Introduction
In today’s fast-paced world, people do not have time to sit and reflect on their life goals and the direction they are going. It is thus important for us to make self-assessment of ourselves and develop our own methods for self-improvement (Baker, Perkins and Comber 2014, p143). Motivation and inspiration is what I believe to be at the core of self-improvement.
The given report is an analysis of my personal performance before and after incorporating integrated PDP. It also demonstrates my skills of self-management that assists me in mapping my own career development plans.
Various methods and theories for integrate personal development plans have been highlighted in the report.
Personal performance
It is imperative for us to know what impacts our personal performance. Once we gain this knowledge, our chances of succeeding are increased double-fold. With this, we put ourselves in an advantageous position from where we can realize our obstacles in study and work and remove them (Andrews and Russell 2012, p44). Altering the old established methods of working, studying or confronting situations that make us feel bored, anxious and scared; will allow us to feel more elated and excited while engaging in anything.
I have gone through all the requirements for an improved personal performance and have begun to integrate it in my study plan. I started to make a table of the areas where I am the weakest at and those where I have a stronghold. This helped me pinpoint the key areas that need improvement. In addition, I also learned about the skills, attitudes, habits and strategies that affected my personal performance (Nash 2015, p108). After identifying these areas, I was able to work upon those and gradually, positive results started to emerge.
Integrated Personal development planning
In order to proceed with the concept of integrated personal development planning, one must know what personal development planning is. Cottrell (2015, p.3) has defined the personal development planning as being about one’s own self, a passage of investigation and discovery, a creative and reflective process and developing self-awareness. It also includes risk-management and decision-making, being open to potentialities and taking charge of you.
Integrated PDP refers to the curriculum of the university in which this program has been included not as an addition but as a part of the overall curriculum ("Personal Development Planning - Study - University Of Westminster, London"). This approach of the universities has exposed ways for students to be involved in learning as well as developing their own personal and professional skills.
Integrated personal development planning also allows you to decide your own list of options from where you can choose the area of your own interest. This includes a number of categories like elements of intelligence, everyday life management, behavioral modification, skill development and lastly character development.
PDP supporting motivation, retention and progression
When I am aware of my area of expertise, I will have that confidence and motivation that would help me move ahead in life. The benefit of integrated PDP especially in UK universities allows me to go through a systematic way of personal development and refine my skills. I can record my growth and have it in future to analyze which areas I need to focus.
Through personal development planning, I can identify my greatest influences, my inspirations and the things I value the most. I can engage in a number of activities that exposes the things that are of great or no value to me. Categorizing my most and least valued things further helps me to lay my focus on a particular thing and work towards refining it. This helps me retaining my learned values (Dembo and Seli 2012).
Progress in studies and later in workplace is also enhanced by the application of an integrated PDP. Through various activities like preparing questionnaires of most successful people or symbols of success, I can compare and contrast my own skills and qualities. This would allow me to have a definite path of success to follow.
Self-management
All the aspects of knowing motivation, my inspiration and I, my personal performance, realizing he things I truly value constitute self-management (Iland 2013). Once I have acquired the power to manage my own life, I can influence other people as well. Everything that I have done from mapping out plans for self-development, setting targets, goals, finding motivation and defining success, all helped me in developing my own career development plan.
I am able to distinguish between the skills I was already good at, the skills I needed to refine and the skills I lack but can be overlooked.
Managing stress is also a part of self-management. There are innumerable instances that give us stress. Failure in studies or relationships, dissatisfied with jobs, unemployment and so on, is some factors that give us stress. I have discovered through the activities from my PDP that the incidences that give us stress can easily be averted (Seibert 2013, p169). One best way to do so is to indulge in positive activities. I have applied this strategy practically and it has yielded great results. It is unavoidable for us humans to distract stress but being distracted from stress is in our control. In addition, I also learned ways to utilize my positive thinking. A positive mind allows you to be assertive but not overconfident and personal development planning assists you in evolving a positive mind.
The qualities that I acquired through the systematic methodology of integrated PDP, gave me the assurance that I can achieve success on the job front as well. I developed certain career goals and set myself small targets to achieve bigger goals.
Conclusion
Thus, I can conclude that integrated personal development planning if followed systematically is sure to yield great results. It enhances our ability to perform, refines our skills, makes us realize our weaknesses and strengths and most importantly, empowers us to plan our own life. Further, learning and self-improvement can also be included in self-management. Self-management and self-improvement are interrelated. Once we have the confidence to manage our own activities and goals, we can assure ourselves that we are on the right track towards self-improvement. In addition to being self-managed, being motivated and inspired goes a long way in attaining the desired goals.
References:
"Personal Development Planning - Study - University Of Westminster, London." Westminster.Ac.Uk, 2017, https://www.westminster.ac.uk/study/current-students/your-studies/personal-development-planning
Andrews, G. and Russell, M., 2012. Employability skills development: strategy, evaluation and impact. Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, 2(1), pp.33-44.
Baker, K.L., Perkins, J. and Comber, D.P., 2014. International students and their experiences of Personal Development Planning. Active Learning in Higher Education, 15(2), pp.129-143.
Cottrell, S., 2015. Skills for success: Personal development and employability. 3rd Edition. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Dembo, M.H. and Seli, H., 2012. Motivation and learning strategies for college success: A focus on self-regulated learning. Routledge.
Iland, A., 2013. Self-Management: Time Management, Life Management and Personal Management. iland business pages.
Nash, M., 2015. Personal development planning: a voyage of discovery. Dental Nursing, 11(2), pp.104-108.
Seibert, S.E., Kraimer, M.L., Holtom, B.C. and Pierotti, A.J., 2013. Even the best laid plans sometimes go askew: Career self-management processes, career shocks, and the decision to pursue graduate education. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98(1), p.169.
