Understanding Self and Others: A Reflective Personal Development Report and Plan

This reflective personal development report and plan focuses on four core skills: giving and receiving feedback, researching and information finding, assertiveness/conflict resolution, and focus and attention. It explores the importance of each skill, analyzes the author's current competence, identifies contradictions between self-perception and feedback from peers and tutors, and outlines how these skills can contribute to future success. The report concludes with a summary of strengths and weaknesses, and a detailed action plan for personal development.

UNDERSTANDING SELF AND OTHERS
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................3
REFLECTIVE JOURNAL PRO-FORMA FOR GIVING AND/OR RECEIVING
FEEDBACK..................................................................................................................4
REFLECTIVE JOURNAL PRO-FORMA FOR RESEARCHING AND INFORMATION
FINDING.......................................................................................................................8
REFLECTIVE JOURNAL PRO-FORMA FOR ASSERTIVENESS/ CONFLICT
RESOLUTION SKILL..................................................................................................12
REFLECTIVE JOURNAL PRO-FORMA FOR FOCUS AND ATTENTION SKILL.....15
SUMMARY AND ACTION PLAN................................................................................17
REFERENCES...........................................................................................................19
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INTRODUCTION
Self-awareness may be defined as having a good understanding of strength,
weakness, values, attitude, emotion and motives (Visscher, 2015).It is crucial for a
person to be self-aware as it helps in making the better understanding of other
people and their emotions. It plays an important role in the personal as well as
professional life of an individual. It is directly linked to the management as it helps
person in managing different things. It helps in adopt, communicate, influence and
develop and maintain a team in professional. There are various skills which are
important for a person to understand himself as well as others.
In this reflective personal development report and plan, I focused on the four
different skills that are giving or reviving feedbacks, researching and information
finding, Assertiveness/conflict resolution, and focus and attention. This work
demonstrates the importance of core skills, current competent regarding skill,
contradiction and its usefulness in future. A summary of my Strength and weakness
and identification of areas to be developed is also elaborated in this work.
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REFLECTIVE JOURNAL PRO-FORMA FOR GIVING AND/OR RECEIVING
FEEDBACK
What is the core skill to develop?
The core skill to develop is Giving and/or receiving feedback. Feedback is statement or
information of opinion about something. Feedbacks can be about performance of a task or
products or any other thing. Giving and receiving feedback is an important skill in personal
as well professional life. This skill plays an important role in the personal development of a
person (Nicol, et al. 2014).
Why is this core skill important? Why did I select this skill to reflect on? (use
relevant theories and concepts to support your answer)
Both Giving as well as receiving feedbacks is important skills as feedbacks given by
us can affect other person or his performance in same ways feedback of others can
affect us. Feedbacks are important for understanding our strengths as well as
weaknesses. It is helpful in identifying the areas which can be improved so that
effective steps can be taken to improve them. It also helps in building and maintains
a healthy and positive relationship with others (Durham, et al. 2016).
I have selected this skill as it is an important skill to improve myself as well to
communicate effectively with the other. It is helpful in keeping our opinion in front of
others in an effective manner.
Reflect on your current competent regarding this skill. How did you assess
your competence? (use your self-assessment findings, feedback from peers
and your tutor, plus your own reflections on your thoughts, feelings and
behaviours to answer this question)
My current level of competence regarding this skills is not that good and needs
improvement in order to make effective decisions. I need to improve this skill to
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deliver effective and better feedbacks to others as well as to make the proper sense
of other’s feedback. I have taken the feedback from my peers and tutor to
understand my current competent regarding this skill. According to my peers and
tutor, there are certain areas which can be improved to master this skill. According
to them, I get nervous while giving feedback to others and sometimes I provide
common or ineffective feedbacks. They also told that I should also consider the
feedback from others for improving my professional skill. They suggest that I should
not get nervous while giving feedback to others.
