Personal Development Plans

November 30, 2009

Overcoming Procrastination: Can Self-Improvement Books Really Help?

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“This is a life-changing book”… “This book changed everything for me”….

 

How many times have you flicked through the internet or looked on the front cover of a so-called ‘Best Seller’ and read these types of testimonials from satisfied customers? Whether you are surfing the net or looking in your local book store it is not difficult to find a book or article focussed on self-improvement; either geared towards developing a specific area of your life or all-round spiritual or professional growth.

 

From my experiences I would say that there is definitely some usefulness in investing in a self-improvement book, and I have now read a few books which have really helped me to understand and begin to overcome procrastination. However, I would air on the side of caution when it comes to handing over your hard earned cash as I do not believe that a few books are not going to revolutionise your entire life.

 

Please don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that those satisfied customers who write testimonials like the ones above are lying to you: they probably did find true enlightenment in what they read. However, I genuinely believe that these people were in the right frame of mind to receive the information which they read, and this is the key to overcoming procrastination. Initially, when I first started making a conscious effort to stop procrastinating, I started looking online for advice. Then I printed off every article I could find. Then I read a book. The quest for information, the desire to over-plan and that feeling that you are not yet ready to start something is a trademark character trait of the typical procrastinator.

 

With this in mind before you decide to invest in that brilliant self-improvement book which has received rave reviews, be completely honest and ask yourself whether it is the critical tool that you need to ignite the new, non-procrastinating you… if this is not the case then you might find that the approach you are taking to overcoming procrastination is to procrastinate even further! However, if you are seeking this book as the means to start taking serious action then you will find that self-help books can really help you to learn a lot about yourself – what makes you tick and act the way you do – and provide practical advice and coaching for you to make genuine progress to overcoming procrastination, once and for all.

 

If you are looking for books that could really assist you in improving various aspects of your life – whether it is procrastination, time management or career development, then this link could provide you with a good starting point for finding a wealth of information geared towards self-help, improvement and motivation. Alternatively you can visit my website, which documents my struggles as a (recovering!) serial procrastinator, and reviews materials that I have read on the subject of managing and overcoming procrastination.

Personal Development, Goals Setting What Next?

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There is confusion at times over the term Personal Development, a term that has different meanings depending on who you listen to and which particular ‘Guru’ is in vogue.
Of course from the moment we are born the majority of people try to improve themselves, getting higher grades at school and college, getting a degree, getting a good job, getting promotion,looking for some sort of power traing etc, but is this true personal development that helps you achieve your goals?
You may ask just what is personal development training and is it complicated?
It is very much a mental thing, trying to be the best person you can be is one of the power driving forces to help you achieve goals. You look at other people, some of them as role models, and try to integrate some of their personality into your own. But this is just not practical and is the reason many people feel a sense of failure when they try personal development traing courses and goal setting tools. They can read personal development books attend personal development seminars but they will never be like their role models.
The reality of your life today is a reflection of the sum of your thoughts until this day.
So if your current situation is the result of all the thoughts that you have, and you have on average 50,000 personal thoughts a day, some people have one thought 50,000 times! Can we escape from the treadmill of our lives and create a better tomorrow and enjot personal development growth?
Can we enhance our quality of life; realize our personal dreams, aspirations and smart goals if all of our thoughts to date have been based on the lack of results we have experienced in our lives? Since childhood most of us have been held in check by parents, relatives, teachers and peer groups, their best intentions to save us from disappointment have been geared toward telling us not to expect too much we will only be disappointed.
No wonder self styled professional ‘Gurus’ earn vast fortunesestablishing seminars, telling us what we should be doing to improve our lot, without really coaching us how to do it, well that is in the next power lesson which costs an extra $x,000 and helps keep them rich and us poor. Thirsting for the next secret advertised will not get you that personal power found in self improvement .
Whilst it is true to say that whatever level of personal development you are at you do need a framework in order to know if improvement has actually occurred, what you do not need is the latest ‘Whizz bang super-dooper piece of software that will power you to smart goal achievement’.
They tell you that they know something you do not and that is why you feel frustrated at your lack of personal development you will feel compelled to pull out more and more of your hard earned money to discover the secret, when there is no secret anyway.
Just as a building need a strong framework so do you to keep on track? Well you need some sort of smart goal or benchmark to aim for because you need to define the end-point, you need plans and strategies to measure and assess your progress toward the end, and you need milestones set out so that you can reward yourself for making progress on the way. In every journey you need some sort of feedback to know just where you are and are you on track.
Would you set off on a long unfamiliar journey without first looking at a map for guidance.Even then you would set milestones on the route to measure how far you had covered and how far you had to go. There I have saved you thousands in seminar fees.
Well there is one secret to successful personal development, smart goal setting, motivation call it what you will let me tell you what it is….?

