33 Examples of Personal Development Goals to Better Yourself (And How to Achieve Them)

Bettering yourself is a continuous journey of setting and achieving new goals. Personal growth takes time and setting specific goals will give you a direction to work towards. In this post, you’ll get 33 examples of personal development goals to better yourself and how to achieve those goals.

No matter what stage of life you are in, these personal development goals can help you identify your priorities and build yourself up. Through a personal growth plan, you can strengthen your skillset, learn new things, improve confidence, and take control of your career.

What are personal development goals?

Personal development goals are objectives you set for yourself to improve your skills, abilities, and personal characteristics. Setting these types of goals you’ll need to take an inventory of where you are now, and where you want to see yourself go in the future.

Benefits of setting personal development goals

There are several benefits of setting personal growth goals including improvements in your personal, family, and work life.

Well-defined purpose

Setting personal goals will give you a clear sense of direction. You can focus on making all of your actions purposeful so you don’t waste precious time and energy on other items that aren’t as important to you.

Self-awareness

Personal growth goals will also help you boost self-awareness. Going through the effort of assessing your life right now, your values, and your purpose will help you become more self-aware of what is truly important to you.

Motivation

Another great benefits of setting personal development goals? Motivation! Outlining specific objectives you want to achieve will keep you motivated to work towards your goal, even when the path isn’t easy.

Challenge yourself

Challenging yourself is another benefit of setting personal growth goals. Reaching a goal isn’t easy! It takes time, effort, planning, etc. Rather than going through the motions of life, a personal development plan will keep you challenged and always improving.

Increased confidence

Having a clear direction in your life will give you greater confidence in yourself and your actions. Achieving goals are also a huge boost to confidence. Be sure to celebrate each success!

Steps to achieve personal development goals

There are 5 steps to achieving a personal growth goal. Each step is equally important – taking the time to complete each one will be worth it.

1. Develop a vision
2. Create a plan
3. Monitor progress
4. Re-evaluate your plan
5. Celebrate your success

Now let’s get into some examples of personal development goals…

Examples of personal development goals for your career

1. Learn to lead others

Leading other people is a critical skill to forwarding your career if you want to go into a management or leadership position one day. Being able to motivate others, delegate tasks, and inspire people to follow your vision are key aspects of leading a team.

Even if you don’t have a formal leadership role, you can gain experience leading others in informal ways as well such as leading by example.

2. Improve emotional intelligence

E motional intelligence is the ability to understand and mange your emotions in an effective way to communicate clearly, empathize with others, and build trust. While sometimes overlooked, emotional intelligence is an extremely important skill to have especially within your career.

3. Learn new things

Continuous improvement and learning new things will keep you resilient and able to adapt to the ever-changing landscape within your career. Small ways to do this are through reading, podcasts, talking with experts, etc.

4. Develop active listening skills

Active listening is a good example of a personal growth goal to set for yourself. Sometimes when we are listening to someone, we start formulating our response in our heads before they finish which can lead to us missing something important. Rather, active listening involves listening intently and then engaging with the person and reiterating what they said.

5. Become more confident

Confidence will take you a long way in your career. In order to convince others to believe in you, start by believing in yourself. When you are confident in yourself, you won’t second guess your decisions.

6. Become mindful of body language

Another personal development goal to set for yourself is to become mindful of body language. This might be something that you aren’t always aware of, but it has a huge impact on how other people perceive you. Things like where your body is facing and eye contact can make a big difference.

7. Reduce procrastination

One of the worst enemies at work is procrastination. Whether it’s just become a habit or stems from anxiety, procrastination does not just mean you are lazy. It’s something that you can work on and improve.

To read more about how to stop procrastinating and get stuff done, click here.

8. Network, network, network!

It’s all about who you know right? Not necessarily, but it can really help. Networking can help you build relationships and identify new career opportunities. It can also be a good way to figure out what direction you want your career to go in. Good ways to network are setting up information interviews, reaching out to others on LinkedIn, or attending a networking event.

9. Build up your skills

Skills are a great way to boost your resume and gain qualifications for advancing your career to a new role. This might be technical skills such as coding or Excel. On another note, interpersonal skills are also important including communication or teamwork.

10. Be proactive

Being more proactive at work will help you learn how to problem-solve and plan ahead. Rather than waiting for your boss to tell you to do something, take the initiative yourself.

11. Earn a professional certificate or advanced degree

Certificates or advanced degrees can also be a great way to distinguish yourself from the competition when you are applying for new jobs. They will also help you develop useful knowledge you can apply to your work.

12. Become more comfortable with public speaking

No matter what role you are in, public speaking is a great skill to have. Whether you want to deliver a well-articulated presentation or be more well-spoken in team meetings, public speaking skills will help you feel more confident in those things.

13. Get comfortable with the uncomfortable

Throughout your career you will find yourself in plenty of uncomfortable situations. From being assigned a project with unclear objectives or having to fire an employee there will be times when you will need to be able to adapt in an uncomfortable situation.

14. Development conflict resolution skills

Another one of the best personal development goals to set for your career is building up your conflict resolution skills. As a leader, employees will come to you with issues or conflicts with other employees and being able to help resolve those in a productive way is a key skill to have.

Personal development goals for self growth

15. Accept your flaws

Nobody’s perfect! Rather than dwelling on your flaws, learn to accept them and flourish.

16. Make time for yourself

Life can’t all be about work – it’s very important to take time for yourself to develop a well-balanced life. Set aside time for self care and relaxation.

Click here to read more about 290+ self care activities for your body, mind, and soul.

