Self-development: where to start? 6 Effective Tips on How to Start Self-Development + Self-Development Plan for 12 Months

Surely, when you come to this article, you would like to get an answer to the question: “Where to start with self-development?” You are in luck, because in this article you will find the answer not only to your question, but also to many others.

Let's start, perhaps, with the most important question - “What is self-development?”

I will not go into all the subtleties and describe this definition in detail. In simple words, Self-development is constant and conscious work on oneself in different areas of life.

Attention! From this article you will learn:

Step by step plan;
The best exercises for self-development;
Ways to engage in self-development every day;
10 books and films that are suitable for beginners and much more.

PS It is worth warning that in many cases I will rely on my own experience and it is not a fact that some advice will be suitable for you.

Read also:
Where to start with time management: techniques, exercises, tools and much more

How self-development has impacted my life

So, to begin with, I will show you the existing results that I have achieved by engaging in self-development for several years.

The table shows how much my level has changed in one or another area of life thanks to self-development.

Sphere	5 years ago	Today
Self-realization	Reluctantly studied at school; Had most of the threes.	Created my own website, as well as a channel on Yandex Zen; I share my experience and advice on the site, for which I get paid.
Personal growth	I didn’t even think about picking up the book; I often put things off until later.	Read more than 50 books; I speak English fluently; I understand SEO optimization of websites.
Discipline	Could not concentrate on one thing for more than 15 minutes; Didn't follow the regime.	I show strong discipline during training, routine work, and difficult tasks. This allows me to get the most out of myself; I follow the regime.
Finance	There was not even a hint of any income.	I have good passive income from the site, as well as additional income from other sources.
Health (nutrition, sports)	Of the heavy ones, I only lifted my *** (you know what); He was absolutely weak and had no endurance; He ate anything; I often overeat.	I train 5 times a week; I have no problems with being overweight; I am building a pumped up body; I try to watch my diet: I exclude fast food, flour and sweets from my diet.
Relationships	Was shy; It was difficult to find a common language with peers.	Complexity has disappeared; I have many friends and am looking for like-minded people.
Hobbies (free time)	Spent his free time at the computer. Played games or watched videos; I could do nothing all day.	In my free time I read or study English; I am developing my Internet projects.

When viewing a table from your phone, turn your phone to landscape mode.

Recommendations for women

For the fair half of humanity, we also have some advice.

Look after your beauty and take care of yourself

A man can be a little more beautiful than a monkey and still be successful with the opposite sex. This trick will not work for women. Dedicate at least 5 hours a week to self-care.

Develop physically

Dancing, aerobics, swimming, yoga, and Pilates are perfect for ladies as physical activity. Strength training should also not be neglected, especially if your figure is far from ideal.

Read books for women

I don’t mean the women’s pulp novels and memoirs of Olga Buzova. We have a selection of high-quality literature for women for you - take a look.

Develop feminine energy

In the process of self-development, be sure to pay attention to accumulating the energy of femininity. The books we talked about above, as well as special women's courses and practices, will help you with this.

Also try to cultivate in yourself qualities that are traditionally considered feminine: gentleness, tolerance, mercy, altruism.

Update your wardrobe

Learn to dress modernly and appropriately, highlight your strengths and hide your flaws. I advise you to use the services of a stylist. It will set the vector for further independent work in this area.

What prevents you from starting self-development: 5 reasons

There are so many reasons why a person loses the desire to improve. But I will highlight only 5 of them, these are:

Laziness. It usually occurs when something difficult and unusual is coming up. Remember that laziness is just a trap of consciousness. It immediately disappears when motivation, planning and responsibility appear in life.
Lack of motivation. Motivation encourages a person to act and makes him move towards his goal. To gain motivation for self-development, you need your own attitudes or an example from outside.
Garbage in my head. Wrong attitudes, bad habits, someone else's way of thinking. All this is garbage in the head, because of which a person begins to live a life that is not his own. To get organized, ask yourself the question: “What do I really want?” and put aside your prejudices.
Fear of change. There are many types of fears. These include the fear of taking on extra responsibility, facing criticism, and failing. Therefore, to get rid of the fear of change, you need to step outside your comfort zone.
Fear of the first step. Once you take the first step, it will be difficult to stop you.