I also feel that sometimes I get nervous while giving feedback to others. I avoid
saying few important things that can hurt someone. I also think that I should focus
resolve these issues in order to provide effective feedback to others.
Can you identify any contradictions from your analysis above? For example, is
there a match between how you see yourself and how others see you, or not?
I have taken the feedback from my peers and tutors to understand their perspective
on my skills and knowledge. Their perception of my skill of giving and receiving
feedback is right. They said that I get nervous while giving feedbacks to others which
affect the quality of my thoughts or opinion. I also need to consider the feedback
from others in order to improve my skills.
How might this skill help me in the future? (use references to support your
argument)
Giving and receiving feedback is one of the most important skills which helps in
personal as well as professional life (Burgess and Mellis, 2015). It can play an
important role in achieving my future goals. It can help me in communicating
effectively with others and most importantly it can help me in keeping my points in
front of others. It is also beneficial in identifying weakness and strengths so that
effective plan can be developed for their improvement.
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REFLECTIVE JOURNAL PRO-FORMA FOR RESEARCHING AND
INFORMATION FINDING
What is the core skill to develop?
The core skill which is to be developed is researching and information finding. Researching
and finding skills refer to ability to know or probing different factor associated with a topic. It
helps in understanding and making a deep and clear understanding of a topic. There are
different sources such as books, research papers, internet, newspaper, journal, interview
and magazines which can be adopted to gather information about a topic of interest
(Hyland, 2015).
Why is this core skill important? Why did I select this skill to reflect on? (use
relevant theories and concepts to support your answer)
It is an important skill which is helpful for a student, professional or a person belongs
to any field. It helps in gathering information about any important or interesting topic.
It helps in enhancing the knowledge which reflects significantly on the personal as
well as professional life (Orcher, 2016).
I am interested in learning and exploring new things. One of the prime reasons
behind the selection of this skills is that it is an imperative skill for learning new and
creative things. It promotes self- learning which helps in understanding the different
dimensions of a topic.
Reflect on your current competent regarding this skill. How did you assess
your competence? (use your self-assessment findings, feedback from peers
and your tutor, plus your own reflections on your thoughts, feelings and
behaviours to answer this question)
I have a keen interest in finding and investigating new and interesting thing. I am
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good at finding and researching the different factors associated with a topic. I have
taken feedbacks from my peers and tutor to understand the different my current
competent regarding the skill of finding and researching.
According to my peers, I am good at finding information and researching any
important things. They also suggest that I can focus on making proper utilization of
internet in order to make a deep understanding of the topic.
My tutor also provided me feedback about any new and important things. According
to my tutor, there are different things which can help me in conducting research. The
tutor also suggested me name of few methods which can be adopted to collect the
primary and secondary data for research.
I also think that I am good at finding information and conducting research still I need
to focus on the improvement of this skills in order to gain the better results.
Can you identify any contradictions from your analysis above? For example, is
there a match between how you see yourself and how others see you, or not?
Peers, as well as tutors, have provided me feedback which suggests that I possess
good information gathering and researching skill. There are some area in which are
my weakness such as collecting primary data through different primary methods. My
this weakness influences my overall performance, therefore, I need to improve this
area. I can use various techniques such as observation, brainstorming, remaining
update with technology and other such strategies to improve this skill.
How might this skill help me in the future? (use references to support your
argument)
Research and information finding can become one of my best strength in future. It is
helping me in my student life and I am pretty sure that it can also be helpful in
shaping my career. I can use this skill to collect all the important information
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regarding my career. It can help me making right career decisions.
I can use this skill in understanding the different theoretical concept through so that I
can apply it in my practical life in an effective manner. It can help in understanding
and identify the solutions to different personal and professional problems.
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REFLECTIVE JOURNAL PRO-FORMA FOR ASSERTIVENESS/ CONFLICT
RESOLUTION SKILL
What is the core skill to develop?
