The time has come: it's time to make your personal development plan. In this plan, you will work on becoming the best version of yourself, whether this is by taking a course or improving your skills. But what exactly is a PDP and how do you create a personal development plan? With our step-by-step plan and various personal development plan examples, you will hopefully come a long way.

What is a personal development plan (PDP)?

A personal development plan is a plan in which you describe your desired personal development. This plan is also called a PDP and is often a requirement from your school or employer. In your personal development plan, you describe what you want to achieve in the coming period (both short- and long-term) and what help or resources you may need to do so. By creating a personal development plan, you can give direction to your career and think about your future: that way, you can discover the field you want to work in or the position you want to hold.

How to create a personal development plan?

Now that you know what a PDP is, it's time to look at how to create a personal development plan. Follow the steps below and get started on your personal development plan.

Step 1: Conduct a self-analysis

Before you know what you want to do in the future, it is important to know what you are good at or less good at. You can easily conduct a self-analysis by asking yourself the following questions:

• What competencies do I have?
• What qualities do I have?
• What skills would I still like to develop?
  

To get an overview for yourself, it can help to make a personal SWOT analysis. This will immediately highlight your strengths and weaknesses. This gives you a clear starting point for your personal development plan and thus helps you determine the direction of your development plan.

Step 2: Create SMART learning goals

Now that you know what your strengths and weaknesses are and what direction you want to go in, it is time to set goals for yourself. An efficient tool for this is SMART learning goals. These are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound goals that give direction to the process. Setting your learning goals in this way will make creating your personal development plan a lot easier.

Step 3: Develop your PDP

Finally, it's time to turn your self-analysis and your SMART learning goals into an actual plan. How will you achieve your goal and what steps will you take to do this? You might think about taking a course or doing self-study.

Personal development plan: Examples

Do you still find it difficult to create your own personal development plan? Don't stress! We have listed several personal development plan examples for you. We have an example for someone working, someone studying and someone doing an internship.

Personal development plan: Example work

Goal

I want to become more proactive in my work and gain work experience as a manager.

Steps

Take a course in being proactive and shadow a manager from another department.

Result

Gaining experience as a manager, knowing what my strengths and weaknesses are as a potential manager, and perhaps a promotion.

Planning

Starting the conversation with my boss, shadowing a manager, self-reflection while shadowing (what goes well and what needs improvement), and an evaluation afterward with the manager you shadowed.

Personal development plan: Example student

Goal

I want to pass my exam.

Steps

Writing a summary of all the study material. I can then sell it on Stuvia.

Result

By writing the summary, I will master the material faster and hopefully pass my exam with at least a 5.5. Because I upload them, I also earn some money.

Planning

After each lesson, I summarise the material that has been covered. When everything has been covered, all I have to do is learn it.

Personal development plan: Example internship

Goal

I want to get better at managing social media and creating posts through a design tool like Canva or Photoshop.

Steps

Intern with an experienced marketing professional who can teach me the ropes and self-study via YouTube or influencers.

Result

Soon, I will be able to create and plan content independently for my internship company and apply these skills to a potential employer in the future.

Planning

I spend half an afternoon every week on self-study and proactively ask for feedback so that by the end of my internship period, I will have mastered content planning and creation.

Do you always prepare well for your exams and write the best summaries? Those documents are worth money! Sell your study documents on Stuvia and earn a passive income.