Reflective Personal Development Plan: Understanding Self and Others

This report presents a reflective personal development plan designed to enhance self-awareness and understanding of others. It includes a detailed introduction emphasizing the importance of self-knowledge and the ability to read others for success. The core of the report is a reflective journal that explores four key skills: focus, team working, public speaking, and research ability. Each skill is examined through the lens of self-assessment, identifying current competencies, areas for improvement, and the potential future benefits of skill development. The journal entries delve into personal experiences, contradictions in self-perception, and the importance of setting goals. An action plan is also included, outlining specific steps for improvement in each skill area. The report concludes with a reflection on feedback received, solidifying the learning and growth process.

UNDERSTAND SELF
AND OTHERS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
REFLECTIVE PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN JOURNAL...............................................1
SUMMARY AND ACTION PLAN................................................................................................5
REFLECTION ON FEEDBACK....................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
If a person want to succeed in his/her life then he/she must have ability to understand self
and behaviour of others. Most of the people who have attained continuous success has one
common thing in their nature, they are capable of reading mind of other people and they have
exact idea about their own strengths and weaknesses (Hirsh, 2014). If someone want to work on
the shortcomings which is present in his/her personality then they should make a personal
development plan because it is a systematic approach (How to Understand Yourself And Others,
2016). It can play crucial role in removing all the flaws which is present in a person. One of the
most important things which every every individual should understand is that they cannot work
on all of their shortcoming in single time. One step at a time is considered as best strategy for
learning all the skills which is necessary for a person. This assignment contain a journal
reflective personal development plan journal. I have various skills but in this project, only four
will be included. An action plan will also be made in this file, it will address appropriate areas
where the need of development is high.
REFLECTIVE PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN JOURNAL
Reflective journal entry-forma
1.
What is the core skill to develop?
Most of the people fail in their life because they do not have ability to focus on their work. They
easily get distracted by distraction. Paying attention to whatever the work I am doing is one of a
skill which I want to develop. Focus is basically the ability to concentrate on a particular thing
without getting distracted. The key to pay attention is being passionate about work. Normally
people fail to focus on their work because they try accomplish more than one task in single time
(McGrath, 2014). This result in distribution of concentration and it ultimately create different
kind of issues and confusions.
Why is this core skill important? Why did I select this skill to reflect on?
Every person face face ups and downs in his/her life. But if sometime has ability to keep focus
on their career and personal goals then they can handle pressure in a better way and attain
desired results (Wood and Yerkes, 2015). Like of many people, I also want to learn the ability
to pay more attention to whatever the work I am doing because it is essential for me in long run.
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Most of the failure which I have seen in my life is because of distraction. If I am able to
concentrate on my goals and the process to achieve them then it will improve my whole
lifestyle.
Reflect on your current competent regarding this skill. How did you assess your
competence?
In present scenario, I easily get distracted by small things. At the time of boxing match, I loose
my concentration and easily give points to my opponent. This shows that I cannot pay attention
to my job for even 2-3 minutes. My coach told me that I do not need more training or there is no
need to get technically sound. The only areas where I need to work is “keep focus”. I have also
done self assessment where I found that I lose concentration because I do not set targets. In a
boxing match, I only try to win. Instead, I should need to set a target about how much points
should be score in every couple of minutes.
Can you identify any contradictions from your analysis above?
Their is one major contradiction between my and other people's thinking. They feel that I loose
my focus because I am not passionate about my work like boxing. But on the other hand, I think
that I fail to concentrate because of I never set short terms goals in my life.
How might this skill help me in the future?
If I have ability to maintain my focus and pay more attention to whatever the work I am doing
then it will assist me in my career and I can attain my long term targets. I am serious about
making career in boxing and high level of concentration is essential for it.
2.
What is the core skill to develop?
Team working is another skill which is essential for me upcoming time (Harris, Graham and
Adkins, 2015). It can be defined combined and synchronised efforts by a group of people who
want to attain same target. A person can work in any sector or post, but if he/she do not know
''how to become a team player'' then it will create problems. Working in team require good
mutual understanding and a decent amount of patience. One of the most important part of
working in a group is willingness to work in a unit (Patton, Parker and Tannehill, 2015).
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Normally people with introvert nature avoid working with others but I personally think that
accomplishing a task by taking help of others can pour lot of knowledge in a person and remove
their shortcomings.
Why is this core skill important? Why did I select this skill to reflect on?
One day, I have to hold a position my superiors, company or coach will ask to me lead a team.
If I am not a team player and I do not have any idea about how to manage conflicts and
motivate group members then I will never reach to a higher position in my life. Team working
can teach me the skills related to managing how to manage workload and how to use skills of
group members in best way possible. Understanding of Belbin's 9 team roles theory will assist
me knowing and evaluating the nature and skills of various team with whom I will work in a
team or at the time of leading a group.
