Personal Development Plan Example

I had a hectic upbringing

As it meant going from one loving household to the next year in and year out from the age of 5 to the age of 12. There was never enough time to socialize and make acquaintances, let alone get acquainted with a specific place of residence. Fortunately, I obtained a golden opportunity to travel to the United States of America, the country in which I resolved to be born again and changed my life to a completely new person with a chance to become anything of my choice and a promising future from that period onwards. It was really amazing now that I had a new and favorable environment in the US acting as a turning point in my life with God by my side.

As time lapsed, I was blessed with a beautiful wife

With whom we happily started matrimony together. We spend quality time together and everything seemed to be heading in the right direction. It was so until one day something melancholic happened. It dawned on me that my dear wife was not honest and that she was making out with several other men. This act was very regrettable as I had dedicated all my life to loving and making up to her. The discovery was very devastating and it really broke my heart. The only option that crossed my mind was to get a divorce since I could not continue to spend the rest of my life with an unfaithful woman. We finally divorced and I was now left all by myself with no family to lean on in the case I required assistance. Now that my wife was gone it was really hard coping up alone as this was not the kind of life I anticipated. From this moment onwards, I was charged the responsibility of performing all the duties on my own contrary to how things were in the previous days. I had to make the hard decisions of life all by myself. I had no one to exchange ideas with or to share opinions that touched on sensitive life issues.

Professional Development Plan

The assessment results from management staff members at TTI Success Insights indicated that I am often perceived as an objective and practical person whose motivation can be presented better through teamwork. Moreover, I like to be a valued team member, and I do not rush to volunteer my opinion but take my time to accumulate adequate information that can complementarily support my opinion. In addition, I am aggressive and usually stand up for what I believe and always want to start things I am capable of finishing. My coworkers know that I am a very reliable person and demonstrate persistence when it comes to winning. I make my decisions based on past experiences as a majority of them are things I have tried and proved to be true and I always stick to my plans whenever I devise them. When making decisions, I always try to be logic and whenever am faced with tough matters, I gather all the necessary information and analyze it thoroughly. I am persistent and preserving when it comes to the issue of attaining my goals, and I mainly support matters in which I am passionate and strongly believe in. I usually prefer planning my work and working to meet my plans. This has largely helped me in achieving my set goals as well as compelling others to join my team. I am good at analyzing situations that can be touched, felt, seen, heard, personally experienced or observed, and my motto states that facts will always remain facts.

I am the kind of person who would opt for confrontations as my last option

Because I believe I can win through patience and resolving matters at hand without involving any acts of violence. I am a little bit reserved with those I do not trust or know, and when the trust is established, I sincerely open up to them. I do not like engaging in verbal battles, and whenever am faced with this kind of a situation; I tend to retreat and gather my resources before indulging myself. My past experiences have greatly trained me to always take precaution, and this makes me uncomfortable to actively participate in unfamiliar groups. Therefore, I am always quiet when involved with strangers. I find a lot of fun and encouragement when dealing with groups of people I trust and have known for a long time.my past experiences have also trained me to be considerate and modest, and have learned to take full control of my emotions. Consequently, when I was in the foster homes, I learned to hide my feelings and emotions through portraying a nice poker face (Liesveld, Miller & Robison, 2005). Similarly, I have become aware of when and how to carefully engage in social conversations and the best way to respond to questions especially those that I do not have a clear answer. I keep a lot of information to myself unless I am sure of the right moment to share what I know.

How I became who I am today

I come from a broken family since the age of two and have spent my early life as an unwanted child ending up being abused by step-parents. I was then taken to different foster homes since the age of five until the age of 12. My stepbrother granted me a second chance to live in the United States. In the United States, I had to stay with roommates since the age of fourteen years. Although I managed to complete my high school studies, my life was faced with great challenges and hardship. I had to make a turning point in my life after high school where I resolved to become a Christian by beginning a new relationship with Jesus Christ. I was later recruited as a soldier in the US Army. Then during my service to the army, the unexpected happened when a combat ensued from which I sustained very serious injuries. This forced me to be patient and take some few years for my wounds to completely heal. Soon after my recovery, the federal government offered me a new job as an investigator. This was the time that I started thinking of having a family. I decided to get married something that did not bear fruit as we were divorced within a very short period of about nine months. I later joined college to undertake an associate degree which I completed within 15 months. I then proceeded to the university to do my Bachelor of Science degree. All these life experiences have taught me to exhibit great patience through the difficulties of life and also not to rely on my personal understanding but to seek wisdom and guidance from the LORD Jesus.

