Personal and Professional Development: Goals and Significance

This report discusses the concept of personal and professional development, short, medium, and long-term goals with examples, and the value of personal development plan. It emphasizes the importance of personal development in improving skills to attain set goals within a defined period of time. The report also highlights the significance of professional development in enhancing productivity and efficiency at the workplace. The personal development plan is a crucial document that helps in evaluating performance and identifying areas of improvement. It provides guidance to deal with deficiencies and improve performance for future career growth.

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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................3
Main Body...................................................................................................................................................3
Concept of personal & professional development...................................................................................3
Short term goals & examples...................................................................................................................4
Medium term goals & examples..............................................................................................................5
Long term goals & examples...................................................................................................................6
Discuss value of personal development plan along with appropriate example........................................6
CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................................................9
REFERNCES................................................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Personal development is a process wherein people assess their potential, qualities in order to
improve their future performance to attain set life goals within set period of time. Main aim of
personal development is to maximize the potential for attaining the growth opportunities in
future period of time. Personal development enables a person to perform self- introspection in
order to identify scope of improvement for future betterment & growth. It makes a person
employable which further improves confidence & brings quality in life. In the present report,
main emphasis is on personal development which is crucial in order to reach at heights of
success (Savina, Ozhogova and Rasskazova, 2020). The present report includes concept of
personal as well as professional development. Further, goals are considered as the target which
one has determined in order to alien the efforts in appropriate direction. Goals are crucial for
getting success & embarking efforts in right direction. For this purpose, goals related with
different time frames such as short, medium as well as long term are covered in the assignment.
Lastly, it also enlightens on significance of personal development plan in improving performance
to get success in future period of time.
Main Body
Concept of personal & professional development
Personal development
Personal development is concern with development & growth of a person by learning
new skills, techniques in order to distinct self from rest of the world. Personal development is not
related with a particular period of time rather, it is a lifelong process. Individuals always get
engage in learning & development so that they can get better opportunities of career growth. In
current competitive world, it is highly important to update the knowledge & skills in order to
sustain in job for longer duration. If, a person does not update self with recent techniques, tools
then there are higher probabilities to get fire from the job. Personal development allows a person
to enhance the overall personality by developing necessary personality traits. Furthermore,
employment is also directly affected with personal development. A person having strong,
pleasant personality, knowledge is more likely to get employment. Apart from this, personal
development is also imperative to sustain in job for longer period of time (Barnes, Desbrow and

Ball, 2016). It helps in bringing quality in life by enhancing standard of living. It has direct link
with earning which is crucial to get a better lifestyle. Personal development plays a crucial role
in development of different skills, capabilities, knowledge which further lead a person towards
better employment & job opportunities. It is an ongoing act to evaluate life goals & building
skills in order to attain pre-define level of potential. It significantly contributes towards success,
satisfaction & self-fulfillment. There are various ways of personal development such as
education, training, self-help and advice from experience person & more. Additionally, personal
development is something which helps a person to grow both in personal as well as professional
manner. Hence, it is paramount to get engage in personal development for improving skills in
order to attain set goals within pre-define period of time.
Professional development
Professional development is related with building such skills which assist a person in
performing assigned roles & responsibilities at work place. In corporate world, it is expected for
a person to have certain skills such as communication, leadership, time management & more.
Professional development is important for enhancement, enrichment of employees so that they
can perform assigned work in best possible way (Porat-Zyman and et. al., 2019). For this
purpose, companies arrange training & learning sessions with an aim to improve productivity &
efficiency of work force. There are hard as well as soft skills are developed through professional
development. These skills help a person to grow in professional life & make it easy to get
promotion at higher position. With professional development, it is convenient for a person to
switch in search of better opportunity of career growth & enrichment.
Short term goals & examples
Short term objectives are the first moves towards attainment of long term goals. These goals
are constructed for days, weeks and months. It is easy to evaluate the progression through short
term goals. Short term objectives are something which a person wants to accomplish in near
future. It bridges the gap between set goals & actual outcomes. Short term wins are helpful in
improving performance by enhancing the level of motivation & confidence. If, a person once
achieve short term goal, it boosts the overall confidence & also provides satisfaction. After
attainment of these goals, an individual stars to believe in own strengths, capabilities which
further lead towards the sense of self- fulfillment (Shah, 2016). These goals allow a person to

