Self-Development Goals - Coursework Example

Self Development Your name Course name Course Instructor Date of Submission Self Development Introduction Initially, the concept of the “self” was used to refer to the weak, crude, sinful- selfish nature of human being alone. The evil self was compared with the divinely ideal character of a Christian soul. For it was Joseph Campbell’s believe that the idea of an independent, self-directed “self” didn’t begun to develop until approximately 800 years ago. Hence, “self” is a relatively new idea which has developed in significance. The community dictated value and meaning in medieval times but today, modern self theory asserts that each person is expected do choose what is right and to know him/herself adequately to decide what courses of action feel right. Briefly, we ought to know ourselves hence we can set our life objectives and self actualized. Social institutions such as schooling and psychology didn’t emphasize the development of positive beliefs in regard to self before 20thC. There was high emphasis, for instance on creating relationship to religions and government’s organized systems. A cult of self has blossomed with the ousting of divinity as the dominant organizational culture in Western society, and the growth of capitalism with its emphasis, especially in North America, on expression and valuing of individual liberty (Albano et al., 1991, 24). Certainly, self-developments appear to be connected positively with other desirable qualities like the better quality of life, higher academic performance, among others, though there is an argument regarding whether improvement of self-esteem, self-concept, among others leads to improved performance or vice-versa. What’s more, there is proof that high self-esteem can result to increased aggression when combine with the prejudice. Albert (1997, 17) asserts that in North America, education and parenting has been censured for overstressing praise and affirmation of children. It has been debated that vacuous self-belief which results to more serious problem emerging from the self-deception are created by simply boosting self-esteem without boosting personal skill. This section deserves more research. Attention is supposed to be paid to differentiating shallow self-esteem boosting techniques from well developed, effectual approaches to personal and social development, among other tasks. Self development goals It is normally very easy to set elf development objectives than to meet those objectives. Part of the reason for this fact is that most individuals don’t have an accurate objective in mind but instead unclear picture of their objective. The other mistake which individuals tend to make when setting personal objectives is that they set too many objectives and spread them out too far in the future. Hence, when setting personal objectives, the first thing you are supposed to do is to defining clearly what your objective is. For instance, your can say that you to loose weight. This would be great but you are supposed to state exact weight that you want to loose. This is due to the fact that knowing exact pounds that you want to lose goes a long way in assisting you to just do that because you can obtain diet and exercise plan that will assist you most effectively to loose the certain amount of weight. Having a clear objective in mind also assist you to plan how most excellent to accomplish your personal objective. For instance, say you have decided that you would like to lose 15 pounds. You are now aware of the numbers of pounds that you are targeting to loose and hence you can set up a reasonable time frame for that to be probable ( Bob, 2010, 32). Don’t make an error that many individuals do of telling themselves that they will lose that weight in one week, a month or a year because those objectives are very short or long. Spread the objective of losing 15 pounds down into in to more manage portions that can be done within a weed and you will be much more probable to get the outcome that you want. Self development refers to events that facilitate self-knowledge and identity, build up talents and potential, create human capital and employability, improve eminence of life and contribute to the comprehension of aspirations and dreams. The concept is not limited to self-development though it comprises of formal and informal events for developing others in duties like teacher, mentor, counselor, coach, guide or manager. Lastly, personal development also refers to the techniques, tools, programs, and assessment systems that support human development at the personal level in an organization since it occurs in context of institutions. Personal development includes the following at the level of the individual: Enhancing self-awareness Enhancing self-knowledge Constructing or renovating identity Creating strengths or talents Enhancing wealth Spiritual growth Identifying or facilitating potential Creating employability or human capital Improving way of life or quality of life Enhancing health Accomplishing aspirations Starting a life enterprise or individual autonomy. Self development covers a broad field and also includes developing others. This may occur through duties such as a mentor or teacher- either through an individual competency like the skill of certain managers in creating the potential of workers or a specialist service like offering training, evaluation or coaching. Self development is a field of practice and research beyond improving oneself and developing others. As a field of practice, it consists of self development techniques, assessment systems, learning programs, tools and techniques. As a field of research, self development topics appear highly in scientific journals, management journals, business books and high education reviews. Any kind of development, regardless of whether it is economic, organizational, biological personal or political needs a framework if one wishes to know whether changes actually took place. A person usually serves as the primary charge of improvement in the case of self development though justification of objective development needs assessment using standard criteria. Self development frameworks may consist of objectives or standards that define the end-points, plans or strategies for attaining objectives, measurement and assessment of development, degree or phases that define landmarks along a path of development, and a feedback system to offer information on changes. Self development in psychology Psychology was associated with to self development not with the Freud’s psychoanalysis but beginning with his colleagues Carl Jung (1875-1937) and Alfred Adler (1870-1937). Adler didn’t accept