If you have big dreams for your career or business — or you’re feeling “stuck” and are looking for a way to find the happiness and fulfillment you desire — then a professional development plan is what you need to make your career or business goals a reality!
I have used short- and long-term professional development plans throughout my 40-year-career to achieve incredible success and create a life I truly love.
Knowing how to write a good development plan is what helped me go from being an inner-city high school teacher, to a successful business consultant working with Fortune 500 companies and a New York Times bestselling author.
And I’ve continued on to be an internationally renowned personal growth expert who has helped millions of people around the world create lives they love!
If professional development planning worked for me, it can work for you too. Here’s what you need to know to make it happen.
A professional development plan – also known as a PDP – is a roadmap that details the steps you need to take to achieve your long-term personal and professional goals. PDPs are generally career-related, but they also work for business owners who want to grow their businesses.
Your professional growth plan will be unique to your specific life and career goals. It includes both long-term career strategy as well short-term goals that keep your forward momentum going strong.
You can also include your big personal goals within your plan to ensure they’re aligned with your professional goals so you can fulfill success in all areas of your life.
The line between personal and professional growth can be blurry.
It helps if you think of it this way: personal growth refers to improving your mental and social skills, while professional growth is focused on growing your knowledge and skills to succeed at work.
Both personal and professional growth feed into your personal brand (and by “brand,” I mean, how you show up in the world and how people perceive you based on your words and actions.)
You’re building your personal brand every time you interact with people – whether in person or online – so I encourage you to put some effort into strategically creating your personal brand so that it aligns with your intentions and purpose, as well as your long-term professional goals.
Professional development isn’t a “one-and-done” sort of thing. Achievement of any big goal — personal or professional — takes time.
Doctors don’t graduate from medical school and think they’ve learned all they need to know for the rest of their careers. And professional tennis players don’t perfect their serve once and then never work on it again. They are committed to doing the ongoing work required to reach their highest potential.
That’s the importance of professional development.
Knowing how to write a good development plan will give you the blueprint you need to continuously learn and self-improve a major focus of your life.
Ongoing learning is essential to living a successful and fulfilling life because it helps you:
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Follow these steps to create your own professional growth plan for the year ahead.
Begin by evaluating your “blue-sky” professional goals as well as your current skills and knowledge. What do you want to achieve in your career — and are those goals aligned with your true purpose in life to ensure a lifetime of happiness and fulfillment?
If yes, what strengths will help you reach those goals, and what weaknesses are standing in the way? What are the gaps between where you currently are now? And what needs to happen to eliminate those gaps?
If these questions are challenging for you, I encourage you to create a vision board and put it somewhere you can see it every day.
A vision board is a powerful tool that will help you gain deeper clarity into what you really want your personal and professional life to look like so you can maintain focus on your goals as you live your day-to-day life.
Once you’ve clarified your long-term goals and assessed your current skillset and expertise, your next step is to set clear goals that determine your path forward and move you in the direction of your dreams.
Be sure that the goals you set are “SMART” – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely – to guarantee that they are realistic and doable.
I also encourage you to get really clear on your ambitious long-term goals first so that you can then chunk them down into short-term milestones that keep you moving in the right direction.
Your professional development plan isn’t just about goal-setting – it also details the specific steps you will use to reach those goals and make consistent progress toward your dreams. As you create your PDP strategy, consider the approach that will work best for you.
Do you need to gain hands-on experience in the field?
Will signing up for an online course give you the learning you require?
Or would you benefit from finding a mentor who can monitor your progress and give you the feedback you need to get better results faster?
Identifying your goals and strategy is just the beginning… because the key to your success all comes down to your MINDSET. If you lack the confidence and willpower to relentlessly pursue your goals, the best-written professional plan in the world won’t help you!
So if you are serious about your dreams, I encourage you to put in the effort to cultivate a success-focused mindset. Eliminate any distractions that pull you in the wrong direction or keep you from devoting your time and energy to what really matters most.
Meditation is a powerful tool for this. Meditating for as little as 10 minutes a day can help you maintain a positive mindset and cultivate the relentless focus you need to keep moving forward despite any distractions or obstacles that appear on your path.
It doesn’t matter how ambitious or well-written your personal development plan is if you don’t take action on it! That’s why this is the most critical step of all.
It’s important to recognize, however, that taking action requires you to step outside your comfort zone and take risks that might scare you or make you nervous (such as approaching your manager for a promotion or learning a challenging new skill).
It’s normal to feel a bit of fear or apprehension. But if you want to succeed, you’ve got to lean into your fear and take action anyway.
It doesn’t matter if you can’t see the complete path ahead of you. Just like when you drive at night, as you keep moving forward, the road ahead will make itself known.
What matters most is taking that first step! And then the next, and the next…
And remember that there is a multitude of resources out there that can help you with your professional growth, allowing you to accelerate along your career path.
Your PDP is a work in progress. Because its purpose is to identify your long-term vision for your life and career while detailing the path forward, it evidently isn’t something that can be completed overnight.
But if you create a strong professional development plan and consult it regularly to ensure your ongoing actions are leading you in the direction of your dreams, you will be amazed at what you’re able to accomplish!
The key lies in consulting your PDP regularly. I encourage you to review it on a weekly or daily basis to make sure you keep your goals always top of mind.
Building in this kind of rhythm allows you to reflect on your actions and what you’ve accomplished. It will help you understand what’s working and what’s not so you can adapt your strategy accordingly.
Here’s a professional development plan example you can use to get your goals and strategies down on paper. Answer the questions below to get clear on what you want to achieve professionally in the next year or two, and the steps you plan to take to make your goals a reality.
Where are you currently in terms of your position, skill set, and career – and where do you hope to be?
What specific professional development goals would you like to achieve in the next 52 weeks?
What steps must you take to attain those 12-month professional development goals?
What tools, resources, and support do you require to implement your strategies and reach your goals?
Break down your annual goals into monthly, weekly, and quarterly goals.
By answering the questions above, you will gain valuable clarity into your professional development journey and the steps you need to take to accomplish your career goals and create a life you love.
Ready to take it further? I’ve got you covered!
The Success Principles: 12-Month Success Planner is a FREE downloadable tool that you can use to schedule your weekly, monthly, and yearly goals using my time-tested and life-changing Success Principles.
The simple “fill-in-the-blank” templates help you plan exactly how you can achieve your goals and tackle daily challenges, while the daily guidelines and inspirational quotes will ensure you live each day with passion and purpose!
Put this FREE planner to use to transform your life beyond your wildest dreams! The Success Principles: 12-Month Success Planner.