take suitable steps for enhancing future performance in an efficient manner. Short term goals
play a crucial role in enhancing the level of confidence of an individual which is crucial on
embarking over the journey of success and enrichment. Short term goals keep a person motivated
and inspired and also help in overcoming from procrastination, depression, anxiety as well as
failure to attain long term objectives. It is easy to attain short term goals in comparison of long
term objectives. I have determined certain short term goals for myself which are discussed
below:
 To minimize the level of stress in order to live a peaceful and calm life.
 To get an internship in the domain of management in order to get practical exposure &
better placement.
 To improve my writing skills to write college assignment in a proper and structured way.
Medium term goals & examples
Medium term goals are prepared to adjust the gap between long term & short term goals. These
are generally related with time period between 1 to 3 years. It allows to evaluate current
progression & performance so that appropriate steps can be taken for future betterment. Here,
long term goals are likely to take years in getting accomplished while short term goals are
prepared for short duration. Hence, there is requirement of medium term goals for maintaining a
proper balance between short term as well as long term goals. Medium term objectives are
considered as one of the best options to maintain motivation till attainment of long term
objectives (Kwok and et. al., 2020). In addition to this, accomplishment of these objectives
motivates individuals and excites them towards long term journey of goal attainment. It also
enhances current level of motivation and satisfaction which is crucial in order to get a feeling of
self fulfillment. My medium term goals are stated below.
 To improve my presentation skills so that I will be able to deliver effective presentations
during classroom activities.
 To get the degree of management with good grades in order to get a better job in future
period of time.
 To develop interpersonal skills for interacting with different people in best possible way.

Long term goals & examples
Long Tom objectives are the goals which are constructed for the duration of three to five
years. However, there is no certain time period for long term goals. These goals are translated
into long term achievement which plays a crucial role enhancing the level of satisfaction of an
individual. These goals are important in keeping a person focused and engaged. Long term goals
provide a direction wherein one can align the efforts. Additionally, these goals also allow
individuals to compare the actual performance with set standards in order take appropriate
corrective actions for further betterment. It helps in shape the direction of life & career by
keeping a person highly engaged & focused (Tang and Giddins, 2016). These goals are also
helpful in career growth. There is a complete journey behind attainment of long term goals which
offers great satisfaction and fulfillment. It brings value in life by increasing the living standard
and quality of life. Hence, there is requirement to set appropriate long term goals by analyzing
own competencies, potential. There is requirement to formulate these goals on realistic
background so that it will possible to convert the goals into reality. My long term goals are
mentioned as under:
 To get promoted at one of the hire positions within organization,
 To travel all around the world in order to get exposure of different languages, cultures
and values. To maintain a substantial portfolio with different investment options in order to make a
permanent source of income after retirement.
Discuss value of personal development plan along with appropriate example
Personal development plan is a document that is formulated in order to access own
performance over the period of time. It provides an opportunity to evaluate own skills,
capabilities which further provide help a person in order to prepare suitable strategies. Here, one
can select areas of improvement that is crucial to identify suitable resources for coping up with
the weaknesses in best possible way. It allows a person to have future vision so that one can
determine target destination in future period of time (Lewin and et. al., 2019). If, one is well
familiar with target then it becomes easy to structure a plan for achievement of set goals. In
addition to this, personal development plan also helps in tracking the current performance which
is important in order to prepare suitable plans. It facilitates career progression & promotion &

also reveals suitable opportunities for career growth. I have determined a personal development
plan for my future career enrichment which is mentioned below:
Goals Learnt Tactics Used Support and
resources
required
How success is
measured?
Target date for
review
Reducing stress Here, I will try
to avoid anxiety,
tension in order
to enjoy life
without any
stress.
The resources I
will use are the
online sessions,
yoga classes,
counselling
sessions in order to
deal with anxiety
in an appropriate
way.
For this purpose, I
will analyze my
behaviour. I will
also take
feedback from
others which will
help me to take
appropriate steps
for further
betterment.
I have determined
time period of 3
months for
reducing stress.
Presentation
skills
I will take advice
of my seniors,
faculty members
in order to
prepare an
attractive
presentation.
I will take insights
from internet, join
session &
certificate
programs related
to presentation.
For this purpose, I
will do a lot of
practice in front
of mirror for
improving my
own performance
at initial level.
Apart from this, I
will also take
reviews from
seniors, peers &
other person for
making necessary
improvements.
I have been
determined time
period of nearly 6
months for
developing
presentation
skills.

Get promotion
at higher
position
I will perform all
the assigned task
in better way in
order to put
positive
impression on
seniors.
In this, I will
improve my
knowledge by
taking online
degree &
certificate
programs which
will make me
enable to get
promotion at
higher position at
work place.
I will evaluate my
performance on
the basis of
different
benchmarks such
target
achievement,
appreciation from
managers,
rewards,
acknowledgement
& more.
I have decided
time period of 3
years to achieve
this goals

CONCLUSION
It is summarized with above stated points that it is imperative to pay significant attention to
personal development as it is concern with development of necessary skills, capabilities &
proficiency. Personal development is a process which enables a person to strengthen the
personality in order to attain necessary personal as well as professional objectives. It is analyzed
that personal development is helpful in bringing value & quality in life. There is discussion about
professional development which is related with development of employability skills, capabilities
so that one can get & sustain in job for longer duration. It is summarized that goals refer to future
plans which are constructed to evaluate the journey & facilitate growth and development. Goals
provide direction so that one can alien efforts in proper way. Discussion has been carried out
about goals related to different time duration. Furthermore, personal development plan provides
guidance to a person in order to deal with deficiencies in best possible way by adopting suitable
resources. This plan is prepared to improve performance for future career growth.

REFERNCES
Books and Journals
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