The Importance of Personal Development

Do you take part in any professional development? If so, is it out of choice or because it is a requirement in your chosen career? 

There are so many available courses out there these days that you can access. It's a great way to add to your CV and meet new people while you learn. Networking is such an important part of out working life and you never know when you will benefit from the knowledge or services of someone that you have met through networking. 

There are so many benefits to professional development, as mentioned previously, an addition to a CV. This shows a potential new employer that you are relevant, up to date and take pride in you career. It shows that you are willing to learn and grow as you progress. It improves your skills and increases your expertise. In our ever evolving world it also keeps us informed of new practises, strategies and policies in our social and economical environments. There are way too many to list but some examples could be:

• Leadership
• Training
• Coaching
• Technology
• Social Media
• Marketing
• Managing Change
• Managing Behaviours

I love learning! I can't hide from that fact at all. Maybe its the ex teacher in me. Even when I was back teaching and we had to complete a certain amount of training each year I loved it while many of my colleagues loathed it. I loved learning new and fresh ideas that I could use to keep students interested and I loved the networking side too. Meeting new people at the training events and making new connections. 

These days I take time out to learn new techniques for network marketers, how to connect with new customers etc. I STILL love it! I love learning from both the larger trainers out there such as Michelle Cunningham and Fraser Brooks but more recently I seem to resonate with a newer coach on the scene, Sharon Howat, who is also quite local to me. Sharon is very relatable and I have recently joined her NEW VIP group. You can find more information about it in her FREE networking group Women in Business - Impact & Influence Academy.

I soak up any training that my company provide including Regional Trainings, Meetings and our bi yearly Conference. Not only are they motivating and inspirational but I learn a lot from them. They also have the added bonus of catching up with old friends and meeting brand new ones. Its such an amazing social occasion in our Body Shop Calendar so much fun and a laughter with the team and a bit of recognition thrown in there too. 

Personal Development

Do you have any struggles in your life at the minute? I am sure that all of us have something that we could do with some support or guidance with and these are the areas that we should focus on for personal development. These could include:

• Building self confidence
• Self love 
• Organisational skills
• Anxiety/depression
• Anger management
• Spiritual understanding
• Health and Fitness

.... the list goes on and on. The choice of media for self development is also vast. From reading, audio books, courses, coaching, therapy, classes, self help groups etc.

Personal development is a very recent journey for me. In the last few months I have signed up with an amazing coach, Nisha Parmar. Nisha is a fantastic coach who covers health and fitness alongside business. She has taught me that I need to focus on myself and my health as a priority. You cant drink from an empty cup is an apt saying here, one that I have learned the hard way. Nisha also holds me accountable for my actions during the week and supports me in setting and reaching my goals both long term and short term. Nisha has made a huge difference to me, my life and my outlook and I can not recommend her highly enough .... unless she is upping my squats or lunges, then I call her all the names under the sun!

I am also on a self love journey at the minute which was initiated by The Body Shop's campaign: The Self Love Uprising. I won't go too much into this in here as I have another blog on this very subject. You can catch it here.

What I will say, is that through these personal journeys, I feel happier and that is a huge huge achievement. Everyone wants to be happy and I am delighted to say that I AM happy and content with where I am in my life and anything on top of that is just a bonus. 

I very much hope that you can say the same and if that isn't true for you then I would love you to get in touch so that I can support you to make the first steps in getting there too.

Rachel x

Do you take part in any training for personal development? I find it such an important part of my life and I rely on it to grow both personally and professionally.

Professional Development.