Focusing On Myself: My Plan for Personal-Development

Arzuman Rima

For the personal development plan, I have thought of some areas where I want to have development for attaining self-satisfaction. This feeling of self-fulfillment is needed very much for every human being to develop self-respect as well to move forward. Below are some areas where I think I should make the development.

Personal-Development Plan 1: Anger Management

As being Muslim by religion and as I am religious bended; I will try to obey with what was directed in my religion to control anger. So, there are 8 inspirational hadiths on anger and how to control it and as a believer I will try to do it first and change myself accordingly:

Seeking refuge in Allah (swt)

The Holy Messenger (peace be upon him) has said, after seeing two people angry at one another: “I know a word which, if he were to say it, what he feels would go away; he needs to say ‘I seek refuge with Allah from the shaytaan,’ and all his anger would go away.” (Sahih Bukhaari: Volume 6, 337)

Kindled by the devil

The Holy Messenger (peace be upon him) has said: “Anger is a smoldering ember that is kindled by Satan.” (Biharul Anwar: Volume 73, Page 265)

Cleanse yourself from anger

The Holy Messenger (peace be upon him) has said: “Anger comes from the devil, the devil was created of fire, and fire is extinguished only by water; so when one of you becomes angry, he should perform ablution.” (Abu Dawud: Book 41, Number 4766)

Anger is a form of madness

The Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) has said: “Rage is a type of madness because the one who is enraged feels regret later on, and if he does not feel regret, then his madness has become ingrained.” (Nahjul Balagha: Saying 255)

The true meaning of strength

The Holy Messenger (peace be upon him) has said: “Shall I tell you who is the toughest and strongest from among you? The one who controls himself when he is angry.” (Natharul Durrar: Volume 1, Page 183)

Avoiding anger leads to inner peace

Imam Al-Baqir (peace be upon him) has said: “He who suppresses his anger despite being able to vent it, Allah (swt) will fill his heart with peace and security on the Day of Resurrection.” (AlKafi: Volume 2, Page 11, Number 7)

Seeking solace in silence

The Holy Messenger (peace be upon him) has said: “If any one of you becomes angry, let him keep silent.”(Al-Musnad: Volume 1, 329 (for more, see Saheeh Al-Jami’: Volume 693, 4027))

How to avoid anger

The Holy Messenger (peace be upon him) has said: “Do not get angry and if you do, then sit down and reflect upon the power of your Lord over His creation and His clemency towards them. And if one tells you [condescendingly] to fear Allah, expel your anger and remind yourself of your own clemency.” (Tuhaf al Uqul: Number 16) Next time I find myself getting angry, I will think about the wisdom in the hadiths above, take a deep breath and know that everything will be OK!

Personal Development Plan 2: Networking for building a dependable, interactive, purposeful and comprehensive support system

There are several ways to build strong network. A network strategy consists of our plan for building and managing a network of partners in a way best suited to meet our shared goals. It focuses on the considerations of HOW we’ll build our network, in terms of what we will do, and won’t do, to align our work with our goals.

Networking is the perfect opportunity to connect with like-minded professionals and person, as well as establish contacts with potential partners, investors and more. Doing so, however, can be tricky, especially when we’re starting out. There are resources from Google which I think will be added to build a better network. There are 10 ways to boost the networking skills which I think I will try to get better in Networking.

Building relationships

The key to business, and a successful job hunt, is building strong interpersonal relationships over time with people. Before we ask for help it is very important to offer something first. We want to be someone who is perceived to offer value, and a positive and useful connection to have. To build a network of professional friends, you need to be open, honest, and genuinely engaged in their causes. Be more interested in their needs than our own; ask open-ended questions and get to know them as people first and sources of help, second.

Keeping in contact

With the prevalence of social media, people are used to ‘collecting’ social friends as a form of ‘networking’ that people are becoming increasingly disconnected. Prioritize efforts that develop strong long-term relationships with important connections.

Leverage on influential connections

In networking, as in sales, the key to success is prioritizing leads that are more likely to yield results. Whilst somewhat calculated, this approach is a normal process in determining the people we should engage with, whether socially or professionally. The criteria you use to determine influence is determined by our goals, but it all starts from knowing what we want to achieve, and then plotting the logical next steps from that point onwards.

Staying positive

Most people don’t see returns straight away and then give up, but if we want to see results, we need to invest time into business networking over an extended period of time. Developing our business networking skills is a long-term investment and not a short-term fix.

Improve my emailing skills

Always keep the email short, easy to ready, and focus mainly on the recipient. It is always a good idea to do a little research into the recipient beforehand, and then tailor the email to mention shared contacts, interests or specific things they have done that have made an impression.

