For quite a long time, I would compile a yearly business plan. It was simply to set goals and give myself a general direction and self-accountability. I would update the business plan regularly. Sometimes it was on a calendar year changeover and other times it was a simple seasonal change, like summer to fall.
The plan was split up into several sections, each having titles like money and income, personal exposure or marketing, long-term goals, equipment to repair or replace. Some would involve skills I wanted to learn or improve on. Some had to do with my body or my mind, while others were simply to do tasks like work on my house.
A couple of years ago I decided to change the business plan to something called a “Personal Development Plan.” This plan focuses more on how to make a better life for myself instead of how to grow my business. By no means have I quit working on my business. I am simply putting my business under the umbrella of me as opposed to me under the umbrella of the business.
Section titles are now things like Personal Growth, Health, Relationships, Work, Creative Projects and For The Year. There are many overlaps between the business plan and the personal development plan. What makes them different is the priority to when and how each is tackled.
Personal growth mainly focuses on spiritual and mental health. It covers plans and ideas for a healthier mind and Spirit. This is also about self-care and spending time to grow my relationship with God. Health focuses on both exercising and eating better. I put the focus not on numbers Like weight or calories but simply treating my body better and listening to its signals.
For me, being a full-fledged introvert, the section entitled relationships is probably one I make the least progress on. Not because I don’t try, but because I don’t want to try. The relationship column has one goal that is identical to the work column. It is simply titled “find someone to soundboard with.” This is just me hoping to find someone with some like-minded goals for life, or at least the passion for changing and getting better each day.
“Creative Projects” was probably one of my favorite ads that was not on the business plan. It covers everything from art projects that I want to do for fun or making money. Others may be creative outlets that I want to do just to express myself. It’s probably also the column that gets things checked off as done more than any other.
I save a lot of my big goals for the column titled “for the year.” Some of these are actual measurable goals with numbers or tangible completed tasks, while others are just me taking a self assessment of how I feel about my quality of life. Keep in mind when I say “quality of life”, it has nothing to do with personal achievements, financial gains or physical acquisitions. I am comparing how much peace I have about the life I am living and what I give back to the world I live in each day.
Well, that is just about everything on my Personal Development Plan. After the book release, the audiobook, the Etsy store and the shift in my brand, I am about to re-evaluate everything on that list. I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes.
Thank You and God Bless,
MJ
