This document provides an introduction to personal development. It discusses how personal development relates to but is distinct from human development and personality development. Personal development involves reflecting on oneself, understanding one's identity, accepting oneself, and learning new skills and behaviors to reach one's full potential. The origins of personal development concepts can be traced back to ancient Greek philosophers and Eastern traditions that emphasized self-improvement and responsibility.

1. PERSONAL
DEVELOPMENT

2. CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTIONTO PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
• Human Development and Personal Development
(Is It Personality Development or Personal Development
• What is Personal Development?
• Origins of Personal Development
• Psychology and Personal Development
• Personal Development in Adolescence
• Spirituality and Religious Beliefs in Personal Development

3. What do you understand about
personal development?

5. Human Development and Personal Development
• Development scientists identified the three aspects or domains
of human development (Papalia & Fieldman, 2012) as:
1. Physical development, which covers the growth of the body and
the brain, motor and sensory skills, and even physical health;
2.Cognitive development, which covers our capacity to learn, to
speak, to understand, to reason, and to create; and
3. Psychosocial development, which includes our social
interactions with other people, our emotions, attitudes, self-
identity, personality, beliefs, and values.

6. Human Development and Personal Development
• While human development covers the whole lifespan of human existence in
relation to the three domains, personal development is one’s own development
and growth within the context of the three aspects of human development.
Human development is also influenced by the following
Heredity or the inborn traits passed on by the generation of offspring from
both sides of the biological parents’ family.
Environment is the word outside of ourselves and the experiences that result
from our contact and interaction with this external world.
Maturation is the natural progression of the brain and the body that affects
the cognitive (thinking and intelligence), psychological (emotion, attitude, and
self-identity, and social (relationships) dimensions of a person. The influence of
physical maturation over a person’s development is most pronounced during
his or her childhood and adolescence stages.

7. Is it Personality Development or Personal
Development
You must be familiar with the term “personality development” and must
have heard of learning places where you could enroll to learn skills like
table etiquette, how you sit properly and walk with grace, how you dress
up appropriately, and how to communicate better.
In some personality development centers, they also offer sessions that
deal with oneself and how one relates with others. Training in these skills
brings about noticeable transformation and improvement in one’s
personality.

8. Is it Personality Development or Personal
Development
Personality development has given birth to many business that span the
globe. It include image enhancement such as skin care and make up,
fashion and clothing, and even body contouring; modeling and beauty
pageants; and many others.
If personality development is all about these things mentioned above,
then what is personal development?

9. Is it Personality Development or Personal
Development
Let us see how the words “personal,” “personality,” and “development”
are commonly defined. We will use the Meriam Online Dictionary to serve
as our reference.
The word “personal” is defined as:
Belonging or relating to a particular person;
Made or designed to be used by one person;
Someone whose job involves working for or helping a particular person;
and
Of, relating to, or affecting a particular person

10. Is it Personality Development or Personal
Development
Here are some examples given for the word “personal”:
This is just my personal opinion.
I can only tell you what I know from personal experience.
We do not accept personal checks.

11. Is it Personality Development or Personal
Development
The word “personality,” on the other hand, is defined as:
The set of emotional qualities, ways of behaving, etc., that makes a
person different from other people;
Attractive qualities (such as energy, friendliness, and humor) that make
a person interesting or pleasant to be with;
Attractive qualities that make something unusual or interesting;
Distinction or excellence of personal and social traits; also a person
having such quality; and
A person of importance, prominence, renown, or notoriety

12. Is it Personality Development or Personal
Development
Some examples that are given for the word “personality” are:
He has a pleasant personality.
We al have different personalities.
He has many personalities.
He wants to buy a car that has personality.
She has met many television personalities.
He was an influential personality in genetic engineering.

13. Is it Personality Development or Personal
Development
And finally, the word “development” is defined as:
The act or process of growing or causing something to grow or become
larger or advanced;
The act or process of creating something over a period of time; and
The state of being created or made more advanced.
From these definitions, we can see the there is a major difference
between personal and personality. In this book, we will explore together
what personal development is all about and why it is important in our
lives.

14. What Is Personal Development?
Human nature is very complex. There is no singular school of thought in
any form of scientific study, including psychology, which can completely
and satisfactorily define human nature.
Although similar to many other living organisms that go through the
process of birth, growth, development, regeneration, and death, human
beings are different, as we possess more complex capabilities such as
self-awareness, analytical thinking, self-evaluation, motivation, decision-
making, and reflected thought.
These capabilities, beyond mere survival instincts, are what distinguish
the human species from the rest of the physical world.

15. What Is Personal Development?
Human beings have the sole capacity to reflect upon itself, and in the
process, develop self-awareness, become motivated, and then desire to
grow and change for the better; and are prompted to mature and
improve until it reaches its desired level of development.
It is therefore, natural for human beings to develop toward maturity and
fullness (Rogers, 1961).

16. What Is Personal Development?
Human beings have the sole capacity to reflect upon itself, and in the
process, develop self-awareness, become motivated, and then desire to
grow and change for the better; and are prompted to mature and
improve until it reaches its desired level of development.
It is therefore, natural for human beings to develop toward maturity and
fullness (Rogers, 1961).

17. What Is Personal Development?
Personal development may be defined as a process in which persons
reflect upon themselves, understand who they are, accept what they
discover about themselves, and learn (or unlearn) new sets of values,
attitudes, behavior, and thinking skills to reach their fullest potential as
human beings.

18. What Is Personal Development?
Zorka Hereford (2007), author of the book, 9 Essential Life Skills – A
Guide for Personal Development and Self-Realization, defined personal
development as “the process of striving to be the best that you can be in
order to reach and realize your full potential. It is a journey of self-
discovery, self-improvement, and self-realization.”

19. Origins of Personal Development
The evolution of the understanding of human development may have
started eons ago when the first Homo sapiens walked the face of the
earth.
The cavemen who drew figures on their cave walls attempted to narrate
their experiences such as hunting.
The act of drawing can be deemed as an attempt toward creative
expression and narration.
It was during the time of the Western philosophers, particularly the
Greek thinkers, when questions about the self and about being human
have begun to be asked.

21. Origins of Personal Development
In Republic, which some consider to be the greatest work on the
philosophy of education.
Plato argued that building character, as much as intelligence, is what
education is all about.
Even during the early times of human development and civilization,
there was already an attempt to link individual development with social
responsibility (Young Adult Learners Partnership, 2003).
This could be the seeds of personal development in Western thinking
that eventually evolved in the Human Potential Movement in the 1960s,
influenced by the popular philosophies at that time: existentialism and
humanistic psychology.

22. Origins of Personal Development
Eastern thought may have understood personal development through
another concept.
In Confucian philosophy, the great Chinese being will always desire to
become “superior man,” not just to his peers and followers, but also to
himself if lmost specially (The Ethics of Confucius, 2014).
Even religions may have influenced personal development through their
adherence to many rituals in self-discipline, meditation, prayer, physical
exercises such as yoga and fasting, and creative acts of expressions such
as singing, dancing, and acting.