to limit psychology to analysis hence making the significant point that ambition look forward and don’t restrict themselves to unconscious drives or to infancy experiences. He also initiated the idea of lifestyle- defined lifestyle as a person’s characteristic approach life, in encountering difficulties- and of self-image, an idea that influenced management under the topic of work-life balance. Carl Jung on the other hand made contributions to individual development with his idea of individuation, which he viewed as the drive of the person to attain wholeness and balance of the self. In the same way, Daniel Levinson created Jung’s earlier concept of life stages and added a sociological viewpoint. Levinson suggested that individual development come under the influence- all through life- of ambitions which he referred to as dream. A young man has the developmental task of offering it greater definition and finding means to live it out regardless of the nature of his dream. It creates a great difference in his development regardless of whether his early life structure is consonant with and instilled with dream, or goes up against it. The dream might die if it remains unlinked to his life and with it his intellect of purpose and aliveness. Model of seven life-stages of Levinson has been modified considerably as a result of sociological changes in the lifecycle. It is suggested by research on success in attaining objectives, as undertaken by Albert Bandura that self-efficacy explains best why individuals with same knowledge levels and skills obtain very different results. Self-confidence serves as a strong predicator of success according to Bandura because: It makes you anticipate to succeed It permits to take risks and set challenging objectives It assists you to keep trying if you don’t succeed at first It assists you to control emotions when the going gets tough When Martin Seligman won election to a one-year term as American Psychological Association’s president and suggested a new focus healthy people other than ones on pathology, self development shifted in 1998 from psychology’s fringes to a high central position. He said that they had revealed that there was a set of human strengths that are the most probable barriers against mental illness and they include interpersonal skill, courage, perseverance, optimism, honesty, work ethic and hope. Creation of science of human strengths whose task will be to promote these virtues in youths will be much task of prevention. Self development in higher education In the West, self development has been at the center of education in the form of Greek philosophers while in East, it has been Confucius. Self development is emphasized by some individuals as a section of higher education. Founder of the University of Berlin in 1810, Wilhelm von Humbolt, made an interpretable statement as referring to personal development (Paxton, 1991, 7). He asserted that precisely, education, whose objective is to develop a person, is the only one thing than the other which requires completely free activity on the part of the person. A large increase in the number of students on American campuses in the course of 1960s resulted to a research on self development requirements of undergraduate students. Seven vectors of self development for teenagers in the course of their undergraduate years were deafened by Arthur Chickering as being: Developing proficiencies Managing feelings Attaining autonomy and interdependence Creating mature interpersonal relationships Instituting identity Creating purpose Creating integrity Self development took a central place in university policy in the UK in the year 1997 when it was declared by the Dearing Report that universities should go beyond academic teaching so as to offer students with self development. Guidelines for universities to improve self development were produced by a Quality Assessment Agency for UK universities in the year 2001 as: i. A structure and supported procedure undertaken by a person to reflect upon their own learning, performance and attainment, and to plan for their individual career and education development. ii. Goals associated clearly to student development, to enhance student’s capacity comprehend what and how they are learning, and to appraise, plan and be accountable for their own learning. Business schools started to set up self-development programs for career oriented and leadership in the 1990s and the Equis official approval system which specified that self development ought to form section of the learning procedure via internships, working on team projects and going oversea for exchange or work programs was set up by European Foundation for Management Development in the 1990s. The first self development certificate needed for business school graduation started in 2002 as a business between Metizo- a self-development consulting firm, and the Euromed Management School, students ought to not only accomplish assignments but also illustrate self-awareness and attainment of self development competencies. Self development has become a specific subject normally connected with business schools as an academic department. Self development draws on associations to other academic disciplines as an area of research including education for learning and assessment’s questions (Lang, M., & Cushner, 1991, 18). Psychology is used for an incentive and personality, sociology for individuality and social networks, and economics for human capital and economic value. Philosophy is applied for ethics and self-reflection. Abraham Maslow was the first known individual to address personal development within the confines of the work place. He developed what was later known as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, at the top of which was the stage of self actualization. This was defined as an individual’s wish to continue developing and become what he is, that is to achieve one’s full potential. In his pyramid, Maslow placed favorable conditions of work and job security at the bottom as he believed that these actually met most of the employees’ needs whereas only a few of them self-actualized. Globalization especially as regards labor markets and organizations has led to the shift in the role of ensuring development takes place from the business and put it in the hands of the individual. It is upon an employee to maneuver their way in the current labor markets and ensure they are still productive. This should not however be the case, businesses and companies ought to take charge and manage their workers. It has been established that by embracing a culture of managing employees’ personal development within the company such a company can