Unit No 01: Introduction to Personality Development

What is personality?

“Personality is that pattern of characteristic thoughts, feelings, and behaviours that distinguishes one
person from another and that persists over time.”

“It is the sum of biologically based and learned behaviour which forms the person’s unique responses
to environmental stimuli.”

Personality Development:

Personality development is, in short, the process of improving yourself. This could mean developing
new skills, adopting new habits, or setting goals for certain areas of your personal or professional life.
Maybe you’d like to gain more self-confidence by overcoming limiting beliefs and imposter syndrome.
Or perhaps you want to learn how to communicate better to strengthen your work relationships.

No matter what, the root of these personality development goals is typically to reach your full potential,
achieve your goals, and create a better life.

• Personality development includes activities that improve awareness and identity, develop
talents and potential, build human capital and facilitate employability, enhance quality of life,
and contribute to the realization of dreams and aspirations.
• When personal development takes place in the context of institutions, it refers to the methods,
programs, tools, techniques, and assessment systems that support human development at the
individual level in organizations.
• Personality development includes activities that develop talents, improve awareness, enhance
potential, and look to improve the quality of life. It involves formal and informal activities that
put people in the role of leaders, guides, teachers, and managers to help them realize their full
potential.
• Hence, it can be concluded that the process of improving or transforming the personality is
called personality development.

Need and Importance of Personality Development

Most people underestimate the importance of having a pleasing personality. The majority think it just
means being born good-looking, that there isn’t anything much to do about it. But this is not true. The
scope of personality development is quite broad. It includes knowing how to dress well, social graces,
grooming, speech, and interpersonal skills. Whatever your career, these are very important skills that
will promote your objectives.

To better appreciate its importance, some of the key benefits of developing your personality include the
following:

1. Confidence:

Personality development gives more confidence to people. When you know you are appropriately
attired and groomed, this makes you less anxious when meeting a person. Knowing the right things to
say and how to conduct yourself will increase your confidence.
2. Credibility:

Personality development makes people more credible. Despite the saying that you don’t judge a book
by its cover, people do tend to judge people by their clothing and how it is worn. This does not mean
buying expensive clothes. We all know people who look shabby in expensive clothes. There are also
people who look great even if their attire is inexpensive. Because of this, you must know what to wear
and you must be aware of other aspects of enhancing your physical features.

3. Interaction:

Personality development encourages people to interact with others. Studies have consistently shown
that people communicate more openly with people they are comfortable with. If your hygiene and social
graces are unrefined, then expect to have a much harder time connecting with people.

4. Leading and Motivating:

Personality development enhances the capacity to lead and motivate. A person with a winning
personality will be able to motivate better. People are less likely to get bored, and our ideas will have
more credibility. We can lead better if we project an aura of confidence and credibility.

5. Curiosity:

A single wrong word can destroy a business relationship. Knowing the right things to say shows both
respect and intellectual sophistication. This is especially the case if you are dealing with foreigners or
if you conduct business outside the country. The right thing to do in our country could be horrible
blunders in a different culture. These are the soft skills that may break or make a deal.

6. Communication skills:

It improves your communication skills. People are more receptive to what you say if they are impressed
with your personality. Verbal communication skills are also part of personality development; improving
your speech will strengthen the impact of your message. You cannot win by talent and hard work alone.
Personality development is a crucial ingredient that you must obtain. Most of the people you see as
models of great personality have taken a lot of effort in developing their natural features.

Guidelines for Personality Development

There really are no “typical” personality development skills, since everyone’s personality development
goals are different.

But generally speaking, self-development skills range anywhere from technical competencies for
example, personal finance and budgeting to softer, less tangible skills like becoming more mindful or
resilient.

Self-development might include skills you’ve learned before but could use a refresher on—like getting
ready for a job search for the first time in a while—or it could mean diving into an entirely new area,
such as beginning a yoga practice.

Again, the skills that are most relevant to you will depend on your unique objectives. Even so, here are
a few common personality development skills for some inspiration:
 • Creativity
• Productivity and time management
• Empathy
• Mindfulness
• Learning from failure

7 Keys to Personality Development (Guidelines)

Reading sparks inspiration and motivation. But, when you’re ready to actually get started on your own
personality development, use these strategies to pursue your self-improvement goals.

1. Remember That Your Journey Is Your Own

It’s easy to get sucked into comparing ourselves to others, but keep in mind that all successful people
started somewhere—and that personal growth is a personal journey. Practicing gratitude by jotting
down notes in a gratitude journal or starting an achievement log to track your successes can be a helpful
way to counter comparison insecurities.

2. Create a Vision of Where You Want to Be

Personality development can feel overwhelming, so it’s a good idea to have a specific idea of what
you’re working toward. To narrow your focus, ask yourself these questions:

• What do you need for your career to be more fulfilling?

• What types of relationships do you want (or you do not want)?
• What hobbies or skills do you want to develop?
• What aspects of your life would you like to be different?

Then, break down what you want so you can understand the ‘why’ behind the act of pursuing new skills.
For each thing you really want to do. Write down three reasons why you want to do it. For each reason,
ask why and write down the answers.

3. Determine One Skill to Work on Right Now

Once you have a list of what you want to accomplish, you may have a long list of skills to acquire. To
create a personality development plan that you can stick to without feeling overwhelmed, try prioritizing
just one skill at a time.

Consider this question:

What is something essential in your life that you’re under-investing in?

Write your answer down, and whatever it is—personal, professional, or just fun—prioritize it. This will
keep you focused on your ultimate goal and reinforce why you’re doing this work.

