7 Effective Ways to Review 2011 and Plan Productively for 2012

As we bid farewell to 2011, it is timely to take stock of what we have achieved for 2011.The following areas are what you should be very concerned about because all these are the essence of your life:

1.      Health: Are you getting fitter? Did you exercise every day? Did you get peace of mind? Have you got enough sleep? Did you eat healthily? Have you achieved your health goals for the year?  When your answers are positive. You must be in the pink of health.  

  

2.      Career: Did you get the promotion you have in mind? Did you get your pay raise and are you happy with the amount? How positive is your attitude at work? Most important of all: Are you happy at work?

3.      Family: Do you lead a balanced life? Have you spent enough quality time at home with your loved ones? Do you leave work at work or do you take home more work? 

4.      Personal finance: Did you manage to reduce your debt? Have you set aside an amount for emergency purposes? Have you got a monthly budget which incorporates an amount for savings? Did you follow your budget faithfully without incurring debt? A debt-free person is a care-free and happy person. 

5.      Relationships: Did you spend time with people you care about? Have you met new friends? A relationship is to give and take. It is also to support and be supported.

6.      Personal Development: Have you taken the time to read books? Did you continue to learn and update your knowledge relating to your work? What new things have you learnt for the year?

7.      Giving: To give is to care and pay attention to others. Do what you can for others in the form of community services or donation. To what extend did you give to others? 

When you know your performance in 2011, it is also a good time to plan ahead and start the New Year with a bang:

1.      Health: What is the number one concern of your health? Are you working too hard and spending not enough time to exercise? Start now and get into the habit of exercising every day. The most important thing is to get it started. 

2.      Career: What is your next move? What are the steps you need to take and move up? It is timely to plan and act accordingly. It is also good to work smart and secure the next pay increment.

3.      Family: There is a saying that your presence at home is more important than your presents. Allocate more time to be with family members. Your children need your time with them more than anything else.

4.      Personal finance: What are your goals for 2012? Getting rid of debt is the No. 1 priority if you are in debt. Setting aside an emergency fund is also crucial for your financial well-being.

5.      Relationships: Find out those people that you have neglected in the past and start calling them. Get to know more positive people and learn from them. Always stay in touch.

6.      Personal Development: What can you learn this year so that you can be more competent to achieve your career goals? Starting a blog and writing articles is a marvelous way to develop your writing skills and sharing what you know for the benefits of others.   

7.      Giving: Think of the people that you are grateful for and express your appreciation. Do something in return. Earmarking an amount for worthy courses is a good move for the New Year. Be more alert to do random acts of kindness.

I hope this little article is able to help you establish what you need to do so that you can start the New Year right and be successful. 

Effective Ways to Personal Development

One of the advantages of personal development is to develop your talents and turn them into a roaring success. There are many things that you can do to improve yourself. The most important thing is to take action and do it now:

1. Personal growth: Develop a self-belief system to promote your self-respect, self-esteem, and self-confidence. Focus on your capabilities and build a personal brand in what you are good at.

2. Goals and action plan: What are your passion and interests?  Explore all possibilities to develop your potential. Set goals and make a plan to realize your dreams in life.

3. Change and good habits: Take responsibility for your life and make changes for the better. Changes are about getting rid of bad habits and replacing them with good ones. Getting up early, giving  up smoking and gambling, and controlling your weight are some of the positive changes  you can make

4. Communication: An important area for improvement is to polish your communication skills. Learn to speak clearly, precisely, and fully to get the messages across effectively. Listen attentively to understand the need of others.  Be assertive and ask for what you want. When you do not tell, nobody knows why you want.

5. Physical growth: Be more active physically. Have a balanced diet and don’t skip your breakfast. Have enough sleep to renew your energy.  Learn to unwind and relax to reduce stress.

6. Social growth: Getting interested in other people is the way to build effective relationships. Find out what you can do for others. Others will appreciate your attention and take notice of you.

7. Intellectual growth: Continuous learning is the way to get ahead and stay ahead. Be alert to changes that are taking place around you and be ready to adopt new ways of doing things.

8. Personal financial growth: Stay out of debt and build your wealth.  Live within your means according to your budget. Set aside an amount for an emergency fund and save for your children’s education and your retirement.

9. Spiritual and emotional growth:  Create good feelings in you. Meditate to improve your focus and concentration. Be kind, honest, charitable, grateful, respectful, and humble. Show gratitude and appreciation. All these will boost your inner peace and a calm mind.

10. Career growth: Decide and plan your career path. It is crucial to acquire more skills and be a more valuable employee in the workplace. Be more productive and willing to leave your comfort zone and make changes for the better.

11. Develop Creativity: When you are creative, you differentiate yourself and be ahead of others. Whatever you do, be original and unique to stand out among the crowd

12. Positive attitude:  Attitudes are thoughts and feelings that lead to action. You do not complain or swear but react to things with a cool calm and collected mind. You learn from the past setbacks and mistakes, live in the present by avoiding making the same mistakes, and plan wisely for the future.

13. Core values: Your values are what you think, how you feel, and the way you act.  When you think trust is important, you have the urge to deliver what you have promised and you act promptly to do so. What are your core values? Living a life in accordance with your core values is to live a fulfilling life.

