The Significance of Personal Development: Goal Setting and Planning

This report provides a comprehensive overview of personal and professional development, emphasizing the importance of setting short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals. It delves into the concept of personal development as a process for enhancing self-awareness, skills, and potential, and highlights the role of a Personal Development Plan (PDP) in achieving personal and professional success. The report outlines how short-term goals boost motivation and provide clear direction, while medium-term goals act as mediators between short and long-term aspirations, offering flexibility and adaptability. Long-term goals provide focus and purpose, guiding daily actions toward significant achievements. Furthermore, the report underscores the value of a PDP in sharpening existing skills, learning new ones, and fostering personality development, ultimately driving motivation and turning vision into reality. The report concludes that personal development and planning are vital for individual growth, with strategies and goals tailored to different time periods, ultimately leading to success in both personal and professional life. Desklib provides access to this and other solved assignments.

Report on Personal
Development

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Concept of personal and professional development....................................................................3
Discussion of the value of short term goals................................................................................4
Discussion of the value of medium term goals.........................................................................4
Discussion of the value of long term goals.................................................................................5
Value of the Personal Development Plan....................................................................................6
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Personal development refers to the process which enables the deep positive and long
lasting change for seeing self and world. With the personal development person is able to realize
the self capabilities, unleashing the potentials and achieve the objectives and goals. Self
awareness,direction development and encouragement & action are some benefits of the
personal development(Koch and Zunk, 2018). It consists of the activities which improve the
awareness and the identity, talent developing, building the humans capital and contributing to
realization of aspirations and dreams. It is a lifelong process and maximising the potential. This
report will define the concept of personal and professional development with the discussion of
value of short term, medium term and long term goals. Further it will describe the value of
Personal Development Plan for the individual.
MAIN BODY
Concept of personal and professional development
Personal and Professional Development refers to the way used by people for assessing
their own abilities and skills, considering the aims in life and setting the goals for realizing and
maximizing self true potential(Neenan and Dryden, 2020). Personal development is known as
the process of enhancing and increasing the staff capacities by accessing to opportunities of
training and education in the place of work by the outside firms. Personal development is the
process of improving the self by improving the skills of employment, enhancement of the
consciousness and building of the wealth.
PDP can be undertaken by different ways for ex- education, coaching, training and
change of mind set. Every body gets benefit personal and professional development in their lives
at some point of time. It involves the development of self in the role for understanding the job
and improve it. It involves the enhancement of essential skills for carrying the role effectively
and which will continue in entire life. Effective personal and professional development includes
the ensuring of knowledge and understanding the expertise for the career is at the highest level.
Its the skill acquisition and knowledge for the advancement of the career and consists of the
personal development element. It includes of the vocational education, training and
development programmes which might be delivered on job for developing and enhancing the
skills. It helps the people to be more fulfilled, happy and live high quality of life.

Discussion of the value of short term goals
Short term goals are known as the goals which a individual wants to accomplish in near
future. Aspirations of the short term may be set to achieve today itself or in next week, month or
year((Tymms, 2018). The primary goal of establishing the short term goals is for furthering your
success and support the long term aspiration. If the short term goal is more specific and
actionable it is more likely to achieve it on time. They are vital as they allow the individual to
achieve the long terms aspirations . Setting of short term goal have many benefits such as-
 Boosts the motivation- By setting the short term goals is easy then setting and achieving
the long term goals and allows for realizing the outcomes in a fast manner. Small
achievements aid in motivating the individual for continuing with the goals and build the
momentum for moving forward.
 Provides the clear direction- Short term goals list get completes with the actions to take
by the individual for reaching the goals giving clear direction focusing on the efforts and
direction.
 Measurable success- It is one of the benefits of setting the short term aspirations as they
provide with goals which can be measured. Like long term goals they are abstract and
their effect can be seen. It motivates for the setting of goals for self by giving sense of
accomplishment.
Here are 3 examples of short term goal which I have identified-
Example of Short term goals are: -
 Efficient skills of active listening
 Excellent skills of communication Strong skills of interpersonal
Discussion of the value of medium term goals
Medium term goals refers to the objectives which takes more time than the short term
aspirations, but they have short timeline that the goals of long term. Medium term goals take
few years for accomplishment. They are crucial for tracking of the progress towards the
objectives of the long term(Johnson, Robertson and Cooper, 2018). They aid in evaluating for
seeing whether individual is on right track or nor and if they want to reevaluate the short term
goals and decisions. Individuals can use the mid term goals for breaking the long term goals in

manageable activities. They allow to take enough times for making vital progress and maintain
values and priorities when the goals were established. Here are some factor which explain the
importance of the mid term goals-
 Act as the mediator: - It is the main significance of the goals of mid term for the
person by acting as as mediator among the short term aspirations and long term
aspirations. By the aid of the medium term aspirations person can effectively identify
the variables which assists in fulfilling of the goals of shorts term and track progress
easily of the long term aspirations.
 They are flexible in nature: - It is the other significance of the mid term aspirations
in which the person can make effective changes in values and the priorities at nay
given point of time, It aids the person for making the adjustments as per the need.
Ex. of Medium term aspirations are: -
 Skills of Decision Making
 Skills of Problem solving Skills of Innovation in technology
Discussion of the value of long term goals
Long term aspirations are those aspiration which the individual wants to accomplish in
future. These aspirations are related to the relationships, careers, education and many others.
Mean while the long terms goals need the time and daily planing for reaching them, step by step,
involving the small aspirations in the way. They refer to the accomplishment which takes time,
planning and efforts for achieving them. They are delayed gratification result of years of focus.
In the life of a individuals there are many kinds of big, complex which are enough for planning,
responsibility and persistence over a long time period from months to years. Here are some
points stating the importance of the long term aspirations-
 Focus- By setting of the long term goal changes the mindset of a individual. It is quite
natural to ask the question of what is possible by the individuals and the answer iss
infinite. Setting of long term goals helps the individuals for focusing on today's work for
long term goal achievement.
 Purpose of the life- Long term goals gives the individual their purpose of life as they
have to work towards its achievement and accomplish it. Individuals who set long term
goals have to work daily in small step for its achievement which gives them purpose.

