Personal development is a lifelong journey that will ultimately look different for each and every one of us. However, I can guarantee you that if you learn these crucial self development skills early on, you will set yourself up for the best success possible.
When I began my self growth journey, I was completely lost. I had so many parts of my life that I wanted to upgrade, but I had no clue where to begin.
If I could go back and tell the old me exactly what self development skills to learn that would help me achieve the success I was looking for faster and more efficiently, this would be that list of skills.
I am sure that after you read this blog post, if you really start building and incorporating these skills consistently, you will see whatever success that you are currently chasing.
Today, we’re talking all about self development skills.
The Most Important Self Development Skills
1. Create A Schedule and Stick to it
Who ever said that having a strict schedule would limit your free time did not know what they are talking about. However, whoever said “when you fail to plan, you plan to fail” most certainly did.
When you create a schedule and stick to it, you make sure that you are not procrastinating. You are getting done what you need to get done.
This allows you to have more free time and more stress-free time because you don’t have to worry about work and assignments – you already have it planned out.
Not only does having a schedule give you more free time, but it turns you into a more responsible person – a characteristic that all successful people have.
If you’re like me, you’re a busy bee. You’re always working on some type of project or doing something with your time. But because of this, it seems like you miss those small (or sometimes big) tasks that get lost in everything else going on.
Planning helps with this. When you take time to sit down and schedule out everything, you can set aside certain times for each and every task. And when you stick to this schedule, you ensure that those tasks get done.
And when you make sure that your task gets done, people can rely on you, and more importantly, you can rely on yourself.
One of my favorite ways to schedule is simply using Google Calendars. It’s free, easy to use, and you can put it on your phone so that you have your schedule with you everywhere you go. All you need is a Gmail account (which is also free!).
2. Have A Strong Work Ethic
I am sorry to have the be the one to break this to you, but you will not be successful if you are not willing to put in the hard work.
While we are fortunate to live in a time where we have resources that can help us work smarter and not harder, this does not mean that you will never have to work hard, especially if you have big goals for yourself.
When I first started my Etsy shop, I figured that it would be an easy way to make some side money while I was in school.
However, 7 months later, I find myself doing daily SEO research and creating new product ideas and having mini business meetings and updating social media and the website and so much more. It was a lot more hard work than I expected it to be – but I was willing to put in that hard work because I knew that if I did, I would see success.
And I have in many ways. We got our first business partnership this past July with The Next Door Nashville. We did our first in-person selling event a few weeks ago that was a huge success and I greatly enjoyed it. And just this past week, Mixed in Beautiful launched our first women’s empowerment sweatshirt design that I am so in love with!
None of this would have been possible without a strong work ethic. No one who has ever achieved true success was able to get away with not working hard.
Like me, you can achieve and even surpass your current goals. You just have to be willing to push past your laziness and put in the work to do so.
3. Be Disciplined
One of the best quotes I’ve read this year is “Discipline is the strongest form of self-love. It is ignoring current pleasures for bigger rewards to come. It’s loving yourself enough to give yourself everything you’ve ever wanted.”
If you want to be successful in any area of your life, you need to grow your discipline.
I understand that being disciplined can be hard in a world that thrives off of instant gratification. However, the feelings of pride and joy that come from ultimately achieving a goal greatly surpass those of pleasing yourself right now.
One area that I have grown my discipline in personally has been my finances.
I love to shop. I love going to the mall. I love getting a cute shirt or nice pair of pants. I love buying random (and unnecessary) gifts for my boyfriend. I just love to shop.
However, I noticed how my undisciplined shopping addiction was hurting my financial goals, such as my investing goals, my emergency fund goals and just having an overall healthy relationship with money.
So I had to build my discipline when shopping. I deleted shopping apps from my phone. I stopped going to the mall as much. I stopped going to stores where I knew I could easily convince myself that the small price was worth it. And I made sure that when I went to the grocery store, I had a list that I would not allow myself to deviate from.
Now I can easily say no to things that I truly know I don’t need at the moment and I am confidently growing my financial health.
Discipline is a skill that can translate to all parts of your life. From your career to your health to your relationships and more.
When you’re disciplined, you set yourself up to achieve those big goals that you can’t help but daydream about. You don’t allow yourself to get stumped by small, temporary things that won’t bring you the success that you are ultimately working for.
Do yourself a favor. Learn to be disciplined.
4. Take Action Despite Your Emotions
While you can’t always control your emotions, you can control your actions. And if you truly want to get started on the road to success now, then you need to start making yourself take action in spite of your current emotional state.
Did you know that, according to a study done by Harvard University, one of the best ways to fight depression, other than therapy and antidepressants, is exercise?
Think about that for a second. When you are in a state where you don’t feel like doing anything, one of the best things you can do is take action.
The truth is, emotions are typically irrational. They don’t always adhere to the reality of the situation. In many cases, emotions, especially those such as fear and anger, and guilt can exacerbate the extremity of a situation.
But when you push past these emotions and take action anyway, you stop allowing your emotions to be an excuse. Your emotions are no longer a huge obstacle keeping you from success.
Ask yourself today
- What is a goal that I have?
- What steps do I need to take to achieve this goal?
- Do I have any negative emotions attached these steps (fear, sadness, laziness, etc)?
- How can I push past these negative emotions and take action anyway?
Trust me, if you keep letting your emotions control you, you will never achieve what you set out to achieve. But the good news is that you are stronger than your emotions, and you have the power to act in spite of them and make your goals a reality.
5. Genuinely and Unapologetically Love Yourself
One of the best books I read this summer was You Are a Bad** : How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero. In this book, Jen Sincero tells you how you can get past your limiting beliefs and unlock your own success.
Each chapter from chapter 6 until the end (chapter 27) was a different lesson in personal growth. My favorite part about this book was that she ended each lesson with this one tip – love yourself.
Loving yourself is probably one of the hardest skills to learn because we are our own harshest critics. However, loving yourself is also one of the most rewarding skills to learn.
When we love ourselves, we stop allowing out doubt and fears to limit our actions and beliefs. We open a whole new world of opportunities.
Furthermore, with self love, you begin to focus on growing yourself instead of comparing yourself. When you love who you are, you do not worry about how you measure up to the person next to you because you realize one important thing…
Only you are you and you are the best you that could possibly exist. No one else can do what you are called to do. No one has the skills and mind and beauty and heart that you have. For that, you are beyond incredible.
And one of the best parts about true self love? It’s contagious. When you unapologetically love yourself, you are telling those around you that they can do the same. You open doors for yourself and others along the way.
How amazing is that?
Personal growth isn’t easy and it will take a long time to fully mature if you even ever get to that point. I mean, honestly, we should all be growing every single day no matter what stage we are at in life. But if you want to get a head start on your goals, then you need to be building and honing in on these 5 self development skills. If you take the time to master these skills, I know you will be unstoppable.
Today we discussed self development skills.
Until next time,
