7 Personal Development Goals to Help You Grow

2019 Will be Your Best Year Yet

At some point last year, I decided 2019 was going to be my year. Yep, that’s right. Before 2018 was even close to over, I was already thinking about crushing it in 2019. It’s not that 2018 was a bad year. In fact, it was a great year for me. I got married, felt great in my career, started growing my blog, ran my first half marathon and achieved many other goals I set for myself.

Yet, somehow among all the goal-crushing and wedding planning, I felt this unnerving chaos. Yes, a lot was going on in my life. And yes, I set out to accomplish way more than was possible. But more than just doing so much stuff, I really just lost track of WHY I was doing all that stuff.

At the end of the day, it was to grow as a person. Everything I was doing was trying to better myself. The only problem was I was trying to do everything at once. I don’t want you to make my mistake of trying accomplish all the goals, so I’m breaking things down to simplify your life.

Personal development goals are just that, they’re personal. For each and every one of us they will be different because we all have different areas that need work. I like to break these areas down into seven buckets: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, financial, career and relationships.

Now I realize there can be crossover between these buckets. For instance, what helps you emotionally might also fulfill you spiritually. But I think overall, these distinct buckets can help you create goals that will make you feel more whole as a person.

While I can’t tell you what you need most in your life, here are some ideas to help you focus your goals for 2019.

Personal Development Goals to Help You Grow in 2019

Physical

Do you have a daily or weekly workout routine? Does this include a combination of cardio and weight training? Try a new workout if you need to change it up or slowly incorporate more strength and cardio into your current routine.

Do you drink enough water? We all know water is essential for good health, but are we giving our bodies enough? Try drinking a glass first thing each morning and then have a water bottle filled throughout the day.

Have you incorporated yoga into your life? Yoga is a great way to strengthen muscles, increase flexibility and help with mindfulness.

If you have a desk job, do you get up often to take breaks? Do you stretch for a few minutes or walk away from your desk? Can you incorporate a ten or fifteen minute walk into your lunch break?

Do you get enough sleep each night? We’ve all heard the average adult needs 7-8 hours of rest each night. Do you feel refreshed when you wake up each morning or are you sluggish? Try tweaking your routine to get the amount of sleep you need.

Mental

Are you challenging yourself to learn new things? Do you want to learn a new skill? Is there a language you want to master? Try to pick one new thing to learn about this year. Check out your local community college for a class or find an online course. Or use YouTube and blogs to master a new skill.

Do you have any creative hobbies? Whether it’s knitting, sewing, woodwork, painting, writing or any other creative outlet, make sure you budget your time so that you can do the things you love.

Do you love to read, but lack time to read as often as you’d like? By reading just 10 pages everyday, you could read up to 10 books by the end of the year!

Emotional

How do you feel about yourself? Are you taking steps to make sure you feel happy? If not, what can you do to find more happiness? Challenge yourself to work on things that make you happy.

Do you practice self-care? Are you spending time to each day on just you? Work toward creating a healthier mindset by practicing more self-care.

Do you ask for help when you need it? Are there people in your life who are willing to help no matter what? Do you reach out to those you love when you need them and do you reciprocate when they need you? Find time to connect with the important people in your life.

Spiritual

Do you practice mindfulness? Do you meditate or do daily devotionals? Whether you are religious or not, it’s important to connect to your spiritual side. Find ways to center your mind on the important things in life.

Have you set intentions? Intentions are an internal promise to ourselves to help find inner peace. They are important for energizing your mind to focus on the important things and keep you centered.

Financial

Do you have a budget? Keeping track of how much money is going in and out of your bank account can help you better manage your financial well-being.

Are you in debt? Do you have a plan to conquer your debt? Debt can affect other areas of your well-being. It can add stress, overwhelm and uncertainty to your life. Take steps to manage debt.

Do you have a savings plan for the future? There is so much advice out there on how to prepare for your future. Invest in learning more about your options and take steps to plan out how you want to save for the future.

Career

Do you have a career plan? Are you taking steps to help you achieve this plan? It’s important to know where your career is heading and what steps you need to take to get there.

Do you have a mentor in your field? The idea of having a mentor is so incredibly important to me. It’s great to have someone who has already achieved your goals guide you, answer your questions, offer advice and introduce you to new people or ideas.

Do you attend networking events? Meeting new people in your field or other career-minded individuals is super important. It’s also important to meet all types of people – people your age and people who are older or younger; people who have the same job as you or a job you want; people who are in different fields but that compliment your line of work.

Do you keep up with current trends in your field? Do you attend seminars/webinars, read articles and books or subscribe to newsletters to learn the latest and greatest in your line of work? It’s helpful to be on top of these things so that you are always knowledgeable and can make informed decisions.

Relationships

Do you have solid relationships? Whether romantic, platonic or familial, all relationships are important for your overall development. What can you do to better your relationships?

Do you make time for the people you love? If finding time for the people in your life becomes difficult, schedule time with them in advance or have standing dates.

Are you working on creating new relationships? Even though it can be difficult as you get older, it’s important to continue to form new relationships. Will working on another bucket help you meet new people? Try a new hobby, take a class, attend a networking event or join a gym where it’s easier to meet like-minded people.

Putting Personal Development Goals into Action

The seven buckets of personal development goals are areas that I feel are most useful for improving overall well-being. You may have more categories or ideas that don’t fall into these buckets.

The next step is to decide which goals you are going to work on this year. Again, I would not recommend working on too many goals at once.

The idea of personal development is to create a lasting change in your life. It’s to make these goals habit and part of your natural daily routine.

In order to create lasting change, I think it’s important to write down your goals. It might be a journal, a post it note, a word document on your computer. Whatever works for you, write it down.

Next, plan out how you are going to reach that goal with small, manageable steps. If you break your goal into “micro” goals, you can easily incorporate the changes into your daily routine.

For example, if your goal is to work out more, I wouldn’t recommend starting with running 5 miles (unless you’ve already trained up for that). Instead, focus on building time into your routine, schedule that time on your calendar and then slowly make it a habit.

Final Thoughts

Working on these different areas of your well-being will help you be your best self in 2019. If you’re feeling unbalanced, there may be some areas that need more work than others. By breaking down your personal development into these seven buckets, it may be easier to figure out which areas need work and where you are already doing well.

Then, tackling each individual goal with an exact action plan will ensure you will conquer every goal and be your best self in 2019.

What personal development goals do you have for 2019? Let me know in the comments below!