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Tips for Self-development

1. Start now

Do something about your self-development today. Tomorrow, you can build on that.

2. Write down what you want to achieve

Keep it brief – perhaps three outcomes. Monitor what happens. Don't feel bad if you modify your plan – life is about change. Whether you succeed or not, learn from the experience.

3. Learn from other people

Notice what other people do and learn from them. You can gain from their successes and their mistakes. Experience is a harsh teacher, but less so if it's someone else's experience

4. Embrace change

If people and ideas didn't change, we'd still be in the Stone Age.

5. Take responsibility

Remember, you are responsible for your own development. If you don't want to bother, who else will?

6. Recognise your worth

Think about how others benefit from what you do. If you develop yourself, those benefits will increase. Your self-development is for others as well as for you.

7. Think about resolutions

Before you make a resolution, make sure you really want the change. If you don't, you won't keep it up, then you'll think up lots of excuses and feel guilty. Think of the excuses now. If they seem valid, you can decide now not to do it, and skip the guilt.

8. Challenge, not strain

Set yourself goals that are just out of reach. If your reach for the impossible you are setting yourself up for failure. If you stick to what's easy you're denying yourself the triumph of achievement.

9. Accept some weaknesses

We are all weak in some ways. We can be well balanced without being good at everything. If you're ham-fisted, don't try to make a career of painting Faberge eggs. There are plenty of other areas for self-development.

10. Keep at it

There's no such thing as finished self-development. You can go on learning, changing and renewing for all of your life.

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© Copyright 2003 Trans4mation. Reproduced with permission. Any opinions or views contained in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Training Reference.

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