November 29, 2009

Self improvement advice

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This is not just a theory, either; scientists proved it well over three decades ago. They took two perfectly synchronised atomic clocks, one was kept stationary; the other was sent off flying around the world on a passenger jet airliner. When the two clocks were compared after the flight, the clock on the jet airliner was slower than that of the clock which had remained on the ground.

The popular misconception is that you have to be at, or close to the speed of light, for the time dilation effect to be experienced. But Einstein predicted only that the faster you travelled, the more noticeable the effect would be. This 1970’s experiment proved that any acceleration will cause a relative slowing of time.

What about travelling back in time, surely if we can travel forwards in time, then this must be considered just as possible. There are those who object to the theory of travelling backwards in time, their argument being if this was in fact possible; someone or something would surely have travelled back from the future by now. That is a reasonable objection; Einstein’s theories do not rule this out, but it is certainly far more difficult than travelling forwards in time.

Dr Ronald Mallet however, is convinced that the ability to travel backwards in time could be a reality within ten years. This theory is explained in his book, The Time Traveller.

Admittedly, we may not be sending objects or people back in time; we may be limited to information. But that would be hugely significant. In effect, he says that we would be making an early warning device, foretelling us of problems and disasters from the future that we could correct in the past, by taking or not taking certain steps and a little self-improvement advice..

Dr Mallet asserts that, just as speed affects time, so does gravity. He proposes an experiment to use light to control gravity, thus twisting time into a loop. With sufficient funding, he believes we could be seeing the effect of time loops within a single decade.

Of course, the funding is a problem. Dr Mallet requires around £120,000 to build the experiment in order to test the theory. Unfortunately he cannot convince any would be investors to part with their hard earned cash. Would a change in approach yield a more positive result?

Whilst a full blown transmitter and receiver experiment would most certainly prove or disprove this theory, all we really need to build is a receiver, in the hope that someone from the future will build a compatible transmitter.

Maybe we could all learn something from all of this. We are all tempted to focus on the really big projects, even though the scale and cost implications may mean the project never comes to fruition.

What we should be focusing on are the smaller, more manageable projects.

With property, and the stocks and shares markets currently in freefall, manufacturing industries in rapid decline, maybe now is that perfect time to look at the smaller picture. The home based business industry in complete contrast is going through a boom period. There are some very exciting and lucrative small start business opportunities out there, with minimal initial start-up investment requirements. With a small amount of re-training, coaching and self-improvement advice; any budding entrepreneurs amongst us, have the perfect opportunity to turn a current day small project into a future thriving business. Read more about self improvement advice here http://www.to-infinity-and-beyond.biz/pg24166/Self-Improvement-Advice.html

Your Leadership Development Plan – Some Tips To Improve It

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Very often, the leader is not one who is exceptionally talented at what he does. But it could be a person whose experience with people can make him a good motivator to his subordinates. When you can provide the right motivation to people, they will no doubt turn out the best that they are capable of. You need to define a set of plans for your employees to be able to follow them. A leadership development plan can help all employees, not just managers, to do well at the work place. As leader what you would love to achieve is to be able to trust your employees totally, that they will complete any task given to them with efficiency.
Most leadership development plans only tend to help you improve your weaknesses. Go for a plan that not just does this but also makes your strengths even better, so that you become more of an expert at what you do best. Your strengths and your weaknesses all need to, after all work together in harmony so you should keep that in mind.
Never feel that you have learnt enough. There is no end to learning, and a leader needs to constantly keep himself up to date with the latest trends and technology in his area of expertise. Once you feel that you have learned all that you need to know, that is the end of the learning process for you, so make sure you do not get into this ditch.
Do make it a point to apply all your newly learned skills practically at the work place. Not only will this encourage you to learn even more leadership skills, it will do a lot of good to your company. Practical application is after all the end result that we desire. When you start feeling the motivation within thanks to what you have learned, make sure you infect others around you with it too.

