GOT A GOAL?

CREATE A PERSONAL
DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Jantje Bartels
Smart Self Development Plan
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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

What is it? Who needs Why do you When to How to

one? need one? create? create?

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WHAT IS A PERSONAL
DEVELOPMENT PLAN?

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 DEFINITIONS

“Personal development planning is the process of

creating an action plan based on awareness, values,
reflection, goal-setting and planning for personal
development within the context of a career,
education, relationship or for self-improvement.”

- James Smith, Author of ‘Personal Development

Planning’ (2011).

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 DEFINITIONS

My somewhat simpler definition:

“A personal development plan is an action plan that

gets you from where you are right now to where you
want to be in future. This can incorporate learning
hard skills as well as soft skills.”

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 SIMILAR NAMES,
SAME STORY

A Personal Development Plan can also be called:

Individual Development Plan (IDP)

Personal Enterprise Plan (PEP)

Self Development Plan (SDP)

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 COMPONENTS (1/2)

1. Goals

2. Action outline: What will I do to achieve those goals?

3. Success Criteria: How will you know when you have

succeeded?

5. Goal priority/Weighting

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 COMPONENTS (2/2)

5. Timeline (or Deadline)

6. Goal category: especially useful, if there is a mix

between personal and business related goals

7. Achievement Status

8. Signature

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A TEMPLATE
EXAMPLE

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WHO NEEDS ONE?

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 WHO NEEDS ONE?

Anyone who looks for a framework which guides

them to achieve their goals.

Anyone who is interested to develop themselves

systematically.

Anyone really. It depends how willing you are to

invest in yourself.

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WHY DO YOU
NEED ONE?

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 SIMPLE ANSWER

“People often say that motivation does not last. Well,

neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it
daily.”

– Zig Ziglar

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 5 ARGUMENTS

1. To create written personal goals helps to focus.

2. It provides clarity for the coming year, month, weeks

and days.

3. You participated at a training course and now you

want to implement what you have learned.

4. Your boss asked you to create one.

5. You want to become a book author (for example), but

do not know where to start.

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WHEN TO CREATE?

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 WHEN TO CREATE?

If it is business related, this will likely depend upon

the company’s processes:

Is this plan related to your annual objectives?

Has it been triggered during a training?

Or during a 360° Feedback process?

If non-business related, beginning of the year is great

or topic-related anytime throughout the year.

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HOW TO CREATE ONE?

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 STEP-BY-STEP (1/4)
1. Create a template on a spreadsheet (see slide 9), if
there are no suitable templates available in your
company.

2. Goal: Think of one objective that you would like to

achieve this year. This can be, for example, related to
a recent training.

3. Action outline: If you like to combine a goal with a

key activity, I recommend the following formula: “I
commit to [Verb] + [Precise Goal] + [Frequency Per
Week] + [Optional: duration] + [Purpose] = Action.”
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 STEP-BY-STEP (2/4)

4. How to come up with good Action ideas:

• Refer to your company’s training catalog.

• Ask people close to you what their favorite course was on

your topic.

• Use Amazon to search for specific keywords to get more ideas.

• Look at some Educational Media on your topic out there

(Blogs, Podcasts, Online courses via Coursera etc...).

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 STEP-BY-STEP (3/4)

5. Success Criteria: Think of a mix of quantitative and

qualitative criteria to measure your progress.

6. Weighting: How important is this goal in

comparisons to others? Note it down.

7. Timeline: Until when do you want to achieve this

goal? Before the end of the year? Before your next
holiday?

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 STEP-BY-STEP (4/4)

8. Use the Status column to regularly update your

overall progress level.

9. Sign the personal development plan, even if it is just

for your personal use.

10. Include a symbol to visualize your objectives. Make

a drawing on a separate page of something that you
link with your desired outcome.

11. Print out a copy for your desk to see it regularly.

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THANK YOU!!

NOW, GO AHEAD AND

CREATE THIS PLAN.

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 DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS
OR COMMENTS?

Contact me via Twitter: @JantjeBartels or at

the Smart Self Development Plan.

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