Due Friday by 9 pm

Identifying Developmental Needs

While an individual may have several personal development needs depending on aspects that are problematic in the life of the individual, however, by evaluating the comparative importance of these needs, it is possible to create a list of priorities and select three of the most pressing personal development needs. In my case, these three personal development needs are developing a reading culture, controlling my anger and improving my communication skills. My first personal development need is to develop a reading culture. Living in a digital world where tablets, computers, and smartphones have replaced books inhibits the development of a reading culture. I want to be able to develop my own reading culture, shift from the digital world momentarily and gain knowledge by reading books. While a lot of content has been digitized, there is still much more embedded in books for exploration. To consume such content, I must nurture my own reading culture which will help me enjoy reading as one of the activities that I love to do.

The second personal development need is controlling my anger. I classify this as a behavior problem because in many cases, I fail to contain my anger or lengthen the feeling. I get irritated at times, and this is something that I’m working on. This I believe, is a behavior that has started affecting my social networking skills. When anger is extended or lengthened, it begins to affect other social engagements that play a role in shaping an individual’s psychological health. Given that I am committed to maintaining healthy social relationships with my peers, this is a behavior or a developmental need that needs review or improvement. The third personal developmental need is improving my communication skills, particularly when understanding languages that differ from my native language. While English remains the dominant language in many social environments that I interact in my goal is to learn from others and about their culture, heritage, and their languages such as French and Spanish to better interact with people. Being able to communicate effectively is a critical requirement for any workplace. As a prospective professional, this is a capability that will help me fit in the organization and learn from others.

An action plan identifies the various steps and considerations that must be made from an individual level to address the personal developmental needs identified above. To develop a reading culture, I will develop a working schedule where I can allocate an hour or two to commit to a reading session. After drafting a daily schedule for the reading session, the main hurdle is in ensuring that the schedule is adhered to. To improve in this developmental need, I must commit to this schedule and ensure that each day I read something. On the other hand, controlling behavior also requires a commitment to a behavioral intervention such as activities that help with anger management. Visiting a counselor can also be helpful when drafting a behavioral intervention to manage this problem. Finally, there are many ways of improving communication. One of them is to enroll in classes that will help me to learn different languages while sharping my communication skills.