So, so that these 5 reasons do not prevent us from improving ourselves, we need a step-by-step plan.

Stop wasting your time

There are things that mercilessly waste our most precious resource - time. This is procrastination, chronophages, distraction or other similar phenomena. They are present in the lives of each of us, and many people simply do not pay attention to them - they have become so firmly ingrained into everyday life. Meanwhile, all of these are serious enemies on the path of self-improvement. By themselves, however, they mean nothing, but the desire to devote time to them can cross out all good undertakings.

There may be several reasons for this desire:

Lack of motivation to do important things
Indulging your weaknesses, habits, instincts
Victim syndrome and self-pity
Laziness
Showing off

To overcome them, you don't need to be a genius. It’s enough just to show maturity and apply your intelligence. Think for yourself:

What’s more important: doing a few exercises to train your brain or watching the next episode of “House-2”? Of course, exercise. So, take it and do it!
What’s better: getting up early and doing more, or sleeping until 12 and then trying hard to make up time and get everything done? Of course, get up early. So, get up and get things done!
What is more correct: to complain and remain in the image of a victim or to take responsibility for your life, even if through “I can’t”, but get up from your knees and start acting? Of course, take action. So, pull yourself together and go ahead!
Which is more literate: “I don’t want to!” I won’t!” or “I decided, I did it, I got the result”? Of course, the second one. Well, what are you? Work and get results!
What makes more sense: endlessly re-read motivational phrases and throw all sorts of demotivators on the wall, or take a self-education course, go to training, go to India to live in an ashram for a couple of weeks? Of course, something that has real benefits! Here's the course, you can find training, and you can save up for tickets!

You just need to cut off everything unnecessary. If you want to develop, develop if you really need it. Stop being led by losers, excuses and bad habits.

A winner is one who does not feel sorry for himself and does not blame everyone for his difficulties and problems. If you are more comfortable sitting in a chair waiting for a miracle, then you don’t need to go further - continue in the same spirit.

If not, forget about laziness and stop wasting your time. Start developing and stop doing nonsense. But work honestly towards yourself, and not for the sake of likes and the opinions of others.

By the way, here's some great motivation for action from a really cool guy:

A consistent self-development plan

1. Identifying your own problems and shortcomings

To start working on yourself, you first need to understand exactly in which direction to move. To do this, you need to identify your own problems and shortcomings.

Ask yourself the following questions:

“If there was anything in my life that I wanted to change?”
“Is there anything I should give up?”
“Am I doing things that bring me pleasure?”
“Do I want to change after all?”

And everyone’s problems will sound different. For some it is a job they don’t like, for others they experience stress very often. For some, the problem is low income, or addiction to smoking.

Once you have identified your problems, move on to the second stage.

Quote: “Human problems are not related to life - human problems are related to the mind” - Sadhguru.

Setting goals

The main requirement for a goal is a clear formulation.

Imagine meeting your future self. Ask this person (yourself) the following questions:

"What does he do?"
“Where does he live?”
"Notice what he's wearing?"
“What is his posture and gait like?”

The answers to these questions will form your goal.

Sequence of correct setting:

Let's take a financial goal as an example:

Write down on a piece of paper the amount you intend to earn.
Write down the time you give yourself to earn this money.
And at the end, build a route to this financial goal. For example: “In 5 years from today, I will earn my first million.”

When setting a goal, follow these rules:

The goal should not be general and superficial.
Set realistic and achievable goals.
Write your goals down on paper.
Set goals for 5 years, a year, a month, a week and a day.

Deadline to reach

It is very important that the goal is achieved by a certain deadline or date. This way you will properly distribute your efforts towards achieving it.

Quote: “Setting goals is the first step towards turning dreams into reality” - Tony Robbins.

