Personality development is a product of eight essential skills. They are 1) Development of self-esteem and positive attitude 2) Goal setting 3) Time management 4) Interpersonal skills 5) Communication skills 6) Public speaking 7) Leadership development 8) Stress management. Let us try to understand each of these skills.
1) Development of self-esteem and positive attitude: Self esteem is one of the important attributes for success. Self esteem stems out of self-image. Self image is a reflection of self-confidence. A self-confident person has a good self-image and he has a high self-esteem. A positive attitude is the single most important reason for success in life of any person. It is said that 10 per cent of life is what happens to us and 90 per cent of life is how we react to it. How we react to a situation is entirely in our hands and if we react with positive attitude we will get a positive response. An attitude is a personality trait and it can be developed in a positive way.
2) Goal setting: It is very important to have goals for personal development, physical development, spiritual development, professional development and even in relationship development. Success for a person is actually attainment of predetermined goals. Goals are measurable milestones on the road to success. Setting goals and achieving them gives us a sense of accomplishment in life. Goal setting should become a way of life for a person to succeed.
3) Time management: Time is an invaluable resource for a human being. It is more valuable than any other resource including money, because it is limited and therefore once it is expended it cannot be retrieved. It is very important to understand the value of time and plan its usage most effectively. The best way to use the time wisely is to cut the time we waste.
4) Interpersonal skills: Interpersonal skills are related to getting along with people. They help a person to deal with different types of people having different personality profiles and different behavioral characteristics. Studies show that a personās success in his chore area of business which depends 85 per cent on interpersonal skills and 15 per cent on professional skills. Like any other skill interpersonal skills also have to be learnt and developed by an individual. It is important to develop positive relationships with people based on mutual respect and understanding. Relationships, whether with spouse, children, bosses, co-workers, employees can make or break a person.
5) Communication skills: Communication is the art of expressing thoughts, ideas, views, feelings, messages, etc to another person in symbolic form which is understood and acted upon. Thus the process of communication not only means transferring thoughts, ideas, etc from one person to another, it also involves acquiring, storing, retrieving and processing information making it an essentially social affair. Good and effective communication provides us with opportunities for asserting our individuality. Communication is not just speaking and writing but it also includes listening and body language.
6) Public speaking: The art and science of establishing an effective oral communication with an audience is public speaking. This skill is gaining importance for professionals, business men, students, etc who are required to make presentations to their colleagues, clients, etc. The self confidence to be an effective public speaker can be gained by learning skills of speech preparation which requires critical minimum amount of study and its presentation through speech communication.
7) Leadership development: Leadership quality is an important ingredient for success of a person. Therefore it is not surprising to find that all highly successful persons have been good leaders. A leader is one who has a vision for his team and he achieves it through not only his own efforts but also through efforts of his team members. Foundation for leadership is based on positive thinking, good character, vision, effective communication and motivation. Leadership bestows power, commands respect and most importantly, fosters achievements.
8) Stress management: We all experience stress in some form or other. Stress as a positive impetus can bring out the best in some persons. However when stress is caused by a set of circumstances beyond the control of an individual and it is continuous, it becomes a strain and it can affect the physical and mental health of a person. In this situation the stress requires proper management to reduce its ill effects. It is also important to acquire emotional stability to effectively cope up with stress.
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