Self-Improvement: Staying on Track

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Once you have decided on a self improvement course, you will face moments along your journey where it seems that you are not making progress toward your goal. It is but natural.Staying in the course when the results do not seem to be coming can be challenging. But then, you must not give up when you are pursuing a dream. Stay on your self improvement course. Do not jump overboard. If you believe in your dream and is willing to see it through, you will surely enjoy the sweet reward of success when you arrive at your destination. Below are four tips for staying the self improvement course. 1. Stay positive. Your mental attitude toward your situation is very important. If you think possibilities, you will be better able to focus on the opportunities that are present in setbacks or delays. Try to become your own dictator when you surrender your will to negative thoughts. Keep a positive attitude. You know that you have what it takes to succeed. Tell yourself to think thoughts that will lift your spirit and renew that desire to succeed. 2. Pull versus Push. It is not possible to push a rope. Neither can you make any progress by pushing and forcing it to move to your liking.Experts will tell you that you need to make yourself “attractive” so that you can effortlessly draw to yourself what you want in life. This will also move you away from seducing or pushing in order to produce the outcome that you desire.What have you been attracting to your life? Are you the one doing the pushing or the pulling? 3. Be persistent.Continue on taking action daily toward your dreams and goals. Patience and persistence are the crowning qualities of self-confident champions. Think of the gardener who plants a seed and then waits for it to sprout and grow. He waters and nourishes the seed even when he does not see immediate results, having faith that the seed will develop into a beautiful plant. Like the gardener, do not think of what you see and what is going on today. Look ahead in the future and what your actions now will result to.What can you do today to achieve your future plans?4. Have a success partner. Having a success partner to encourage and support you especially when you are down or frustrated can make the difference in achieving a goal. Sometimes our vision is blurred by distraction or discouragement. Having a supportive partner who wants big things for you and believes in you can help you stay the self improvement course. You can do it on your own, but you do not have to do it alone. You have a choice.Why not have a success partner who will stick with you not only through the good times but also through the bad times?Elbert Hubbard  “Know what you want to do, hold the thought firmly, and do every day what should be done, and every sunset will see you that much nearer to your goal.” Nobody told you that the self improvement course you have chosen to trek is easy. But with enough willpower and the perseverance to go on, you will finally reach that long awaited destination which is success.

Learning Chess: Through Personal Development Training – Pt 1

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Learning Chess: Through Personal Development Training Pt 2

Knowing Who You Want To Be

 

 

By Mason Bolton III

 

Welcome back!

In our previous work, we constructed an inventory of your shortcomings as determined by how you feel about yourself.  NOW, let us take a more expanded view of both you – AND of the person whom you want to be.

 

 

OK.  Listed very neatly on your inventory, is what lies between you and your goal of being a better chess player, (as based on an honest self appraisal). 

 

The next step entails the development of two more lists.

 

The first list is a profile of what a solid chess player is – to you.  What are their characteristics, strengths and – yes – their weaknesses – for even a master at chess has weaknesses.  Sometimes, I wonder that the most distressing thing about being a top achiever – even a world leader with millions of loyal followers – is that at the bottom of it all – you are still human – and thereby still plagued by human weaknesses.  But I digress.

 

Using the traits table from part 1 of this article – you will define your ideal chess player.  That is – whom do you want to be when you grow up?  Spell him out as completely as is possible and account for those things you admire about great chess players – and for those that you do not.  If the table below does not completely meet your needs, add additional information as you require to complete your list.

 

This step really is the only way to obtain a comprehensive list of a chess player’s characteristics for you to take on.  There is no one-size-fits-all chart that you can employ to nail down the “chess player personality”.  The fact is that there are 45 million chess players in the United States alone – and ALL of them have different personalities.

