BUILDING YOUR DEVELOPMENT PLAN

DEVELOPMENT TRILOGY – EPISODE II

Once you know your PURPOSE you can think about your development actions. Answer these 16 KEY questions to shape or boost your Development Plan.

Below you will find 16 POWERFUL QUESTIONS which will guide you during your journey and development. The questions are divided into 4 key categories: PERSONAL, HEALTH, PROCESSIONAL and WEALTH. The quiz provides you with a great and free-of-charge reward… a reflection on who you are, where you are and what you may want to focus on.

Each prompt is a YES/NO question. Beside each YES, note down a little star. 

Importantly, if you want to dig deeper to understand your situation and aspirations, then for each questions you can ask yourself WHY YES or WHY NO?

Don’t answer the questions with the intent of scoring the highest in each category; this is about honesty. Knowing where you stand in each category will help you in building an appropriate development plan. 

PERSONAL

Are you happy with the way you live your life?
Are you satisfied with your level of engagement with you family?
Are you happy with the time you spend with your friends?
Are you satisfied with the time you allocate for your hobby(/ies)?

HEALTH

Have you done your annual medical check up?
Is your diet supporting your development plan?
Do you sleep well?
Do you exercise enough for you to feel good?

PROFESSIONAL

Do you love what you do?
Are you happy with your performance?

Are you satisfied with the relationship with your manager and other key stakeholders?
Are you satisfied with your compensation?

WEALTH

Are you happy with your financial situation?
Do you have an investment plan?
Are you saving for your retirement?
Have you used a professional financial advisor?

Count the stars after you’ve finished. A high number of starts in a particular category could mean that you have done and achieved a lot in the past such that it might not be your top priority for this year. A category with one or zero stars may require more attention from you. Analyse each category individually to then reflect on what your aims and objectives may be. What is missing? What can be added? What should be modified?

Close your eyes and think about your dreams; Imagine the life you truly aspire. 

Once you know your end destination, you’ll need to think about the actions that will lead you there. Open your eyes, take a blank piece of paper and brainstorm all of the strategies for each category – no matter if your dream is substantial or modest. Think BIG and act SMALL!

Dismantle your dreams into manageable steps. The brain does not like hard work, so we’ll need to work around that. The small actions, steps and strategies will accumulate to help you achieve your BIG targets. Don’t be afraid, nobody is watching you and no one is here to judge you. 

Once you finish, select ONE – not two or three – but only ONE action. ONE action for each category should be selected based off of a very simple criteria – impact and value added. You need to consider the ultimate impact an activity will have upon completion; see which activity provides the most significant impact on you: your health, family, professional or financial situation. 

Once you’ve selected your actions, share them with you spouse, family, friends or coach. Ask for different perspectives, additional input and challenging questions.

Below there is a link to a template which will help you to build your development plan.

Good luck!