Reflect on your current competent regarding this skill. How did you assess your
competence?
In current situation, I am not not comfortable at the time of working in team because of my
introvert nature. Although once I make good connection with some team members then my
understanding with them become very strong but working with strangers is a big challenge for
me. By taking reviews from my seniors and peers, I can identify that whether I am a team
player or not. It will assist me in finding the skills which are required for making correct
decision with a group. By studying Belbin's team role model, I understood that I am a ''sharper''.
Can you identify any contradictions from your analysis above?
My peers and family members think that I cannot work in a team even if I try to because of in
inflexible nature. This is not true because there are various shortcoming which I have overcome
in past and sound relationship with some of team-workers shows that I can work in a group.
How might this skill help me in the future?
If I will learn ''how to work in a team'' then it will assist me removing various flaws which is
present in my personality. Group members are able to give correct reviews about my
performance and they can easily tell the areas where I need improving for attaining for long
term goals like become a boxer or a management consultants.
3.
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What is the core skill to develop?
Ability to speak in public is another skill which I require in my career and personal life. Public
speaking is an act of giving speech in front of live audience. It is basically done for persuading
people or entertaining them. Sometime audience are addressed for giving the information about
a particular topic (Henry and et.al., 2016). Developing skill of public speaking is important for
me and my career. Normally a person with introvert nature have a fear for addressing or even
standing in-front of a client. I want to acquire knowledge about what I can do for attaining
gaining the confidence which is needed for speaking in-front of a crowd.
Why is this core skill important? Why did I select this skill to reflect on?
If I am able to motivate or clearly deliver a message to my peers then it will assist me getting
quick promotions and incentives also. Public speaking is an skills whose importance is growing
with time and in upcoming time, people with ability to speak in-front of public can get rapid
career growth (Cottrell, 2015). Maslow motivation theory has assisted me in understand various
needs of different type of people.
Reflect on your current competent regarding this skill. How did you assess your
competence?
Right now, I cannot speak among more than 4-5 people. My peers usually complain me about
not participate in a stage show or giving presentation in-front of crowd. My seniors has also told
me that I have to develop public speaking skills because they feel that I have potential to
succeed in my life if I can become bit confident.
Can you identify any contradictions from your analysis above?
An issue which is raised by many people is related to ''confidence''. Many people argue that I
am not able to speak in-front of public because of lack of confidence but I do not agree with it. I
may sometime loose confidence but at the time of speaking in-front of many people I do not
face the issue of confidence. My main problems is inexperience and improper preparation.
How might this skill help me in the future?
If I will gain the ability to motivate or communicate a message to public then it will open more
opportunities for me in upcoming time specially if I choose to make career as a management
consultant.
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4.
What is the core skill to develop?
One of the most important skill which I want to develop is research-ability. Finding information
about a topic is not an easy task and I want to become capable to conducts a research and
identify required knowledge about particular topic. Ability to conduct research covers various
work related to supervision, analysation etc. (Bates, Phalen and Moran, 2016).
Why is this core skill important? Why did I select this skill to reflect on?
Being able to conduct research will play crucial role if I opt to become management consultant
or even a boxer. A person can work in any field or sector, if he/she can analyse and identify
various things which can assist them in accomplishing their task in better way then they can
achieve their goals in effective way (Goleman, 2017). I know that my research-ability is fine
and if I will work more on this skill then I convert it into one of my strength.
Reflect on your current competent regarding this skill. How did you assess your
competence?
In present situation, I possess fine research-ability. I know how to use different sources of
conducting research and right areas to find relevant data. I have done researches in past and got
appreciations. My boxing coach also told me that I am technically sound because I can identify
various strength and weaknesses of my opponents by analysing and understanding their
performance.
Can you identify any contradictions from your analysis above?
Their is one major contradiction regarding my research-ability. Most of the people think that I
am very good in it but this is not true because I also need to improve my research-ability as I am
not good in some areas like understanding statical data.
How might this skill help me in the future?
Every person should possess one skills in which no one can beat him/her. I will become expert
in the field of research then it will open more growth opportunities to me if I will purse career
in management consultation. Information is considered as key to success by many people. If I
am able to find more content about a particular topic then I convince more people to work
according to me. In boxing, research-ability is already helping me and if I will hone this skill
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more in upcoming time then it will support me in become a good boxer.
SUMMARY AND ACTION PLAN
Like of every person, I also have various strengths which can be taken from the above
journal. Research-ability is my strength. Their is no doubt that have above average analysation
skills and I can understand any situation in a better way by gathering various kind of information
which most of the people cannot find. I have certain goals in my life and I can attain them if I
have proper knowledge about various issues. Normally people fail to conduct an organised
research because they do not know right areas to find information (Duckworth and Yeager,
2015). I also have limited knowledge of this area but my observation skill is good and I can read
behaviour of an individual as well as a group in order to understand their need and thinking.