 

Therefore, we don’t try to chase EVERYTHING that a chess player can be.  Let us instead go after those elements of a chess player’s character which YOU have noted that you would like to instill in your own chess play.  Just as you have your idea of a dream girl (or guy) you also have your own idea of a dream chess player.  You are not attempting to become a particular chess player.  Somebody already owns that identity.  You are attempting to become the chess player that you want to be.  This exercise will help you to determine what that chess player looks like.

 

Once you have that table ready – you will build your second profile.  This one correlates your strengths and weaknesses to that of your ideal chess player.  Use your self-honesty appraisal to note (with a check mark) those things that you feel that you and a great chess player have in common.  Then, note in a separate list, the areas from your self appraisal where you feel that you fell short (having no check mark).

 

When you are done,  you will have one list – with items that you know need fixing (as taken from Table 1) – and with items that you feel need fixing (from your own self-honesty appraisal).  Both are equally important.

 

With that – we are now armed with the material required to build our wish list for building ourselves into the monster chess player that we want to be.  By now, some of you are getting REALLY depressed about the work that you are being put to.  If this be you, then there are two things that you should remember.

 

1.      When these lists are made – 90% of the work will be done.

 

…and

 

2.      You are building a plan – the most important part of any endeavor.  Once you have a credible plan of action – you can, at least, anticipate success.  Nothing is ever guaranteed to succeed – but embarking on a task without a plan is a sure-fire way to guarantee failure.  So take heart.  This is good work you are doing.

 

OK.  Time to go to work!  Use the inventory checklist from part 1 to help guide you through building the two profiles.  Build your self-honesty assessment first, followed by your chess player’s personality profile.  Compile them into one list of flaws that you need to fix as described above.  Then let’s meet back here to build a task list. 

 

Self Improvement-How To Make Excellent Decisions

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Read More -> http://selfs-improvement.blogspot.com/

Success Through Personal Development

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Many of us keep asking the question ‘what is personal development’. It simply means that you do a daily activity for improving your day to day performance. Self development or personal growth is also sometimes referred to as personal development and it covers a broad set of areas to develop. This is also about improving yourself emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually and all the areas of personal development are therefore intended to improve your mind, heart, your body and spirit. There are a few steps that lead to success through personal development.
Importance of Goal setting for success
Hoping for success through personal development will need the setting of a predetermined goal. Setting a goal is an organized personal planning. This is an unfailing method for identification of the areas you need to succeed in- be it your professional career or personal life. The process of setting a goal gives you the laser sharp focus on what you need to achieve lasting and real success. To start setting a goal the first step you need to take is decide with deep concentration on what direction you need to take your life. From the very first step, your goal will keep you focused on the direction you have chosen and will act as a suggestion point for the times when you feel that you have drifted from your determined path.
How habits help you be successful
Habits play a major role in ones life help one succeed in ones career. There is a simple habit plan that you can follow in your everyday life to cultivate positive progress. The healthy habit of going to the gym would keep you energized throughout the day. Good habits can be inculcated only in the formative years of ones life and one mustn’t falter then. There is a habit of never leaving a question unanswered. The habit of going through daily tasks and reviewing the progress of your set goal is a much sought after trait. There are many more personal development habits that one can cultivate for a successful career.
Motivation and Discipline for mastering habits
A true fact is that some of the habits require discipline. Well, that the beauty of cultivating a really good habit with a few clear values and not having to work in maintaining them. Most of the habits need tough efforts at their forming stage. It may take some time but when it’s done, you would feel the real need for the habit as it would benefit you. This would help you enjoy most of your daily task. There also bad habits those play an important part in ones life. They remind us of the crucial processes and approaches that need to be changed as soon as possible. A few bad habits that have an immediate and direct impact are watching too much TV or eating junk food. There are other habits that don’t have deep impact despite being in the harmful category.