17. Challenge yourself

Another one of the best examples of personal development goals is to challenge yourself. Don’t play it safe, challenge yourself to improve and think outside of the box for solutions.

18. Speak your mind

It can feel intimidating to speak up to others when you disagree about something. However, speaking your mind will help you advocate for yourself and set boundaries with others.

19. Wake up early

Waking up early will help you be more productive and get more done throughout the day. It will also help you not feel rushed and stressed in the morning.

If you are typically more of a night owl, don’t just set your alarm an hour earlier without making any other adjustments. Be sure to get a healthy amount of sleep to keep up the new schedule.

20. Practice patience

Learning to practice patience is a great personal development goal to set for yourself. It will help you make decisions that are more well-thought out. Being patient will also help you keep long-term goals in mind.

21. Set boundaries

Even if you are super extroverted and love being around people, everyone needs to set boundaries every now and then.

Whether it’s a family member who has a little too many opinions on how you live your life or your work that you don’t want to let completely take over your life, setting boundaries is a form of self care that will help you protect your mental health. Reflect on what you are comfortable with in your relationships and communicate what your limitations are.

22. Let go of toxic people

Similar to setting boundaries, it’s also important to let yourself let go of toxic people. You know the ones…friends who give you back-handed compliments, are constantly negative, and overall make you feel bad about yourself.

Signs of a toxic person in your life would be anyone who makes you feel uncomfortable or less confident in yourself because of how they treat you. Beware of toxic “friends” on social media, too. Don’t be afraid to unfollow any accounts that just leave you feeling bad about yourself after scrolling through your feed.

23. Move on from the past

Another self improvement goal for personal growth is to move on from the past. This goal can be difficult to achieve, especially if there is something big haunting your from your past.

Learn to forgive yourself for past mistakes and be open to forgiving other people who hurt you. Forgiveness does not mean that what they did was okay or that you should let that person into your life again – it’s really just permission to let yourself move on.

24. Making reading a habit

Another personal development goal that you can benefit from setting for yourself is to make reading a habit. Reading helps you learn and grow, and it’s also a great way to reduce stress. Trade in your phone and Netflix right before bed for a good book – you’ll probably find that you have an easier time sleeping and feeling rested.

Personal development goals for life

25. Travel

A great personal development goal for life is to travel. Travelling gives you the opportunity to see new things, experience different cultures, meet interesting people, see beautiful things, try unique food, etc. Travelling is also a great way to step outside of your comfort zone and learn to adjust to other places.

26. Take good care of your health

This next goal is one that you will never regret setting for yourself – taking good care of your health. Eating healthy meals, exercising regularly, etc. will help you live longer and just feel better. But this isn’t just about physical health. Taking care of your mental health is just as important!

27. Make family a priority

Life constantly has competing priorities, but make family at the top of your list. It can be easy to let work take over your entire life, however it’s important to take the time you need and keep your family top of mind.

28. Aim for financial stability

Another one of the best personal development goals for life is to aim for financial stability. Mindful spending habits are key to long-term financial stability. Achieving this goal will help reduce stress and give you greater freedom in your opportunities in life.

29. Build a support system

Building a support system will pay off time and time again. Having a group of people who you can lean on when you need help is life-changing. I know it can be hard to ask for help, but just know that if someone truly cares about you like the people in your support system do, they want to see you be happy and healthy.

30. Stay active

Staying active is a great personal development goal for yourself because it benefits both your physical and mental health. This doesn’t have to be anything crazy – even just taking a walk every day will help you stay healthy and reduce stress.

31. Learn to laugh at yourself

When life gets hard it can help to learn how to laugh at yourself. Instead of being hard on yourself or kicking yourself for little mistakes you’ve made, try to laugh it off and be a little more forgiving yourself.

32. Volunteer

Volunteering will make a difference in other people’s lives and your own. Volunteering is a great way to meet people and learn new skills, all while giving back to your community. Find something you’re passionate about whether it’s helping animals, children, building homes, etc.

33. Keep a journal

The last of the personal development goals to better yourself is to keep a journal. Journaling has a lot of benefits from reflecting on your experiences and processing your emotions to reducing stress so it’s a great habit for self growth.

How to Start a Journal: A Complete Guide for Beginners

Those are the 33 personal development goals for bettering yourself.

So now that you know what kinds of self growth goals you want to set for yourself, remember your five steps to achieve them:

1. Develop a vision
2. Create a plan
3. Monitor progress
4. Re-evaluate your plan
5. Celebrate your success

The last step – celebrating your success – is one that we often look over but it’s so important! Not only do you deserve to give yourself a well-deserved congratulations for reaching a goal, rewarding yourself for success will give you something to look forward to and motivate you for more goals to come!

For more information on creating a personal development plan, read more here.

Use the tips in this post to set personal development goals for yourself and commit to your self improvement journey!

To help keep yourself on track towards your goals, I definitely recommend this Self Love and Goals Planner. This planner helps you set short-term and long-term goals, hold yourself accountable, and maintain a healthy dose of self love throughout the way.

This printable planner comes with 21 pages including a title page, a goal tracker, monthly goal page, yearly goal page, habit tracker, daily planner, and more.

Click here to get the Self Love and Goals planner now!

Comment below with which personal growth goal you are going to set for yourself.

FOR MORE Personal Growth Tips, READ MORE HERE:

• 3 Ways to Create a Vision Board to Bring Vision to Reality
• How to Set Goals and Achieve Them
• How to Build Yourself Up and Find Confidence From Within

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