Personal vs. Professional Development. What’s the Difference?

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Defining Personal and Professional Development

I recently wrote about seven personal development goals for 2019. I realized the I never really defined what this means and if personal goals are any different from professional goals.

If you read that article, you noticed that I divide personal development into seven different buckets: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, financial, career and relationships. As you can see, career is listed as a personal development goal.

Personal development means growing different areas that will help you to be your best self. This means learning different subjects or buckets that can help you in all areas of life. Sometimes, we need work in more areas than others.

To me, professional development falls under the categories of personal development. Hence, the career category. But it’s much more than that.

Professional development means growing different areas of yourself that will help you be a better employee. As I mentioned in the previous article, there is a lot of connection between the seven buckets.

What will help you in your personal growth will certainly also carry over to your professional life. Your knowledge and skills don’t necessarily change when you are working 9 to 5 versus all other hours of the day. After all, you are still you. There are a few subtle differences to note, though.

Key differences in Personal and Professional Development

I like the idea of the seven buckets because I’m a very visual person. By categorizing goals, I can see what areas need more help than others.

When we’re talking about comparing personal versus professional development, I think it’s probably easy to see that there is a connection. While I’m sure you act slightly different at the office than at home, your overall aptitude is the same.

Yet breaking down the seven buckets, we can compare personal versus professional goals. Take, for instance, physical goals. I wouldn’t say that something like running a half marathon would affect your abilities as an accountant. You don’t necessarily need the same cardiovascular and muscular fitness to perform your job as you do to run a distance.

But do the benefits of running translate into better sleep at night, more energy during the day and more confidence overall? I would say yes. And those benefits certainly translate into a better performing employee.

What about mental goals? This one seems like there’s an obvious connection. Growing your mind will certainly help you at work. But with this one, I think you definitely need to consider what you are learning. Taking up a personal hobby, like painting, probably won’t help you at work. But if it’s relaxing and makes you happy, it can be a stress reliever outside of your 9 to 5.

As you can see from these examples, personal development might not have a direct translation to your job, but in building skills, confidence and happiness, you will have more balance between life and work.

Choosing Personal and Professional Development Goals

When choosing your development goals, it’s best to think about where you want to be in given set of time. Are you looking to get promoted in the next six months? Do you want to buy a house in the next year? Is your dream to move to a different state in the next five years?

All of these goals have different time frames and different buckets to help you get there. I recommend working backward from your “due date” and figure out your action items from there.

Since we’re talking about personal versus professional goals here, it’s important to take action steps that are relevant to your end goal. If your goal is to get promoted in the next six months, what can you do to help you get there? If your action list includes something time-consuming like taking a class or certificate program, you might not have time for other goals, such as training for a marathon.

Like I said earlier, personal development goals can be interconnected, but you must prioritize what’s most important to you in a given timeframe. From there, you can decide how many different goals you want to put on your plate.

If your goal is to buy a house in the next year, it would be nice to get a promotion or a raise, but you might be working more on your financial bucket instead of just career development. You must look at the end goal and decide your action items from there.

Examples of Professional Development Plans

Choosing your professional development goal might sound easy, but deciding your actions items might sound daunting. How do you get from point A to point B? This might look different for everyone, but here are a few examples.

Getting a promotion

I think many working professionals would like to get promoted. It shows that your hard work is getting noticed and has paid off. You can also say that you are learning and building your skills and you might want to take these skills to the next level. So how do you break down getting a promotion into action steps? This will probably look different for everyone, but here’s a sample plan:

1. Decide what getting promoted means to your situation. Promotions have different meanings for different organizations. Is there a new job title you want? Is this an upward move (more responsibility)? Or is it a lateral move (working in the same or similar title, but for a different department)?
2. Talk to your supervisor. I think it’s most important to speak with your boss to let them know you are ready for a different role. Once you decide what type of promotion you want, you should start an open dialogue. This is both important for transparency and for you to get their support right away.
3. Determine new skills or experience you will need for the new role. If there are any specific requirements for the promotion which you do not already possess, take note of what you need to learn. Can you take on more responsibility in your current role to gain these skills? Do you need to take a class or earn a certificate? Are there books or online articles you should read? This is also an important place to speak with your supervisor to help guide your course of action.
4. Speak with a mentor or someone in the position you want. Learning more about the position or promotion you want from someone who is already doing it is invaluable. Use their knowledge and expertise to learn everything you will need to perform well in the new role.
5. Update your resume. As you’re going through the process of acquiring new skills and experience, it’s important to write down all your accomplishments in your current role. Make sure to shine light on all the good you’ve done in your current position and sell yourself for the next step.
6. Apply for the position. Once you’ve completed the first five steps and the position is open, it’s time to apply. You should feel very confident in all you have done to get yourself to this point.
7. Interview or start the promotion discussion. Depending on your company and how the process works, you may need to interview for a promotion or it might just be an open discussion. Either way, it’s important to prepare yourself to talk about all your accomplishments, professional skills and future goals. Remember, it never hurts to practice for an interview, so call up a friend or ask your mentor to do a few practice runs.
8. Accept your promotion and celebrate. You should be set up for success since you’ve taken all the necessary steps to get to your promotion. Enjoy the achievement and be proud of your hard work!

Becoming a better leader

This one might sound a little ambiguous. What makes a good leader? Who is a leader – is it a boss or can anyone be a leader? I think leadership is a highly desirable skill in most workplaces, whether you’re a supervisor or not. You can lead a team or a project without being the boss. So, becoming a better leader is important to everyone. Here’s a sample action plan:

1. Speak with your supervisor or mentor. Your first step is to talk to someone who is already a leader in your eyes. What qualities do they possess? How does their experience differ from yours? What resources do they use to learn more about leadership?
2. Decide which resources you want to use. Do you like to read books about leadership? Are blogs more your speed? Is there an online or local in-person course you can take? There are a lot of resources out there, you just need to do some research to find out what will work best for you.
3. Ask your team what will help them. It’s  important to ask the people you work with how you can improve the team through your leadership. Do they need more support? Are there resources they need? Do you have skills that you can teach them?
4. Schedule time in your calendar to work on building out these needs. Mark time for your learning and for helping with the needs of your team.
5. Take on roles or opportunities that position you as a leader. Is there a project or task force you can lead? Can you provide a presentation or training at a team meeting? Look for opportunities that help others in your organization.
6. Set time for evaluation. Decide a time when you can sit back down with your supervisor and team to evaluate how you’re doing. Are the action steps working? Do you still have areas that can improve? Evaluating along the way can help you achieve your leadership goals. Remember, this one is an ongoing process.

Final Thoughts

Personal and professional goals are extremely important to help you be your best self. They have a lot of overlap because what helps you personally can also help you professionally and vice versa.

For any goals, it’s important to start with the end goal and work backward to formulate your action plan. Breaking your goal into small, manageable steps will help make the process easier and more practical.

It’s also important to remember that you should stick with a few personal and professional goals to work on at any given time. Taking on too many goals will cause overwhelm and will ultimately hinder you from accomplishing any goals. Once you check one or two off your list, you can start to add another one or two.

Remember, it’s never too late to be your best self. Start determining which goals you want to accomplish in 2019, write down your action plan and get to work.

What personal or professional goals do you have for 2019? Let me know in the comments below.