Some examples of long term goals are-
 Get a degree
 Reach at high position Build a home
Value of the Personal Development Plan
Personal development plan refers to the guideline for t the individuals life and success of
the future(Debognies and et, al., 2022). It is the process of improving the self by activities and
habits. It is the pursuit of self growth for enhancing the life quality and achieve the dreams and
goals. While creating the personal development plan the individual define what type of person
they want to be, skills to have and achievements. Then they map the long term and short tern
aspirations for realizing the goals and set the time for reaching them(Brown and Thomas, 2022) .
Many of the individuals underachieve in their career as they do not realize the personal
developments area which aids to achieve mastery in any of the field. Effective leaders focus on
the regular self improvement. PDP plans aid in driving the motivation for achieving the goals but
aids the individuals to bring the vision into reality. Here are some points stating the significance
of personal development plan-
 Aids in sharpening the existent skills- A individual can have valuable skills in the
present times but it may not be relevant after some time so PDP helps them in improving
the skills in a easy manner. Brushing the skills and staying in loop aids the individual to
keep the skills in shape(Brown and Thomas, 2022).
 .
 Helps to learn the new skills- PDP nor only defines the skills individual posses but also
possibilities of improving them. It aids the individuals in learning of the new skills which
may be helpful in future.
 Personality development- Goods personality is important for achieving the goals. It
comes with the fresh approaches and different interest. It improves the confidence,
healthy brain storming and communicating effectively(Bachik and Kitzman, 2020).

PDP example with the identified goals
SKILLS GOALS STRATEGY TIME DURATION
Skills of
communication
Short term
aspirations
Skills of verbal and
Written
communication are
very essential for
building the
personality of the
person. It is needed
for transferring the
thoughts and ideas
and know what the
other person wants
to says or convey. So
this skill is needed
at the professional
and educational
level for influencing
the listener with
suitable language
and become more
confident to put the
thoughts to others. I
will develop the
skills by engaging in
the language courses
and start writing and
reading in more
professional way.
2 months

Skills of Decision
Making
Medium term
aspirations
For developing the
skills of decision
making , it is vital
for taking part in the
process of decision
making and working
on the development
of efficient and
effective decisions
for seeking
development
professionally and
personally both.
3 to 4 years
Skills of Time
management
Long term
aspirations
For learning the
time management, it
is vital to segment
and schedule
activities according
to the specific
period of time. For
having efficient and
effective skills of
time management, it
is vital for
managing the
activities
accordingly and
perform the
multitasking which
will contribute in the
7 years

time saving and
efforts. With aid of
the skills of
effective time
management, it aids
the learners for
seeking growth and
development in
personal and
professional life
both. In reference
to skills of time
management there
are different ways
like as setting up of
the limits, giving
breaks, scheduling
activities according
to deadlines, by
using the technology
and focusing on each
of the task at one
point of time.

CONCLUSION
The above project concludes that personal development and planning is very vital for the
development and growth of the person. It has been found out that personality development in a
positive way and achieve the targets which are big and there are strategies which are opted.
The observation has been made that some types of goals are set in accordance to various types of
time period. The aspiration can be short, mid or long term. Personal development plan is very
vital for achieving the growth and success in short time. Various goals have own importance as
they contribute in the achievement of goals in different time. Having a PDP is so further step
may be taken for improving it. For the success achievement it is crucial for the person to work on
the personality. PDP has its own importance in the professional and personal life.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bachik, A.K. and Kitzman, M.J., 2020. The case for including personal development in
undergraduate psychology curricula. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in
Psychology, 6(2), p.150.
Brown, E. and Thomas, L., 2022. Contextual overview: personal development tutoring. The
Higher Education Personal Tutor’s and Advisor’s Companion: Translating Theory into
Practice to Improve Student Success, p.5.
Brown, E. and Thomas, L., 2022. Dissonant discourses: constructing a consistent personal
tutoring experience across the whole university. The Higher Education Personal Tutors
and Advisors Companion: Translating Theory Into Practice to Improve Student
Success, p.29.
Debognies, P., and et, al., 2022. Personal development of disadvantaged youth through
community sports: A theory-driven analysis of relational strategies. In The Potential of
Community Sport for Social Inclusion (pp. 15-36). Routledge.
Johnson, S., Robertson, I. and Cooper, C.L., 2018. Improving Psychological Well-Being:
Personal Development and Resilience. In WELL-BEING (pp. 111-123). Palgrave
Macmillan, Cham.
Koch, V. and Zunk, B.M., 2018. Managing the Personal Development of Purchasing
Professionals: A Competence-based View. In 29th Annual Conference of Production
and Operations Management Society (POMS): Expanding Boundaries of POM.
Neenan, M. and Dryden, W., 2020. Cognitive Behavioural Coaching: A Guide to Problem
Solving and Personal Development. Routledge.
Tymms, M., 2018. Implementing educational innovations: A staff perspective of personal
development planning. Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 23(4), pp.463-478.