Personal development is a process of improving oneself through a series of steps and actions all around from mental, and emotional to physical. Personal development can be a conscious or unconscious process that leads to overall improvement. It's a slogan used by everyone to denote the overall quality of your skills. Skills like time management, and interpersonal interactions to emotional and mental strength.

Personal development involves inward searching and discovering your weaknesses and strengths. Perfecting on your strengths and working on your weaknesses. It's a step towards advanced self-understanding through reflection on the environment around you. Personal development mandates the mystery of reflective thinking to be able to decipher both internal and external environments. This you cannot achieve overnight, in fact, it's a lifelong process and no person can be said to have attained complete personal development.

AREAS OF PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

1Mental

The brain is the main driver of what we get to do in our daily life. It would be tremendous growth if your mental strength and ability is top-notch.

Personal development means training and equipping your mind daily to reach its full potential. Exercising our brains sounds confusing, you might be wondering how to do that. Your brain might be exhausted or complacent and needs exercising. Mental fitness can be achieved through;

• Optimism- Be positive and focus on the wins in your life. A positive attitude has been shown to affect all facets of our lives.

• Confidence - Learn to be confident. You achieve your confidence through an equipped self (know what you are doing, research and practice. Develop your skills, learn an instrument, or further education).

• Sleep- Rest is a crucial part of self-development you need to heal and replenish your energy sources. Your brain needs to detox and re-energize, and you need to rest your heart and it can only be achieved through sleep.

• Eat healthy- This goes without saying. Eating a balanced diet and hydration is the fuel beneath everything. A healthy mind and soul require a healthy body.

• Equipping your mind- Do not be satisfied and comfortable in your comfort zone. Engage your mind through reading, training yourself with new skills, consistently practicing, catch up with current events ie do you even know what is happening in the world currently?

Remember as your personal development improves, so does your adaptability to new changes, resilience and tenacity, innovation capacity, self-awareness, and understanding.

2Emotional

Emotional personal development is like a means to an end. The end is emotional intelligence. It ideally can be achieved through regular practice and improved self-awareness. Emotions are tricky and complicated facets of our human existence. Emotional intelligence affects all outcomes of our lives as it plays a key role in our interactions, decision-making, and choices we make.

Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand feelings and how it shapes our thoughts and actions. Introverts in most case scenarios are thought of as having high emotional intelligence. If you ask me, I would say because of a high degree of self-awareness and self-understanding. Their curiosity in self has given them a breakthrough in how emotions work. They can separate their feelings and also able to perceive those of others.

They use their emotional understanding and experiences to put together the series of emotional journeys and thoughts and actions that have led the other person to their current state. That gives them an upper hand in providing appropriate advice.

In his book," Emotional Intelligence Reader's Guide" Psychologist, Daniel Goleman attributed emotional intelligence to;

• Self-awareness

• Self-discipline

• Empathy

• Social awareness

"Emotional intelligence although shaped by childhood experience, can be strengthened and nurtured throughout adulthood," Says Dr. Daniel Goleman.

3Physical

A healthy, strong and fully capable physical body nourishes a healthy mind. The intrinsic link between your physical well-being with your mental, emotional, and even spiritual well-being cannot be disputed. Personal development includes a conscious decision to improve your physical well-being.

It might just be the simplest among the steps to achieving personal development. Physical health means proper nutrition and a balanced diet.

• Exercise; An adult is recommended for at least 30 minutes of exercise on daily basis.

• Sleep; This is beneficial to your physical body and mind. Experts recommend at least 7 to 9 hours of sleep daily for adults and more for teens and children.

• Hygiene; This is just basically personal cleanliness and organization. Basic hygiene rules like taking a bath, brushing your teeth, and being neat, improve your overall self-esteem and also how others perceive you.

Physical well-being requires a plan, a well strategically thought out plan to achieve all you aspire to. Plan your day, set aside time for exercise, plan your meals; do grocery shopping, and aspire for more fruits and veggies on your plate.

Physical well-being is much more than good health, it's a direct result of your lifestyle choices and behaviors. It's a step towards personal development. Remember, physical well-being affects your appearance, longevity, resilience, satisfaction, and confidence which happen to be requirements for improved personal development.

Take note of how your body is responding to all these changes and respond appropriately. We are all different and need different approaches.

4Social

No human is an island. We all need each other for survival and we happen to be social human beings in nature. The social connections we make with friends, family, and colleagues are a step toward personal development. The connections help us with learning and growth.

Social skills include communication skills, problem-solving skills, adaptability, and confidence. The relationships we form with those around us are dependent on how we communicate with them. The rapport we create cement the connections.

Mastery of positive and productive social relations is a step toward personal development. Healthy social relations support good mental health, emotional health, and even physical health.

• Organization skill- How do you approach your environment? Are you a hygienic, organized individual? Basic tidiness through planning and prioritizing goes a long way. Organization skills save time, and energy and manage your emotional tolerance. Organized spaces make you feel happy and relaxed.

• Self-confidence - Do you trust your strength and capacity to do things? Confidence pushes you out of your comfort zone. Makes you view challenging situations positively and with a winning attitude.

• Adaptability - This is the ability to acclimate and fit into new changing situations and environments. Know how to approach change, as an opportunity to learn new things and meet new people.

Having seen the benefits and areas of improvement regarding personal development, how then do you get there? Below are tips on how to reach your personal development goal.

1Establish a plan of action

You need to be prepared all-round to achieve this. Personal development involves physical, mental, and emotional aspects of your life.

2Be disciplined

For you to achieve your goals, you must stick to your plan and discipline yourself. If you set to read a chapter of a book daily or meditate or eat healthily, then purpose to do it.

3Be positive

Focus on the positives, the results you are spire. That good health or fit body, that confident self or happy individual you want to be. The end is an improved version of yourself.

4Be consistent

Results come through consistency. Building a habit that becomes nature requires resilience and tenacity. When going through hell then keep going. The exercises won't be easy, leaving your roasted meat for salads might be the hardest thing you have to do but the results should give you the energy you need to reach your goals.