I have learned that life can be very detrimental

And every person in the world deserves to live their life to the fullest and be allowed the opportunity to grow and at least produce something good hence make a difference in life and the world. I came from nothing as an unwanted child; my stepparents and my parents abused me. Many times, when I look back I realize that I have had a miraculous life and that the LORD was in control of my life despite having nothing to hold on to and to rely upon as long as I can recall. Today, I am grateful that I am alive and have made something out of myself with the help of loving people here in the United States. I have also learned to be humble, thankful and giving by the help of the grace of God. Every day I try to better myself and help those who are less fortunate than me. Even though I do not have much and no family to rely on, I put all my hope and trust in my Lord. However, throughout the years I have made many great friends who love me and care for me and who have been of great influence to the person that I am today. My brand is to be consistent, always look sharp like a million-dollar man, still be smiling and convert new relationships into new business opportunities (Mycoskie, 2011). Today, I have come to love my life so much and have developed a positive attitude that has really helped me to shape my future (Bower & Bower, 2009). One of my primary objectives in life is to be able to establish and sustain an orphanage for the unwanted children that are going through what I have experienced in the past and be able to help and provide for them to assist them to become anything that they choose to be in life. Moreover, I have learned so far give freely what I have obtained freely (Hilton III, 2010).

According to Strengths Finder 2.0 from Gallup by Tom Rath

My strengths largely contribute to my harmony, responsibility, consistency, and Relator. I have resolved to always look forward to areas of agreement since there is little to be gained from conflict and friction. It has also helped me to like people and relate well with people so quickly. I conquer anything I decide to get committed to and follow it through to completion. Furthermore, a balance is essential, and I tend to treat people the same no matter what. Also, I am able to convert strangers into friends, comfortably with intimacy once a connection has been made. Finally, yet importantly, I have gained discipline, learned to predict my world through ordering, planning, and setting up routines. I tend to focus more on timelines and deadlines, want to feel that I am in control of my life’s messiness (Rath, 2007). I need to let people into my life once more and learn to trust again. In doing this, I will be able to truly love and forgive people who have hurt me and open up my social ties as well as live a happy and purpose-full life (Winseman, Clifton, & Liesveld, 2004). In addition, I always plan to be open to new and positive changes and not being afraid of them, and this will help me to become a less stubborn person. Furthermore, I plan to learn to Review, Renew, and Recommit myself to emerge as a successful person. “The three R’s round up to the first six of our seven keys. This happens when you review, renew your focus, and recommit to it, updating your purpose, vision, work, play, relationships, health, and spirituality”. The High Achiever’s Guide to Happiness written by Vance Caesar and Carol Ann Caesar. This will encourage me to be more flexible in life (Caesar & Caesar, 2005).

To advance my learning experience

From what I have learned about others and myself, I intend to get myself a career coach who will advise me accordingly to achieve my goals. Also, I will continue my education to complete my master’s degree and always keep learning to improve myself. I will stay positive at all times and think of great things as this will motivate me to keep learning more and aiming higher. I will never be negative in life, any situation, and will always never gossip. I will be dedicated to giving a hand to the needy and still hold myself accountable with renewing what I have learned in this class “Organizational Behavior”.

References

Bower, S. A., & Bower, G. H. (2009). Asserting ourself-Updated Edition: Practical Guide For Positive Change. Hachette UK.

Caesar. Caesar, V., & Caesar, C. A. (Eds.). (2005). The high achiever’s guide to happiness. Corwin Press.

Hilton III, J. (2010). “Freely ye have received, freely give” (Matthew 10: 8): How giving away religious digital books influences the print sales of those books. Brigham Young University.

Liesveld, R., Miller, J., & Robison, J. (2005). Teach with our strengths: How great teachers inspire their students. Simon and Schuster.

Mycoskie, B. (2011). Start something that matters. Spiegel & Grau.

Rath, T. (2007). StrengthsFinder 2.0. Simon and Schuster.

Winseman, A. L., Clifton, D. O., & Liesveld, C. (2004). Living your strengths. Simon and Schuster.