realize several economic benefits. All in all, employees also ought to realize that it is their duty to undertake personal development and should thus embrace continuous learning to achieve this. There has been an evident change in the direction career development is taking. Individuals are currently determining their career paths while at the same time shaping their skills to fit the various needs of their employers. With the realization that the careers focus on individual needs and development paths of men differ from those of men; careers of women are targeted towards certain specific individual needs, organizations had to change their view towards careers. With the advancement in life, so do people’s priorities to their work and ways of living in advance as well. Personal development has several benefits to an organization, the most significant being increased productivity, and therefore the management of these organizations ought to develop ways of encouraging employees to continually improve their capabilities. The use of employee benefits s one such way. Carrying out surveys to establish the organization’s problems, needs and preferences as regards personal development is necessary so that the results obtained are used to develop certain beneficial programs. These might have the effect of motivating the workers as well as increase their loyalty and level of satisfaction. Such programs can be strategic in achieving an organization’s developmental objectives. They are thus a form of investment with the expected returns being the improvement in productivity as well as causing an increase in the organization’s stock of human capital. The employee’s value in terms of how useful he will be in the future is normally analyzed through a structure of talent management. Under this, those viewed to be able leaders, high performers, major players in the organization and newly hired workers can be selected appropriately. Another way of influencing personal development among one’s employees in the workplace by an organization’s management is by assessing individuals’ capabilities by use of questionnaires and even competency grids to get feedback on performance. Such tools of management as employee enterprise plans and personal development plans should be created by the management and used for encouraging employee development. In addition to this, employee skills and determination, level of confidence, ability and discipline are also vital in the attainment of organizational goals. High level of personal confidence is an important aspect as far as personal development is concerned. Goal achievement is usually as a result of a clearly focused and confident mind. Though one might be capable, without a good amount of confidence one is doomed to fail. Someone oozing with confidence can be easily seen in situations such as socialization, the way they communicate and even their walking posture. How someone works too tells a lot about that person’s confidence level. A confident worker influences those around him or her to emulate their working behavior and this is essential in an organization that is focused on achieving a high level of performance. Self confidence Without necessary confidence, great things are never achieved. If there is no confidence, all the knowledge and attempts possible would be useless. Your steps are halted by low confidence hence you can’t take initiative. Both the body and mind can be paralyzed with low self confidence at the time of making decision. It leaves you unresolved and the unsolved are swept away. In this world, there is no place for the unsolved where success is worshipped, and success hardly comes to an individual who is undecided. According to the old saying, you ought to stand for something or you will fall for anything, and you will be held together or broken apart by your confidence. Confidence or not genetic or hereditary and there is nobody who is born confident. Confidence is acquired and it is generated. Before you make any attempt to get better with confidence, you are first supposed to understand its significance. It is very much in your hands to create a self-confident behavior. In order to achieve something, it said that one has to takes risks and without pain, there is no gain as we all have heard. Hence, the question is that what is it that enables one individual to go a head and take risks while another is held back? It is very apparent that it is degree of confidence that makes individuals to come out and lead from the front without caring for collapse. Sometimes, it is the receding guy who takes the girl due to the fact that he has something more compared to the handsome guys around- yes, you supposed that he oozes self-confidence that makes lady weak in her knees. Conclusion In general self development is one of the most significance factors required for success. With high self development, an individual is able to attain main different careers and objectives in life. Therefore, both children and elders should be provided with humble time and atmosphere under which they will grow and develop to maturity hence gaining self confidence, among other positive traits that will enable them to grow fast and being successful in life and their duties. References Albano, J., Lanningan, G., & Lannigan, K. 1991, Self-esteem: A school-wide approach to personal development for staff and students. The Invitational Education Forum, 12, pp. 13-15. Albert B., 1997, Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman, pp. 12-26.  Bob, A., 2010, Managing Your Aspirations: Developing Personal Enterprise in the Global Workplace, McGraw-Hill, pp. 21-43. Bruce, H, 2007, Self-Development: A Handbook for the Ambitious, Kissinger Publishing, LLC, pp2-352. Clinchy, B. M., 1989, The development of thoughtfulness in college women: Integrating reason and care, American Behavioral Scientist, 32, pp. 647-657. Dayton, T., 1990, Drama Games: Techniques for Self-Development, Wiley: Chichester, pp. 395-400. Dorsey, G., 1991, Things that work for at-risk students: The Invitational Education Forum, 12, 10-12. Fink, D. 1991, The Alliance for Invitational Education: The end of the beginning: A directions paper. The Invitational Education Forum, 12, pp. 25-27. Lang, M., & Cushner, K. 1991, Love thy neighbor as thyself: A study of students' cross-cultural adjustments, Chicago, Illinois, pp. 12-35. Nofsinger, P., 1991, The secret and Art of Self Development: Desire for Finding Peace and Freedom, 12, 15-16. Novak, M, 1991, Grounding Invitation Teaching: A theory of practice perspective. Brock Education, 1, (2), pp. 8-11. Paxton, P., 1991, Self-empowered individuals: The challenge for teachers, 12, pp. 6-9. Read More