4. Set “SMART” Goals

Setting goals that are aligned with the SMART principles—Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic,
and Time-bound—is a well-known framework to help you get specific on what you want to achieve,
monitor your progress, and see results faster. See if you can translate your goals into a SMART format,
and reflect on them weekly or monthly to ensure you’re making progress.
5. Reflect on Your Personality Development Journey

Writing in a journal daily or weekly can help you honestly reflect on your past actions, habits, and
progress. Research has shown that journaling helps us focus better, contemplate our thoughts and
feelings, and keep our memory sharp—all useful skills when you’re working toward creating a better
life.

6. Get a Mentor or Accountability Partner

We could all use some accountability to meet our goals! Working with a mentor or accountability
partner gives you a safe space to receive feedback and encourage nudges.

An idea to make personal development more collaborative? Form a book club with friends to read self-
improvement books and share your takeaways with each other.

7. Start with Small Steps

Personality development takes time. Embrace that this process may take longer than you initially think
and start with small steps that you can achieve.

As Armstrong puts it: “If you miss a day, don’t worry. Every single day is an opportunity to start. [If]
you feel you need to double up today or you feel guilty about missing a day, remember to start small
from where you are right now.”

Personal SWOT/C Analysis

SWOT stands for: Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat/ Challenges. A SWOT/C analysis
guides you to identify your organization’s strengths and weaknesses (S-W), as well as broader
opportunities and threats (O-T).

A SWOT/C analysis can offer helpful perspectives at any stage of an effort. You might use it to:

• Explore possibilities for new efforts or solutions to problems.

• Make decisions about the best path for your initiative. Identifying your opportunities for success
in
• context of threats to success can clarify directions and choices.
• Determine where change is possible. If you are at a juncture or turning point, an inventory of
your
• strengths and weaknesses can reveal priorities as well as possibilities.
• Adjust and refine plans mid-course. A new opportunity might open wider avenues, while a new
threat
• could close a path that once existed.
• SWOT/C also offers a simple way of communicating about your initiative or program and an
excellent
• way to organize information you've gathered from studies or surveys.

SWOT analysis can help the following people.

• Students
• Managers and Owners
• Professionals, Executives
 • Career Starters
• Practitioners and HR
• Doctors and Engineers
• Employees
• Husband and Wife
• Parents

The Advantages of Conducting a Personal SWOT/C Analysis:

The main purpose of a SWOT/C is to promote the identified strengths, reduce weaknesses, exploiting
the opportunities and having contingency plans to minimize threats.

There are many benefits and advantages of using SWOT Analysis for personal development. It is good
for your success and betterment. Some of the most common benefits of conducting a personal SWOT
analysis have been mentioned below.

• Helps to develops strategies to attain your goals

• You can be better than your friends and colleagues
• Shows where you currently stand on the path of success
• Measures your scopes of reaching desired goals
• Boosts your career, life and personality
• Helps to better understand who you really are as a person
• Maximizes your strengths and diminishes your weaknesses
• Explores and also enhances your soft skills and hard skills
• It helps you understand your preferences and personality traits.
• Focuses on your attitudes, abilities, skills, capabilities and capacities

Using the SWOT/C Analysis Tool:

Strengths:

These are the traits or skills that set you apart from others. Questions to ask include:

• What benefits do you have that others do not have? This could include skills, education, or
connections.
• What are you better at than anyone else?
• What personal resources do you have access to?
• What do other people see as your strengths?
• Which achievements are you most proud of?
• What values do you believe in that others fail to show?
• Are you part of a network no one else is involved in? What connections do you have with
powerful people?

Weaknesses:

This part examines the areas in which you need to improve and the things that will set you back in your
career. Questions to consider include:

• What work do you usually avoid because of lack of confidence?

• What do people think you weaknesses are?
 • Are you happy with your education and skills training?
• Do you have any negative work habits?
• Which of your personality traits hold you back?

Opportunities:

For the opportunities section, look at the external factors you can take advantage of to pursue a
promotion, find a new job or determine a career direction.

• What new technology can assist you?

• Can you take advantage of the market in its present state?
• Do you have a network of strategic contacts to offer good advice or help you?
• Is any of your competitors failing to do something important? Can you take advantage of it?
• Is there a need in your company which no one is filling?
• Could you create an opportunity by offering solutions to problems?

Threats/Challenges:

This part takes into account the external factors that could hurt your chances to attain your goals. The
factors to take into account include:

• What hindrances do you currently face at work?

• Is any of your co-workers competing with you for projects or roles?
• Is your job changing?
• Can technological changes threaten your position?
• Could any of your weaknesses lead to threats?

Example of SWOT Analysis:

SWOT tool used by a small independent book store:

HELPFUL HARMFUL

STRENGTHS: WEAKNESSES:
INTERNAL • Our workers are well-educated students who • Space is tight
love books • The bank gave us a limited loan
• The space is attractive and inviting • Business is slower during
• Customers are supportive of small bookstore summer vacation
• Popular cafe makes it easy for customers to
linger and find
• something to buy.
OPPORTUNITIES: THREATS:
• We can have local authors give lectures and • Large chains have more buying
EXTERNAL book signings. power
• We can make personalized • E-books and e-book readers
recommendations to long-term customers • Younger generations don’t
• We can deliver the same day to mobility- read as much
impaired customers • Nearby public library reopened
• We can feature things that appeal to summer after two years.
tourists
• We can start a frequent buyer program