Planning

Now it's time to plan.

The goal you have set is the final point. But only a plan will help you get there. Our task is to split the main goal into several small ones. And then achieve each one in turn.

A visual diagram of planning a move to another city:

Scheme on which the move is planned

Day planning:

Equally important is how you plan your day. After all, if you have a plan for the year, but no plan for the day, then you are unlikely to move towards your goal, because you simply don’t know what to do at the moment.

Spend 15 minutes planning your day in the morning, and summarize in the evening. Make a to-do list for today and get started.

An example of setting plans and goals for the day

Quote: “Tactics without strategy is just vanity before defeat” - Sun Tzu.

Developing self-discipline

Self-development cannot do without self-discipline. And in general, everything that I described above will not last long without discipline and control.

Self-development means working hard on yourself every day. If you give up, you can lose a lot.

Quote: “Discipline is not a restriction of freedom. This is cutting off everything unnecessary” - Bruce Lee.

Set yourself a goal to give up bad habits.

Reading self-development books

Self-help books are not the most exciting or exciting section in a bookstore. However, it is on their pages that we will find solutions to the problems that we encountered at this stage of life. Reading them is like having a conversation and getting advice from your best friend or mentor.

At the end of the article, I compiled a small top of self-development books purely from myself. Click here to go to this section.

Quote: “Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body” - Joseph Addison.

Set a goal for yourself to read one book a month.

Finding a hobby

Hobbies are a great way to take your mind off constant self-improvement. You can find a hobby that combines business with pleasure. Here is a list of things to do that serve as relaxation and development at the same time:

Reading;
Studying foreign languages;
Bicycle rides;
Collecting;
Writing;
Etc.

In general, do whatever you like.

Quote: “Be self-taught, don’t wait for life to teach you” - Sergey Nikulin.

Set a goal for yourself to learn something new every day.

Financial literacy

Don't forget about financial education. Dedicate the same amount of time to it as to your basic education.

The most accessible way to gain knowledge about money is to read books about finance. Here is a list of those works that you need to read first:

"The Richest Man in Babylon" - George Samuel Clason;
“Think and Grow Rich” - Napoleon Hill;
“Rich Dad Poor Dad” - Robert Kiyosaki;
“Cash Flow Quadrant” - Robert Kiyosaki.

Basic things to maintain your financial situation:

Keep records of income and expenses. Let's talk about this in more detail later.
Save some money.

Even with these two things, you will know exactly your financial situation.

Quote: “The true measure of your wealth is how much you would be worth if you lost all your money.” - Unknown Author.

Set yourself a goal to earn 100 thousand rubles by the end of the year.

Health, sports, nutrition

Spend at least 30 minutes a day on sports and within a couple of weeks you will feel better. To this it is also worth adding proper nutrition. Just give up flour and sweets, which is quite enough.

Quote: “Two things reveal their value after they are lost - youth and health” - Arabic proverb.

Set yourself a goal to lose 5 kg.

Mastering communication skills

The ability to communicate with people, build relationships and maintain a conversation are very important components in modern society. Despite this, schools and universities do not teach such skills. Therefore, all we can do is read the most popular book on relationships with people - “How to Win Friends and Influence People.”

The author's main tips:

Show genuine interest in people;
Don't argue;
Praise more;
Address people by name;
Speak on topics that are interesting to your interlocutor;

Quote: “The most important thing in communication is to hear what was said” - Peter Drucker.

Set yourself a goal to smile at one passerby a day.

Proper rest

Rest is the only tool in our arsenal that helps restore energy. This point should be taken seriously, as it is very important.

The most serious mistake of most people is that we perceive rest as something bad, shameful and unusual for “successful people”. Believe me, this is not true. And all representatives of the Forbes list will agree with me.

To ensure proper rest, we must plan time for this matter in advance. For example, rest for 15 minutes every 2 hours of work. Or 2 weeks of vacation every half year, if work allows.

It is also important to separate the periods of work and rest as two different times, which never under any circumstances overlap with each other.

