We’re already 3 months into 2023
…and yes, let’s avoid the news and just focus on our own journeys! Let’s focus on our growth, plans, and aspirations, and make them happen! A lot of you might have a business growth plan and specific plans for your business, but what about a personal growth plan? If you’re not solid personally and you’re not taking care of yourself first, then you can’t take care of your business or anyone else, and that’s just reality. After reading this, I want you to do some homework and really set aside time to write out your personal growth plans for 2023. Think about what you want to achieve, not for your business, but for yourselves. Here’s some guidance on how to get them going.
1. Set Goals for YourselfThe first step is to set your goals. Think about what you want to achieve, whether that’s within a few weeks, within a year, or over your lifetime. Deciding what you want is not only the first step in planning, it’s also the hardest. Once you’ve figured out what you want to do, that goal will provide clear direction and a structure for your resulting plan. When doing this, it’s important that your goals are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound.
2. Prioritizing Your GoalsAt this stage, your goals will feel big. You might be wondering how you’re ever going to achieve them. Don’t worry, the next step is to prioritize and turn those goals into smaller, actionable steps that will support you on your way to achieving them. It’s important to make sure you are realistic in what you can achieve in any given period. Don’t try to achieve everything all at once. It’s unrealistic and you won’t be setting yourself up to be in a good position to achieve them.
3. Set Deadlines for Your GoalsKnowing when you want to achieve your goal by is crucial. Picturing your future and that achievement is an important source of motivation and inspiration. For example, if your goal is to buy a home, knowing when you want to achieve it will help you calculate exactly how much money you need to save each year in order to get your deposit. The same is true for your skills, knowledge, and experience development. As mentioned above, setting realistic and time-bound goals are essential to achieving them.
4. Recognize Threats and OpportunitiesWhen considering your goals, you should identify your own strengths. Look for opportunities available that support you in achieving your goals, and any threats that may hinder you in your progress. For example, eliminate threats to your focus by turning off the TV at night or in the morning, or not endlessly scrolling on social media. There are also connections with people or resources you could take advantage of that will help you on your way. These are your opportunities that you should commit to doing. For example, if there’s a networking event or free or affordable masterclass online coming up, take advantage of that. Network and stay up to date on the latest knowledge. These are all opportunities that can help you on your way to achieve your goals.
5. Develop YourselfOnce you have an idea of what could help or hinder you, this is when you can capitalize on those opportunities you recognized. Make an action plan about how you’ll make that progress. Whatever it is that hinders you, there’s a way to stop it. Your plan is the first step to making sure you stay on track.
6. Use Your Support NetworkThe next thing you need to realize is that you don’t need to do everything by yourself. The support network around you is a valuable asset, so take advantage of them and don’t underestimate all the ways they can help make your life easier.
7. Measure ProgressAfter you’ve achieved some progress, whether it’s big or small, take time to reflect on how far you’ve come. Recognizing what has gone well, or not so well, is an effective way to bolster your motivation and remain dedicated. Setbacks are also a good opportunity to measure progress. Wallowing for a brief amount of time can actually be a good way to feel through what you need to without bottling it up. Holding onto sadness, anger or frustration, will only hinder you in the long run.
You should also spend a little time considering why it went wrong. Can you identify any skills or knowledge gap that has led to that outcome? If you can, then you can get yourself back on track by focusing on your next steps. This will reignite your sense of purpose and help you regain control, which is integral to making progress.
As you work through your Personal Growth plan, be sure to continue to reflect on your progress. You can gain significant insight from your reflections and this can help you grow. Remember that you should update your plan when necessary. Don’t overload it all at one time. Once you have achieved your small steps, reflect and then update your plan to focus on your next move. Remember that personal development is a journey. Your PG plan can continue to grow and develop as you take the steps towards your goals. I’m attaching a SMART Goal worksheet at the end of the post for you to download to help you through your PG plan.
If you want or need some extra encouragement, check out my blog post from a few months back on 5 Reasons to Invest in Self Development. I also want to offer you guys $100 OFF my Lifetime Membership Package to Beauty Brand Coaching where you can access tons of courses, workbooks, resources and more to get your small business or beauty brand thriving! You even get automatic library updates as we add in fresh store content, 1 private coaching call, AND a curated boss babe productivity box of fun little things to get you going! Use code TIME2GROW at checkout!