14. Be happy: Happiness is a positive attitude. It is what you think and how you feel inside. Wake up and get early and tell the world that you are going to be happy throughout the whole day. Act cheerfully and smile at people you meet. Others will find you likable and approachable.

Change and growth take place when a person has risked himself and dares to become involved with experimenting with his own life.
Herbert Otto

P

5 P’s of Personal Effectiveness

Effectiveness means getting the right things done at the right time to produce the greatest positive impact in your life. There are five ways or 5 P’s to harness the power of your effectiveness:


1. Prevention: Have you noticed lifts in the office are maintained monthly to prevent breakdown, accidents and crisis situations? We should do the same to take preventive measures in whatever we do. We drive defensively to avoid accidents; we secure our house to prevent theft and burglary. We have sufficient sleep to avoid a decline in our energy and concentration levels during the day. Prevention is to avoid wasting valuable time doing the unnecessary in an emergency situation. And most important of all to avoid fatalities.

2. Preparation and planning: It is the most effective way to live life. You set long-term written goals. You chart the steps to be taken in each stage of your life. You do your to-do list in the evening for the following day relating to the tasks to reach your objectives. When you have accomplished the tasks of the day every day you will eventually achieve your weekly, monthly and yearly goals. Preparation and planning are to avoid wasting your effort and energy. It gives you direction in life. Most important of all, you are ready to grab an opportunity when it presents itself.

3. Physical Activities: If you think you can just work and work to reach your goals faster, you are heading for a disaster. You need to take time out to move your body to be fit and to keep in good shape, if you don’t you will fall ill and it will take you even longer to realize your dreams Doing exercise every day is another way of taking the preventive measure. Taking breaks between tasks is a smart way to avoid stress and nervous breakdown.

4. Partnership: It is about fostering closer relationships between husband and wife, parents and children, among friends and colleagues, between you and your boss. Always keep in touch and communicate often with others. Keep the line of exchange open. Deposit in the relationship-building regularly so that you can easily seek help when the need arises.

5. Pay yourself first: It is yet another great way to adopt a preventive measure. In this case, it is to prevent an emergency situation by having an emergency fund. The only way to create such a fund is to pay yourself first by saving an amount every month and over time you will create a fund possibly lasting you for six months or even more of your monthly outlays. You will be able to neutralize and cushion the effect of a financial emergency such as unexpected medical expenses


You can take your time to do all these things, they are not urgent but they are very important. When you do it, you will avoid frustration, disappointment, hopelessness, sadness, regrets and failures in life.

7 Areas of Personal Development

Personal improvement is an on-going process in life. The most important thing is to keep making improvement and getting better in the following key areas of your life:


1. Improve your health: Walk more and drive less, watch less TV, and move more. Improve your health by getting more aerobic exercise, weight training, and stretching. Watch what you eat and take breaks between tasks and enjoy a good night’s sleep.

2. Getting more positive emotions: Think more about happiness and act more cheerfully. Feel good about yourself and be more confident Associate more with positive-thinking people and smile more often at people to make them happy too.

3. Continuous learning: Learning is a delightful thing. It broadens your mind, stimulates your thinking, and provides you with more resources to solve your problems. It is also essential to update yourself and make changes to keep up with the current trend. Read more and learn more new things every day.

4. Improve your personal finance. The money will not give you 100% happiness but without money, there will be no happiness. Managing your financial resources is a balancing act. The more you spend the less you will save for your retirement and the less you spend you will have to sacrifice some enjoyment at the moment. Be more cautious about money matters.

5. Improve your relationships with others: We always think of ourselves more when we deal with others. Thinking more of the other person is an effective way to get along well with others.

6. Improve your work: It is about making yourself more effective, efficient, and productive at work. It means you will have to get out of your comfort zone and try new things and make the necessary changes for the better. Work smart, do less but achieve more.

7. Improve your family ties: Spend more time at home with .your loved ones. Talk more often about anything and everything. Find out more about your children’s school life and their homework. Go out together more often for more fresh air, sunshine, and laughter.


Remember these 7 key areas in your life to seek constant improvement and to live a more satisfying and successful life.

Personal Development - The 7 Areas of Your Life to Take Control

7 Areas of Your Life

Like a balanced diet, you need a balanced lifestyle. You need to control the 7 areas of your life covering health, career, money, home, relationships, spirituality, and education.

1. Health: Health is wealth and wealth is health. When you are in good health, you can enjoy your wealth. When your health is ruined, your wealth means nothing. A healthy body gives you a healthy mind.

2. Career: As an employee or an entrepreneur you have to look after your career or business well in order to earn a living.

3. Money: Develop an effective plan to save and invest for your children and retirement.

4. Home: Your home is where your heart is. A harmonious environment at home leaves you in the peace of mind to carry out your daily activities.

5. Relationships: No man is an island. You need to get along well with not only your family but your co-workers, your customers, your neighbors, and the community.

6. Spirituality: Devote some time to meditate or to pray to cleanse your soul and calm your mind.

7. Education: Here we are talking about lifelong learning. Technology is advancing at a very fast pace and the amount of information available is overwhelming. We have to keep abreast of the current development in order to go forward in life.