FIVE KEY STRATEGIES TO SELF-DEVELOPMENT
BY
EDITH CHIJIOKE-ONYOLU
Self development is synonymous with personal progress, since every company wants to employ those who bring the most value to the table, you want to be on a path of continous self development so as to keep being sought after in your career line.
Developing yourself would last for as long as you are determined to keep improving and as they say the biggest room in the world is the room for improvement. You need to continue developing yourself to get the most of your career.
Sharpen your Skills:
What are the core skills you require for your career? Is it analytical? Is it writing skills? Is it managerial or administrative skill? It is marketing skills? Is it an ability to do a multiplicity of things at a time?
There are core skills required in various career paths depending on your career. Pay attention to and discover what those skills are. For example, as a lawyer in active legal practice, you are going to need research and writing skills for the rest of your life in the field. So you need to sharpen those skills everyday. Do something that hones those skills everyday. Doing the same routines without improving your skills on them will not fetch you the career progress you are looking to have. Do a little study of the skills required in your area of work. Deliberately work on honing those skills one after another. Your results will not be the same after a while. You will certainly be way better.
Have Long Term Goals for your Career:
Where do you see the career leading you to in another 10 years? When you wake up one morning 10 years from now, describe your idle day. What would your day be like? Where would you be working? What height would you have attained? What challenges would you have overcome? What office do you desire to occupy? What roles do you desire to play?
By envisioning your destination, you would be motivated to outline the requirements to make it possible. An example of this is what is obtainable in the legal profession. To become a senior advocate or a judge, there are certain criteria for eligibility. Setting long term goals help you begin from where you are while working up to where you want to be. Once you ascertained the criteria your next move is to start acquiring those required qualifications one after another. In this way, you will ensure that your desire at self-development has a set destination.
Have Career Mentors:
Mentors are your role models who have been where you are and have done what you dream of doing in your future.
It is ancient history that every trade career has its own set of rules that govern it whether obviously or tacitly. You can save yourself years of going around in circles if you have trusted mentors to counsel you and help you get the most out of your career per time.
You can use the benefit of your mentor’s experience to navigate your career growth. You have to choose a mentor you trust and someone you can be open to. Many successful people tell stories of people who assisted them in their journey to being who they are today.
Identify those who are more experienced than you and find an opportunity to learn from them. Seek out a trust worthy mentor and show your commitment to learning from him/her.
Assess Your progress:
You need to be able to hold yourself accountable for all the things you listed as your self-development goals. It requires you to get feedback through assessing your output. How have you grown in your approach over the period in review? How many of the things you set out to do have you done? Are you doing something now ahead of your long term goals? Have you been serious with being a mentee over the period in review? If the things you have done in advancement of your self-development goals outnumber the areas yet to be actualized, then tick off the accomplishment and work towards actualizing the others. Don’t assume you are growing, access yourself and be open for other trusted persons who know you to assess you and give you feedback for purposes of further growth.
Focus Your Energy:
The focus you need to keep you pushing your goals to the finish line is utmost commitment. When many things begin to spring up calling for your attention, don’t forget to keep your goals visible to your mind’s eye. You cannot afford to deplete your energy by allowing other things shift your focus. You ought to have worked on your goals over time to see the results. If you get distracted while at it, you might lose the efforts you had already made.
Follow that course until success is achieved.