Go in with no expectations

Resist the urge to raise expectations on a single meeting, job, company or possible connection. The perfect networking event or connection is merely the one which provides the desired result. No matter how promising a job opportunity sounds, always keep the job searches going to avoid disappointment.

Focusing on my efforts

The counter point to ensuring that we are always adding value to others in our network is to expect the same in return. Networking should be mutually beneficial, so if we have some connections that always seem to be asking for that little extra help without offering any value themselves, it could be time to de-prioritize them. This is a personal call, but by focusing on a quality business network over a large but ineffective one, we will be able to prioritize our resources and time better and attain greater results.

Improving on my present communication skills

Good communication skills are the most important factor that sets apart successful individuals in business. We all know of people that are incredibly intelligent but lack the ability to communicate effectively, limiting their career progression. In networking, people are generally willing to help, but if we are unable to communicate what we want effectively, they will be unable to act upon it.

Honing an impressive elevator pitch

The 30-second elevator pitch remains a constant in the world of business networking. People pass judgments on others very quickly, so the elevator pitch is useful, and extremely important for summarizing what value we offer in as few words as possible.

Understanding that position doesn’t always indicate influence

Within any organization there is a unique blend of politics and influence which can be difficult to penetrate from the outside. This is another example of just how important it is to perform extensive research on preferred organizations to get a better understanding of who holds influence, and how they may be able to help me.

Personal Development Plan 3: I have issues with using technology that I need to resolve

I have “technophobia” from my childhood. Always had fear in my mind that something will go wrong and it sometimes happened and turned out negative and deepen my fear. So, now I know to overcome the fear I need to try it more even after the result comes negative sometime. To overcome presentation fear people, need to do hundreds of presentations and this way to overcome technophobia.

Technology can be frustrating. Whether it’s a desktop computer, laptop, tablet, smart phone, smart speaker, smart TV, TV remote, router, printer, digital camera, website, or even a can opener, it is inevitable it’s not always going to work the way we want, and sometimes it’s not going to work at all. For some, this might cause a dislike or fear of technology (called technophobia) and prevent them from using technology to its fullest – or using it at all.

Here are tips for taming the technology monster:

Take time– Just because digital technology can be super-fast doesn’t mean we have to try to keep up. Working too quickly can add pressure to an already pressure-filled situation. Deadlines, whether self-imposed or otherwise, can greatly increase the stress surrounding technology, both in the short and long terms.

Simplify- Do one thing at a time. Just because technology can do many things at the same time, this doesn’t mean you have to. By doing too many tasks at once, sometimes called “multitasking madness,” we might not pay enough attention to any one task in order to carry out the sequence of steps we should.

Get help when needed- Whether it’s from a family member, co-worker, or friend, sometimes all you need is a quick tip from someone who has experienced the same situation or problem before.

Call in an expert-Sometimes it’s more cost-effective to delegate to a pro. Hiring a professional trainer or taking our device to a local repair shop can sometimes prevent a lot of hair pulling.

Get formal training- This could be on-the-job, from an evening class at a local high school or community college, or through a retail store selling the technology. It only makes sense that learning more about it reduces the stress surrounding it.

Start over- Sometimes the fastest and easiest solution to a problem with devices ranging from PCs to phones is simply to turn the device off and turn it back on. If this doesn’t work, we might need to do a reset (sometimes called a soft reset) to shut it down completely, with the procedure depending on the device.

To do a soft reset with an iPhone, for instance, press and hold the Home button (at the bottom of the screen) and Power button (Sleep/Wake button) simultaneously until the Apple logo appears. You should resort to a “hard” reset, which erases all data on the phone, only in the direst situations or if you’re selling the device. With an iPhone, press Settings, General, Reset, and Erase All Content and Settings. To do a reset with devices such as a cable modem or router, unplug, wait about a minute, plug back in, and wait a couple of minutes for the settings to refresh.

Think like the device- Though digital technology sometimes seems incomprehensible, lots of thought goes into how devices operate, including their user interfaces. If you can put yourself into the shoes of the persons who designed the device, you often can figure what specific steps to take to problem solve.

Experiment- If something doesn’t work, we should try something else. Many technophobes avoid trial and error because we’re afraid that if we press the wrong button, we’ll break the device. We sometimes can, in fact, disrupt the settings, but we or someone else can reset them, as well. Just about anything that can be done can also be undone. Short of dropping the device hard on the ground or into a toilet, in all likelihood, we won’t break it.

References:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2018/09/18/networking-skills-six-ways-beginners-can-build-betterconnections/?sh=167d06512fed

https://www.roberthalf.com.sg/career-advice/career-development/networking-skills

https://www.moaa.org/content/publications-and-media/features-and-columns/tech-tactics/tech-tactics

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