The core skill to develop is Assertiveness/ conflict resolution skill. Assertiveness refers to
quality of being assured and confident without being aggressive. It is a learnable skill and
mode of communication in field of psychology. Conflict resolution skill is also an important
skill to avoid and resolve different conflicts (Barsky, 2016). Different conflicts or disputes
can influence the performance of an individual, therefore, it is important to resolve all this
conflict effectively.
Why is this core skill important? Why did I select this skill to reflect on? (use
relevant theories and concepts to support your answer)
Confidentially keeping the opinion in front of others without being aggressive is very
important in student as well as professional life. Assertiveness possesses a great
impact on others and can reflect significantly on the communication between people.
Conflict or dispute with others can reflect adversely on the professional life,
therefore, it is crucial for a person to develop conflict resolution skills to avoid as well
as to resolve the conflict resolution method.
One of the main reason behind selection of this skill is that it reflects positively on the
personality of a person. It is also helpful in communicating and interacting effectively
with others. It is important to aware this skill to achieve better results in personal and
professional goals.
Reflect on your current competent regarding this skill. How did you assess
your competence? (use your self-assessment findings, feedback from peers
and your tutor, plus your own reflections on your thoughts, feelings and
behaviours to answer this question)
I am not good at keeping my thoughts and ideas in front of others as I get nervous in
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front of the people. I need to overcome my different weakness in order to
communicate effectively with people. I need to improve my Assertiveness/ conflict
resolution skill in order to keeping my opinions or thoughts in front of others in an effective
manner as well as to avoid and resolve various conflicts.
My tutor and peers gave me feedback on my competency regarding this skill. According to
my peers, I need to improve this skills in order to communicate effectively with others as well
as to resolve the conflict which can influence the performance. My tutor also suggests me
that I can focus on the development of this skill as it can help in making significant
improvement in personal as well as professional life.
I personally believe that I should focus on the effective development of this skill in order to
achieve garnish my personality.
Can you identify any contradictions from your analysis above? For example, is
there a match between how you see yourself and how others see you, or not?
I am weak in certain areas which are influencing my overall performance. I am not
good at speaking a group therefore first of all I need to focus on the communicating
effectively with the people.
The feedback given by my peers and tutors are effective in overcome different
weakness. One of the most important areas which I need to improve is self-
confidence as it is very important for keeping our opinion in front of others as well as
to resolve the different conflicts and disputes.
How might this skill help me in the future? (use references to support your
argument)
It is very important for an individual to possess effective Assertiveness/ conflict resolution
skill in order to communicate effectively with the customers. This skill is helpful in studies as
well as in the professional life. It is important skills which give rise to different skills such as
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leadership skills (Coleman, 2016). It helps in guiding or teaching others. It can also help
me in avoiding and solving various conflicts and issues in future.
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REFLECTIVE JOURNAL PRO-FORMA FOR FOCUS AND ATTENTION
SKILL
What is the core skill to develop?
The core skill which is to be developed is focus and attention. Focused attention refers to the
ability to concentrate or focus on a target stimulus for any period of time. This skill is very
important to learn and understand new things as well to achieve the different goals (Peh, et
al. 2011).
Why is this core skill important? Why did I select this skill to reflect on? (use
relevant theories and concepts to support your answer)
Focus and attention is an important element to achieve the success in any field. It is
important for a student and as well as professional to pay attention to each and
every important things associated with their goals. This skill is important to learn and
develop new skills quickly (Böckle, et al. 2016).
Reflect on your current competent regarding this skill. How did you assess
your competence? (use your self-assessment findings, feedback from peers
and your tutor, plus your own reflections on your thoughts, feelings and
behaviours to answer this question)
I can pay attention as well as focus on the different important things. It helps me to
concentrate and understand the different factors to achieve better results.
According to my peers, I have good focus and attention skills as I can focus on the
different things including studies. My tutor also suggests me that I have good
concentrations power but I need to improve it to make it better.
There are certain areas which can be considered by me for the improvement of this
skill. I got destructed due to different factors such as personal factors, environmental
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factors and stimulus factor.