November 28, 2009

Self Improvement-Concentration and Focus: How To Get Any Job Done

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Of all the success strategies offered, concentration and focus are the most powerful. How many times have you let an opportunity pass you by because of a lack of concentration? For sure, you have somehow failed at least once because you were not able to properly focus on the task at hand.-Self Improvement

There are times when you may have been too busy looking ahead that you overlooked the present situation. For example, you may have been so occupied at how you are going to deliver your business report, that you did not concentrate on working on the report itself. Lack of concentration hinders you from accomplishing even the simplest of tasks.-Self Improvement

Fortunately, the solution is simple. You can train yourself and your body to improve your concentration. Here are some steps on how you can better focus on your goals.-Self Improvement

First, ask yourself what you would like to achieve, both in the short run and in the long run. Take note, however, that you should only select one ultimate goal on which you can base all your actions and ideas.

A lot of people try to achieve too many goals at a time, thus, they end up unsuccessful at any of them. You should realize what your goal is, and then only do things which will help you to achieve it.

Once you know what you want to accomplish, your mind may get clouded due to so many ideas on how to go about it. You may be bombarded with so many options, however pick just one at a time so you can target your full concentration towards it.

As a rule of thumb, it will be to your advantage if you pick the one idea that you feel most passionate about. Life is short. A day only has twenty-four hours.

Next, concentrate on that idea. Eliminate all possible distractions. If you are distracted by the TV or radio, turn them off. You can also turn off your phone to make sure that nobody can disturb you while you are working. Hang a “do not disturb” sign on your cubicle or your door.

Other people also find it helpful in improving their concentration if they listen to gentle music, but this might not work for everyone. You will just have to find a comfortable setting where you can relax and channel all your energies onto the one task you have set out for yourself.-Self Improvement

In this way, no external factors can affect you while working towards your goal. At first, you will find it difficult to take your mind off other things, but in time, you will be able to make it a habit.

When working on your goals, you will encounter a lot of obstacles. Questioning yourself to improve on your ideas is fine, but questioning what you’re doing all the time so you can find a reason to quit is another thing. Be a positive thinker. Have that “can do” attitude. -Self Improvement

Sure, sometimes you might find you have to disregard your current idea in exchange for something new, but this should not be done impulsively.  Learn to control your impulsiveness, emotions and other poor habits. Otherwise, you will always end up quitting, and a failure.-Self Improvement

Big plans and goals will remain out of your reach if you cannot concentrate on your actions today, right here, and right now.

Goal Setting For Personal Development

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The benefits of growing as a person and making constant upgrade of personality is an innate part of us as human persons. Everybody wants to grow more and more and one’s definition of personal development along with a list of personal skills, goal planning for use in your personal development is of great significance. Reaching your potential personal and professional development becomes more and more essential as time goes by as everybody wants to get better in his or her life as much as possible.
Now when thinking of one’s personal development, looking at wanting or having more with a list of personal skills does not necessarily make you better. To become a better person you need to improve inside and in reaching your potential personal and professional development quicker that you otherwise would have. You need to improve your self within you. Personal development helps one to become a productive person and the our definition of growth is one of the first things to get defined.
Taking on personal development is a serious task, to make the world a better place (reaching your potential personal and professional development) we have to begin with ourselves first. When your ideas, habits and attitudes move for the better, you could help others live their lives better. Though it sounds easy, it takes a lot of effort, goal setting and on your part. If it is so easy then why are not others trying to make better things for themselves and for society? The theory of Self-actualization discusses that in order for human beings to grow to a higher level, they have to get their basic needs fullfilled. The basic needs of a human being include: physiological, safety, acceptance or belonging, self-esteem and self-realization. Let us see why these domains are essential in helping us to become better individuals.
Man’s physiological needs are food and water– for survival. If you are starving and not having enough food and water to take care of your hunger and thirst, where would you get the energy from to think understand about becoming better person?
With personal development acceptance or a sense of belonging is another substantial need for human persons. We need understanding and love from our family and friends and tfrom the society we live in. This acceptance will make us think of doing good things for the people who understand and accept us and in that process we become a better person.
We have to ensure our personal safety above everyone else’s security. If you do not feel safe in your personal life, how can you try to bring security to others? Y
The need for self-esteem along with a list of personal skills and capacity of making things for betterment. To maintain this self-esteem and confidence, you would do good deeds to better for life.
When is comes to personal development and our lives, the truth is that you can be whoever or whatever you choose to be, if only more of us would believe and act upon this then we would not have the level of apathy and the situation we see in our community.

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