There are many phrases we hear in the media, on tv, amongst friends who are going places . . . .  personal development is generally used in hushed tones when someone is talking abut a particularly bright student, or the failure of said bright star to secure the top job they’ve yearned for over the years.   Actually personal development means a lifelong undertaking.  Instead of taking life as it goes, calmly swimming along with the rest of the crowd and only succeeding in very limited spheres.  In fact with a hefty dollop of personal development, it is amazing how succesful someone can become.   If the self imposed development begins early enough, each job will be secured first time of trying;  confidence in one’s ability to sway the ‘court of public opinion’ when it comes to debating a point.   Self improvement courses and activities are a continuous process and this enhances existing skills.  Self reflection enables one to accept when something has not gone particularly well and in which way it could have been improved, what additional training may have made all the difference to an application for promotion perhaps.  Being able to set goals for self achievement and to make progress stops on the way, looking back to see if we have moved along as far and as quickly as the personal life plan has allowed or required.

Deliberate actions have to come into play, interactions socially and emotionally to know what bad experiences mean, as well as the good.  Intellectual, physical and spiritual elements of life and a mark of personal development comes when each element comes into play.