Great Ways to Improve Your Personal and Professional Development
Aim high. Explore. Stretch your boundaries. Let yourself fail some. But be sure and put learning in your skill bag. All of these are useful to remember for your personal and professional development.
Are you continuously working on your personal development? A very good idea these days … where change is the name of the game.
If so, consider these 7 top tips on how we focus our employees on their development:
Make a project around your development
Hairdressing icon Vidal Sassoon was famous for having said: “The only place you’ll find success coming before work is in a dictionary.” We have to work on ourselves. Put pressure on ourselves. Critique our days. Give back to society. Be our own very best coaches and cheering squads. All of this applies as much to our personal lives as for our business lives.
A great read: Curious People Share 16 Interesting Traits
Minimize past successes
There is nothing more dangerous to future success than a great last result, is there? We are ‘only as good as our next result’. Build on successes through learning. Stay paranoid. Look ahead and not to the past.
Be a priority fanatic
Set a goal to get more of the important things done every day. Be obsessed with getting priorities rights, on what’s really important, every day, and make sure you spend the majority of your day on these priorities. These priorities should include your development.
Continue to add connections
Woody Allen said: “85% of the secret of success is just turning up.” Turn up to events. Make that phone call. Read that book. Do that training. Have the courage to ask that question. Make the effort. Stay connected to what’s happening around you.
Be a continuous learner
Always be curious about everything. Ask yourself questions and then find the answers. Continuously connect the information you are learning for new facts and learning.
Embrace change
Darwin said it was not the strongest of the species that survived, but the ablest to adapt to change. There will be more change in the next five years than we’ve seen in the past 50. Get excited by change. Be part of the most movements that you can. Help shake things up.
Think different
Try and explore new ideas without bringing your old ideas along for the ride. Stand out to be heard. Never reject ideas just because you will not agree with them. Examine and study thoughts before setting them aside.
Yes, there are probably many valuable things that different people will add. It will carry far beyond your early days … revisit it often. Let it keep you focused on the big learning picture.
We’ve got one shot at our lives.
Work hard on yourself to stay relevant if you want the chance to keep your personal and professional development moving forward.
Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. You can find him and his writing on G+, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.