Can you identify any contradictions from your analysis above? For example, is
there a match between how you see yourself and how others see you, or not?
Although I possess a good attention and focus skill still I am weak in certain areas
which should be improved to achieve better result. I get destructed due to various
personal, environmental and stimulus factors. I can use different techniques such as
meditation to improve the attention and focus skill.
How might this skill help me in the future? (use references to support your
argument)
Focus and attention skill is very important to develop a plan to achieve future goals.
It helps in avoiding different issues which can influence the goals of a person. It can
be helpful for me in concentrating different elements which are necessary to achieve
success in future.
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SUMMARY AND ACTION PLAN
An action plan can be developed in order to achieve better personality development
(McGrath, 2014). It is important to analyse the strength and weaknesses in order to
build an effective action plan. My strength and weakness is outlined below.
STRENGTHS
 Good giving and receiving feedback skill
 Sound knowledge of different sources which can be used to gather
information
 Interest in learning new and important skills
 Good concentration power
WEAKNESS
 Sometimes get nervous while communicating with others
 Need to gain knowledge about new sources
 Weak in keeping opinion in front of others
 Need to be more focused to achieve future goals
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A personal development plan can be developed by considering the above-mentioned
strength and weakness. There are different factors can be followed in order to
develop various skills.
Goal Action Evidence of
achievement
Time Period
Assertiveness/
conflict resolution
skill.
To interact and
communicate
regularly with
others
Confidence in
keeping point in
front of others
without any
nervousness
6 months
Developing
research and
information
gathering skill
To keep updated
with new search
engine. To read
various books,
article magazines
etc.
Possess sound
knowledge of
important and
interesting topic
6 month
Giving and/or
receiving feedback
skill
Giving proper
attention to the
feedback given by
others. Observing
others that how
they provide
feedback to others
Feel comfortable in
keeping opinion in
front of other
6 month
focus and attention Try to develop
interest in
important things.
Using different
methods such as
yoga or meditation
to enhance the
concentration
Can pay attention
to important or
interesting thing
without any
distraction
6 month
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power (Paul and
Elder, 2013).
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REFERENCES
 Barsky, A., 2014. Conflict resolution for the helping professions. Oxford
University Press
 Böckler, A., Knoblich, G. and Sebanz, N., 2012. Effects of a coactor's focus of
attention on task performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human
Perception and Performance, 38(6), p.1404
 Burgess, A. and Mellis, C., 2015. Feedback and assessment for clinical
placements: achieving the right balance. Advances in medical education and
practice, 6, p.373
 Coleman, H., 2010. Conflict Resolution for the Helping Professions
 Durham, K.F., Sackley, C.M., Wright, C.C., Wing, A.M., Edwards, M.G. and
Van Vliet, P., 2014. Attentional focus of feedback for improving performance
of reach-to-grasp after stroke: a randomised crossover study. Physiotherapy,
100(2), pp.108-115.
 Hyland, K., 2015. Teaching and researching writing. Routledge
 McGrath, M., 2014. Personal development plan. Leading the Way, 11(1),
p.21.
 Nicol, D., Thomson, A. and Breslin, C., 2014. Rethinking feedback practices in
higher education: a peer review perspective. Assessment & Evaluation in
Higher Education, 39(1), pp.102-122
 Orcher, L.T., 2016. Conducting research: Social and behavioral science
methods. Routledge
 Paul, R. and Elder, L., 2013. Critical thinking: Tools for taking charge of your
professional and personal life. Pearson Education
 Peh, S.Y.C., Chow, J.Y. and Davids, K., 2011. Focus of attention and its
impact on movement behaviour. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport,
14(1), pp.70-78
 Visscher, C., 2015. Cultural Knowledge, Self-awareness, and Practical Skills:
A Curriculum Model for Teaching Cultural Competence and Spiritual Care to
Health and Human Services Professionals. Hawai'i Journal of Medicine &
Public Health, 74(7 Suppl 1), p.25
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