Where to start?

[hassan]

Where should I start for personal development?I have read dozens of books on self development but still can't figure out what to do.How do I make a plan for personal development?
Please help.
God Bless You

[Remiel]

Well, what do you want to do / accomplish?

Or if you want an even scarier question, who do you want to be?

And for the scariest question of all, who were you made to be?

[Peter Toth]

How about site Steve Pavlina.com . Look at bottom of site there is section Where to Begin? If you already did it, what is missing there?

[James81]

You start by making a list of goals for your life and where you want to see yourself in the future. I'd start with a 5 year plan. In the next 5 years of your life, where do you want to be? Write that down.

Once you figure out what you want, then you can start breaking those big goals down into smaller goals.

[st33med]

What do you want to improve? Organization? Getting things done? Driving? Flying?

There are ways to do all except one of those options.

[MagicalRealist]

Originally Posted by James81

You start by making a list of goals for your life and where you want to see yourself in the future.

And if you can't do that, start with one thing you would like to change. Maybe you want your papers and belongings to be better organized. Maybe you want to learn a new skill. Maybe you want to dress better. Maybe you want to read more books, or eat better, or stop smoking. Whatever it is, decide to do it and focus on that for a while, until it becomes a habit or you've gained enough proficiency at it to be satisfied. Then pick something else, and do it again.

Sometimes, it's difficult to come up with concrete goals for where you want your life to be in five years. You might know that you want it to be better, but still have only a vague sense of what "better" looks like. Or maybe some improvements you think you want seem too far out of reach right now, so striving for them seems futile. So choosing one thing that you honestly feel will make your life better, and that you believe you can achieve with the resources you currently have, is a good place to start.

[hassan]

Ok here is my goal:
I want to create balance in every aspect of my life.
Health
Education
Relationships
Sports
Job
etc etc

But the problem is Where should I start.It seems so overwhelming just to think about making a minor change at this stage.Whenever I think of my goal I have a feeling of tiredness and a thought that there is sooooooooooooo much to do if I ever want to achieve it.

[Thekla]

Sounds like you have a powerful vision for creating lots of change in your life, Hassan.

I would recommend on zeroing in on just one of those areas that you want to bring greater balance to. Take a moment to be still and connect with yourself. Which area of your life calls to you the most compellingly to start there right now? If you are still not sure what your gut tells you, you might try this exercise and make your own wheel showing each of the areas you've identified. Then, start with whichever area has the lowest score: The Wheel of Life - Finding balance in your life - Time Management Techniques from MindTools.com

Then, ask yourself what one goal could you set for that area which could be meaningfully accomplished in a month or less?

Once you have made a little progress on one aspect of your vision, it might be easier to see what personal development looks like for you, so you can start creating an overall long-range plan for what else you might tackle, and when.

Good luck!

[martinogg]

If you are looking for any particular suggestions:

how about you look at your daily routine and see how you can free up more time?
By doing this you will get extra time to work on self improvement things you might otherwise not have had time for.

For example, I find that by forcing myself to bed at 11pm latest at night (instead of 12:30) I can wake up for 6:00am and get to work for 8:00am, therefore I can leave at 4:00pm instead of 6:30pm and do more interesting things in the evening, instead of just eat and sleep!

how does that sound?
let me know what you decide to do.

Martin

[James81]

Originally Posted by hassan

Ok here is my goal:
I want to create balance in every aspect of my life.
Health
Education
Relationships
Sports
Job
etc etc

Here's the order I would (and have actually) approach those in:

1. Health -- increasing your health and vitality will help you achieve all those other things.
2. Education -- getting your education in order will help with the next one
3. Job -- getting a job will provide security in your life
4. Sports -- you could work on this one simultaneously with the next one
5. Relationships -- If you do the first 4, you'll find that this one will take care of itself

Then I would set time frames of focus on each of them. I'd give health a 6 month goal so that you can get habits in place and on autopilot before moving on.

Then your education will be whatever timeframe it takes to achieve whatever it is to study.

Job will be dictated by however long it takes you to find a career you want to be in.

Sports would be a hobby thing that you could work in anywhere.

Relationships will be much easier once you get the others in place and functioning. And this will be an ongoing, lifetime type of goal.

****

So, first things first, Health. Here are some things to think about when it comes to that:

1. What will you eat to be health? Research nutrition and figure out the foods that will make you healthy.

2. Exercise. What kind of exercise plan are you wanting to get on? What are the goals for your body?