Personal Growth Plan – Interests and Strengths
Personal Development Program Focus on Life Passions and Special Skills
Jul 5, 2009
Every personal growth plan should include activities designed to uncover, clarify, and build upon one's personal strengths and special interests. Personal development programs will be most effective when building on existing strengths, passions, and special skills, rather than addressing personal weaknesses.
For more information about planning for personal growth and an example personal development plan, read Personal Development Program –Building Awareness.
Personal Interests
Personal interests and life's passions are the activities a person loves. These are the activities you gravitate toward whenever possible.
Your personal interests and passions are things you've done since youth—perhaps in different forms—but with an underlying common thread. Your life's passions, whether work or hobby, are the activities which allow you to experience life purpose—who you are at your core.
Personal Strengths
Your personal strengths — also called signature strengths — are those special skills and abilities at which you excel. Personal strengths are the unique abilities you possess which are often closely coupled with your life's passions. Those who are most successful in work or profession are likely to utilize their special personal strengths in these endeavors.
An effective personal growth plan will build upon three life components – life purpose, personal interests or passions, and personal strengths.
How to Build a Personal Interest Inventory
The following exercises will help you inventory your personal interests and passions. After inventorying your passions, your personal development plan should focus on fully utilizing your passions in every aspect of your life.
- Reflect on your life's hobbies or favorite activities. Since hobbies are voluntary activities, they are excellent indicators of the things you love to do. With reflection you'll probably recognize that your favorite hobbies have been a part of your life since childhood.
- Examine energizing activities. What activities seem to bring you energy and enthusiasm? These may include your hobbies, but may also be activities in other roles of your life. For example, there may be tasks at your work which you tend to do in preference to other responsibilities.
- Analyze avoidance activities. Another clue to your passions or personal interests may result from reviewing those activities you prefer to do when faced with something you dislike doing.
How to Build a Personal Strength Inventory
With greater clarity now of your personal interests and passions, the next step in this phase of your personal growth program is to inventory your personal strengths.
- Reflect on your special abilities. Don't be humble, make a list of those special abilities at which you excel. These are likely to be things which come very easily to you. When you use these skills you get excellent results—you're creative, productive, and enjoy what you're doing. Every functional adult has a wide array of competencies, but your personal strengths are the small number of competencies at which you excel. Your list should be relatively small, probably less than ten.
- Consult with those who know you well. Those who are close to you and know you well will recognize your personal strengths. They are likely to depend on you to apply these skills and they look to you in situations where your special skills are appropriate. Ask questions such as "What do I do exceptionally well?" and "In what ways do you count on me?"
- Take a validated self assessment. One such self assessment is the VIA Signature Strengths Questionnaire developed by Dr. Martin Seligman, a prominent positive psychology researcher. This questionnaire will indicate your top five or six personal strengths which Dr. Seligman calls signature strengths.
Fully Integrate Passions and Strengths
Gaining a clearer understanding of your life's passions and personal strengths is an important and valuable step in personal growth and development. Enhance your personal growth even further by finding ways to build upon your strengths and passions.
- How can you utilize them more fully in your life?
- Look for areas of your life which are less fulfilling and satisfying than you'd prefer.
- Can you find ways to use your personal strengths in these areas?
- Look for ways to further improve your personal strengths
Readers may also enjoy What You Need for a Balanced Life.
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