Intentional Growth: Taking Charge of Your Personal Development
"Personal development is the belief that you are worth the effort, time, and energy needed to develop yourself." — Denis Waitley
Personal development usually feels like an approach to moving a person from one role to another, typically in the form of promotions and in the name of growth. That is how we look at it from a leadership standpoint. I'd like to change the perspective here and think of it truly from a personal point of view. For yourself, what are you doing for your own development? Early in one's career, finding new things to learn can seem easy. You're new in a role, or have not had a lot of exposure or experience to different things. As you progress, believing you have 'been there, done that' becomes easier, allowing your conscious personal development to wane. You may be provided training opportunities, or even more formal courses and studies to prepare for higher level roles. I have found those less important vehicles to build to your full potential.
There is no single formula for anyone's development. The most critical element you (we, all) need to remember is we are in charge of our own development. No one else can really do it for us, and with certainty, I can say, no one else can ensure you get something out of it. We make those decisions for ourselves. And, for them to be valuable, they must also be intentional. Have you ever been someplace new, or in a setting where learning could have happened? But, because you were focused on the task at hand, or just trying to keep pace with others, you missed the opportunity to learn and grow from it. You might still recall some positives later, but how much more powerful would it be if you had taken notes and captured your thoughts in the moment?
"Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change." — Jim Rohn
Open to learning and listening
This one I can speak from recent experience. I attended the Store Operations Council a few weeks ago. This is an annual event, and one I work hard never to miss. It is one of the best forms of development I can imagine. Spending two days with peers from similar roles from different retail companies, openly sharing experiences and ideas. It is fantastic. I learn more in forty-eight hours from peers and vendor support than I do in weeks in the usual routine. It has a tremendous return on time invested.
It is the perfect example of leaving your normal environments and allowing your brain to explore new ideas. Even if I do not use the exact approach I hear from the others, hearing them allows new connections to be made. New doors are opened to possibilities where they once seemed closed. One of the biggest benefits in these situations is the ability to then ask further questions. It is one thing to suddenly have a new idea pop into your mind, but often it is just your thought. In cases where you are with others that helped spur the idea, you can explore the concept further and dive in deeper with the people who helped to unlock the concept. It really becomes a powerful form of development and learning. You just have to be prepared for the learning to occur and to be open to it. In my case, I am now conditioned to attend this with my mind wide open. In this setting, I am primed to be in learning and listening mode, free from the usual pressures of my regular routine.
Learn from everything
I mentioned above that development must be intentional, and anything can be developmental. Having a personal development plan is helpful to define the intentionality. The only caution I have about that, and this comes more from experience now, is don't let that be a substitute for everything around you. Just because something is not in the plan, doesn't mean it shouldn't become part of what develops your skills, thoughts, competencies, or style. Any experience can contribute to those things. Watching a video could inspire new thinking. Capture that. Listening to a book or podcast could create branches of ideas. Don't miss out on those. People watching in the city, at dinner, in the park, on vacation, or wherever can serve as a source of innovative thinking. Be ready and don't miss out.
I wrote this article because I realized I had let some of these practices slip. Intentionality about personal development had waned. Videos, articles, and audiobooks were being consumed more for completion or as future source material than for genuine growth. The lack of intention for my own learning and development meant I was missing the benefits of improving myself, strengthening existing ideas, and creating new ones in the name of task completion instead of development. Don't fall into that same trap. Take advantage of all that happens around you and be thoughtful about what you do for yourself and your personal growth.
What are you doing to be intentional about your personal development?
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