Vacation options for each type of work

Type of work	Holiday options
Hard physical labor	✓ Reading, watching films ✗ Work in the country
Sedentary work	✓ Active recreation, walks ✗ Social networks, TV
Constant work with people	✓ Quiet holiday with family or alone ✗ Mass events

When viewing a table from your phone, turn your phone to landscape mode.

Quote: “People who cannot find time to rest will sooner or later be obliged to find time to be sick.” - John Wanamaker.

Appeal

If you want to create your own self-development plan, write to me at [email protected] I will be happy to give some recommendations and help you create a plan absolutely free.

In what directions can you develop?

Let's outline the amount of work. I will list the most important areas of life, and you try to objectively assess the state of each of them.

To make it easier for you, I have prepared a short survey about every aspect of your life. It consists of statements that you will need to confirm or refute. For each true statement, award yourself 2 points. Count the points separately for each item.

Health

The most important area of life, the foundation and basis for everything else. Let's see how things stand here.

You don't have bad habits.
You exercise regularly.
You try to eat healthy and avoid food waste.
Your night's sleep lasts at least 7 and no more than 9 hours.
In case of illness, you always responsibly follow the doctor's instructions.

If you score less than 6 points, you need to improve your health first. And the sooner the better.

Relationship

This area concerns not only love and family relationships, but also any interactions between people.

You have a permanent partner.
You easily find a common language with new people.
You are a peace-loving and non-conflict person.
You have many friends.
You prefer communication with people to loneliness.

Of course, relationships are not an area that a person cannot live without. But, you must admit, life surrounded by loved ones and loving people is much more pleasant than the life of a lonely hermit.

Career

Work is not just about making money, as some people think. This is the main internal support of the personality. Through this sphere, a person makes his contribution to society, takes a place in the social hierarchy, and finds his purpose.

Do you like your job.
You are considered a professional in your field.
You never stop learning and implement new knowledge into your work.
By doing your business, you feel that you are benefiting society.
In your opinion, you receive a decent payment for your work.

Finance

No matter how they tried to convince us from childhood that money does not buy happiness, we are all skeptical about this idea. Money gives freedom, but isn’t this true happiness? Rate your relationship with money using the following statements:

You have no outstanding loans or debts.
Your income covers all your basic needs.
You manage to save some money and build up savings.
You don't make impulsive purchases that you later regret.
You regularly keep track of your expenses and income.

If you are struggling in this area, you may want to improve your financial literacy.

Brightness of life

So that life does not seem too bland, there must be some pepper in it. Namely, interesting, bright and eventful leisure time.

You have an exciting hobby.
At least once a year you go on a trip.
You spend your leisure time actively and intensely.
You are able to find interesting and beautiful even in the most ordinary things.
You rarely feel bored.

Spirituality

But the depth of life is given by immersion in spiritual spheres. It doesn't have to be a religion at all. You can practice eastern spiritual practices, study philosophy, and cultivate virtues.

You practice meditation and auto-training.
You are interested in self-knowledge and self-immersion.
You read books on philosophy, theology, ethics.
You often think about the meaning of life and other eternal questions.
You are involved in charity work.

Start to engage in spiritual development when you put the other areas in order a little or in parallel with them.

Now that you have an idea of how things are going in each area of your life, you can outline a work plan. Start with the most important areas (health and work) if you have problems in them. Then improve yourself in the rest, starting with the most neglected ones.

List of useful exercises

Let’s start learning exercises that are perfect for those who are just starting self-development.

The Miracle Morning Method

The “Miracle Morning” method includes a set of 6 exercises that must be done every morning.

Tune in this evening. Say to yourself several times “Tomorrow I will get up at 6:00 (choose any time). I will feel refreshed and well-rested.”
Cheer up in the morning. Drink a glass of water, wash your face and do some exercise.
Do a meditation. Let's talk about this in more detail later.
Write down your goals and plans for the day.
15 minutes of reading.
Any other matter. For example, for me this is studying English.

