have set your goals accordingly, it is time to create a personal development plan (also known as a PDP). In this plan, you describe all the things you need to make your personal growth a reality, like a schedule, your surroundings, or education through classes or (self-help) books.

Personal development: examples

How do you actually get started with your personal growth? We have several personal development examples to help you take the first step: this will make you unstoppable!

• Draw inspiration from your favorite influencer → your favorite influencer is probably your favorite for a reason. Find out a little more about this influencer. Maybe he or she has written a book, shared videos, or created a podcast. Get inspired and take lessons from this for yourself;  
  
• Take care of yourself → if you wake up dead tired every day, working on your personal development is an exhausting task. After all, you'd rather be snoozing in bed. So try to eat healthy food, get enough sleep, relax and keep a steady rhythm. If you start doing this, this is already your first step towards personal growth;
  
• Start a diary/journal → keep a daily (or weekly) record of what you did, how you feel, and what steps you made. At the more awkward moments in your development, you can grab it to make yourself aware again of the steps you have already taken.
  

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