Personal and professional development are vital parts of any individual’s growth and progression.

Being dedicated to continuously developing and bettering yourself will allow you to prosper on both a personal and professional level.

So how can you get started on your development journey to a remarkable career today?

Firstly, What Does Personal and Professional Development Really Mean?

Personal and professional development (PPD) is a way for people to assess their existing skills and abilities, consider their aims in life and work, and set goals in line with these aims to realise, achieve and maximise their true potential. 

Whilst they are different things - personal development focuses on your personal life and professional development focuses on your career - personal and professional development are undoubtedly interlinked.

Personal development can help you thrive professionally and boost your career prospects as it gives you many desirable skills such as better time management, self-discipline, self-motivation, and an overall improved mindset.

And vice versa, developing yourself professionally and therefore feeling more confident and secure in your career can benefit your personal life as it reduces stress and can positively impact your mental wellbeing.

What Does Personal and Professional Development Involve?

Personal development is, as the name suggests, personal; we all approach it differently.

But the overriding theme of personal development is fulfilling your goals and aspirations.

Similarly with professional development, your company may provide you with some guidance related to your career progression but ultimately it’s up to you to carve your own development path.

Small companies in particular often don’t have a standardised approach to professional development. 

On one hand, you could see this as an obstacle and inconvenience. But on the other hand, you could choose to see this lack of direction as an opportunity to have more freedom in creating a personalised development plan that is entirely tailored to your own goals. 

Why Should I Prioritise PPD and What Happens If I Neglect It?

Put simply, continuous development aims to make you feel more fulfilled and more satisfied in both your personal and professional life.

However, if you make the mistake of neglecting your personal and professional development, you run the risk of not knowing what you want to achieve or how to achieve it. 

This not only brings your career to a standstill but can also have a negative impact on your personal life as a lack of clarity and direction can lead to anxiety and worry about your future.

This Sounds Overwhelming… Where Do I Start?

The first step is often the hardest, but it is also the most important; a goal without action is merely a dream.

The way we recommend you to kickstart your personal and professional development journey is by creating a development plan.

Your personal and professional development plan should consist of SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound) goals.

This SMART goal-setting theory/methodology is based on the fact that the best goals are those that are highly focused, realistic, can actually be achieved, and that you can monitor your progress in.

To help you get started, we have created a fantastic Personal and Professional Development Plan template that you can download for free by clicking the link below.

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Tomorrow on The Daily Dot, we’ll be discussing how to use this template to create a meaningful PDP for yourself or your staff, so stay tuned…