What is personal development? Keys and benefits

Concept of personal development, benefits, and tools to achieve it. Tips to optimize your personal development process.

Personal development

Nietzsche, from his philosophy, proposed the existence of a “superego”, a magnificent and superior version to which all men should aspire. Perhaps unknowingly, he was raising the concept of personal development, coinciding with Maslow’s “self-actualization. In one way or another, both revolve around the fact that man can always change himself to improve his living conditions.

Through personal development, human beings take control of their lives and consciously and actively seek to improve themselves and their environment. If at this moment you are not satisfied with your life, read on to understand where the concept of personal development comes from and obtain an action plan to apply it and improve your quality of life.

What is personal development?

It consists of the actions that people take to develop their skills and abilities, which allows them to improve their interpersonal relationships and their decision-making. In a simple way, it is the wonderful human ability to change in search of being happier and more fulfilled.

Abraham Maslow explains his theory on personal development in his book Motivation and Personality (1954). There, Maslow states that there is a hierarchy between the motivations of human beings and how this hierarchical structure is achieved by complying with the immediately lower category.

There are 5 levels in Maslow’s pyramid.

Below you will find them in order of priority:

Physiology: These are the fundamental physiological motivations for life, such as fresh air, food, water, and temperature. ‍
Security: the need to feel safe and secure, to guarantee our physical well-being, to have a roof or shelter to protect us or a job. ‍
Belonging: belonging to a group or community, country, society, or family. ‍
Esteem: self-respect, security, and confidence towards ourselves and the recognition and value that others give us, such as being famous, worthy, or respected.

Self-realization

It is the highest step of the pyramid, it is here where the greatest fulfillment and happiness is found. Only when all the other steps are satisfied, a person is in his fullest state.
Personal, social, and professional development

Personal development is a transformation process where skills and abilities are acquired to better function with other people. What skills should we develop in our social and professional life?

Social skills that enhance your personal life

Honesty, empathy, emotional intelligence: let’s try to think of someone who meets these parameters for us and how this person is surely successful with their interpersonal relationships.
The same happens with professional development, these personal skills enhance your productivity because there is a correlation between professional success, quality of life, and personal development of an individual. Everything is connected and improving one sphere of life positively impacts the rest. Personal development
self-knowledge and development.

It is the first step. Really getting to know each other. Without hiding the parts we don’t like and deciding which parts we would like to improve.

Action plan

What steps will we take to reach our goal?
Remember: the difference between a goal and a dream is that the first has a defined action plan to achieve it.
How many times a week do we exercise? Do you take a bicycle to go to work and not use the car?
Objectives and dates for personal development.

The plan is necessary. We recommend using paper and pencil to transform it from an idea to something real.
This plan must have an established, specific, exact, and meticulous time. Action plans, when they are general and vague, are the perfect excuse not to feel bad about failing.