Working in a team is my another strength. Although many people think that I am not a team
player but at the same time they cannot raise question about my ability to keep and make sound
relation with different individuals. I may feel bit awkward in starting if I have to work in team
but gradually I can convert this weakness into strength by making good connection with every
team member
Beside this I also have many weaknesses. One of main weakness is inability to focus. I
normally loose my concentration in no time and it is restricting me in attaining desired speed of
career growth. High concentration is one skill which is very important for every person because
it can make a positive impact on performance given by me or any other person. This is one area
where I need improvement at any cost. My another another weakness is public speaking. I have
no experience of address lot of people from stage and I have never concentrated on acquiring this
skill. Public speaking is one skill which will create major problems for me in forthcoming time.
The main three areas of personal development is increase ability to focus on work, ability
to speak in-front of public and become a team player. In present scenario, these are major
problems and they can only be address by executing an effective plan (Megginson and Whitaker,
2017). My plan is to take one step at a time in order to overcome all the major shortcoming
which are currently present in my personalty. First of all I will try to increase my ability to
concentrate on my work by joining meditation classes. Once I develop this skill then my next
target will be to join short session regarding ''how to speak in public''. I will start speaking in-
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front of small crowd at initial stage in order to get necessary experience and once I get desired
confidence then I will not face any problems regarding ''public speaking''. Becoming a team
player would not be a hard task for me. I just need to focus on gaining developing friendly nature
so I can create good relation with other team members at initial stage.
REFLECTION ON FEEDBACK
Addressing feedback was a difficult task for me because in my view my work was up to
mark. When I started working on feedback then I found that there are various areas where I
committed mistakes and addressing them is important for increasing my learnings. Although
their were many comments in my feedback but the most important one was then my whole work
is bit confusion. In order to address this comment, I work proof read my complete file and then
clearly mentioned about what I would like to do in my future i.e. either enter in the field of
boxing or management consultant. Another comment was related to not providing definition of
the various skills which I want to develop in my personality. I gave definition of few skills in
starting but failed to continue my good work. In my feedback I found that citation was needed at
many places. Although I did citation in my files but their number was less. Sentence formation
and spelling mistake was some of the silly mistakes which I made in my file.
From this feedback I understood that being careless was my weakness. I did not proof
read my file and lost my focus at the time of doing my assignment. I committed these mistakes
because I wanted to finish my work as soon as possible. In order to correct my mistakes, proof
read my complete file and then read the given brief again. After this, I did some research about
finding definition of various skills and then make correct in mistakes relating to sentence
formation and spellings. One of the most important thing which I learnt from this assignment is
that all the work should be done with in one day because if I will take more time to complete my
work then it will result in loss of focus and silly mistakes. In future, I will not submit any project
without proof reading it.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bates, M.S., Phalen, L. and Moran, C., 2016. Online professional development: A primer. Phi
Delta Kappan. 97(5). pp.70-73.
Cottrell, S., 2015. Skills for success: Personal development and employability. Palgrave
Macmillan.
Duckworth, A.L. and Yeager, D.S., 2015. Measurement matters: Assessing personal qualities
other than cognitive ability for educational purposes. Educational Researcher. 44(4).
pp.237-251.
Goleman, D., 2017. Leadership That Gets Results (Harvard Business Review Classics). Harvard
Business Press.
Harris, K.R., Graham, S. and Adkins, M., 2015. Practice-based professional development and
self-regulated strategy development for Tier 2, at-risk writers in second
grade. Contemporary Educational Psychology. 40. pp.5-16.
Henry and et.al., 2016. The online personal action plan: a tool to transform patient-enabled
preventive and chronic care. American journal of preventive medicine. 51(1). pp.71-77.
Hirsh, Å., 2014. The Individual Development Plan: supportive tool or mission impossible?
Swedish teachers’ experiences of dilemmas in IDP practice. Education Inquiry. 5(3).
p.24613.
McGrath, M., 2014. Personal development plan. Leading the Way. 11(1). p.21.
Megginson, D. and Whitaker, V., 2017. Continuing professional development. Kogan Page
Publishers.
Patton, K., Parker, M. and Tannehill, D., 2015. Helping teachers help themselves: Professional
development that makes a difference. NASSP Bulletin. 99(1). pp.26-42.
Wood, H.M. and Yerkes, E.B., 2015. The transition process: initial assessment and development
of a treatment plan. In Transition and Lifelong Care in Congenital Urology (pp. 3-10).
Humana Press, Cham.
Online
How to Understand Yourself And Others. 2016. [Online]. Available Through:
<https://www.2knowmyself.com/Self_understanding/know_yourself/How_to_understan
d_yourself_and_others>.
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