Charger

From the very morning, the body needs to wake up. And the most effective way to do this is to exercise.

Charging will take a maximum of 7-8 minutes. For this, a couple of rotations of the head, arms, torso, stretching and ten push-ups are enough.

Meditation

You only need to sit in silence for 5 minutes before going to school or work. But thanks to this exercise, your thoughts will be more focused throughout the day.

Some tips for meditation:

Find a comfortable and quiet place where no one should disturb you;
Close your eyes and breathe deeply;
To avoid being distracted by thoughts, focus on your breathing, listen and feel every inhalation and exhalation;
It is not necessary to sit in the lotus position. Make yourself comfortable.

Affirmations

An affirmation is a statement phrase that contains a positive attitude. When repeated many times, this phrase becomes fixed in a person’s subconscious, which ultimately affects reality.

Simply put, if you repeat the phrase “I am a successful person” , you will definitely become one. At least internally you will feel 100% successful.

I recommend repeating the following affirmations every morning:

“I am a confident person”;
“Money from various sources streams into my hands”;
“I feel healthy, energetic and full of energy throughout the day”;
“I don’t waste time on things I don’t need”;
“Girls like me and make them interested.” Likewise for girls.

Transitions

Take small breaks of 5 minutes throughout the day.

Every time you come home from school or work, sit down in a comfortable place, relax, calm down, and breathe out. And only after that proceed to other things. This is the transition.

Writing thoughts in a diary

Keep a diary and write down your thoughts in it every evening. It could be anything:

New acquaintance;
Cool idea;
Useful experience, etc.

If you suddenly have nothing to write, take stock of the day. List your accomplishments and failures for the day.

Watching educational films

We have already talked about books. Now it's time to talk about films. Although there’s nothing to even talk about here, because the benefits are the same as from books. You watch, learn something new, or most often get inspired, and then try to implement it in life and move towards your own goal.

At the end of the article, I compiled a small top of films for self-development purely on my own. Click here to go to this section.

Learning English

For those who don’t know what hobby they want to take up, I suggest learning languages.

First of all, it's exciting.

Secondly, now is such a time that it is a sin not to know English.

Thirdly, English may be needed everywhere.

Personally, I study English using the YouTube channel “English by Playlists”. I liked the approach to studying when you first study theory for several lessons and then go through practice.

Accounting for income and expenses

You can create a table yourself and fill it out every month. Here is a sample table for accounting:

Example of accounting for income and expenses

How to practice self-development every day

Wake up no later than 7:00;
Do exercises after waking up;
Read for 20 minutes;
Write down your plans and goals for the day;
Take 1 English lesson on the “English by Playlists” channel;
Create a weekly training program and follow it;
Alternate strength training with running;
Instead of music, listen to podcasts or audiobooks on the go;
Smile at people;
Help at least one person a day;
Drink 2 liters of water per day;
Don't overeat;
Eat more vegetables and fruits;
Walk 10,000 steps a day;
Learn to listen to people carefully;
Do the cleaning;
Learn something new and useful every day;
Limit your time on social networks;
Write down every new idea in a notebook;
Summarize the results of the weeks, months and years;
Set aside every coin;
Keep records of income and expenses;
Write down your thoughts in a diary;
Go to bed and wake up at the same time;
Sleep 7-8 hours;
Follow successful people on YouTube or Instagram;
Meditate;
Take online courses or attend seminars;
Learn new skills;
Hang out with people who are better than you;
Praise people.

Read also:
A typical working day for a webmaster | What does my work consist of and how should I organize it?

Bad and good habits

Working on transforming bad habits into useful ones also relates to self-development.

1. Poor diet => Healthy diet

According to statistics, 48% of Russians admitted that they eat incorrectly. It also turned out that one in five adults is overweight.

Simple rules will help you avoid being included in this list

Do not overeat, eat in small portions, but 4-5 times;
Don't eat 5 hours before bedtime;
Drink 2 liters of water per day;
Avoid starchy and sweet foods.

Watching TV => Reading books

An average Russian spends on average 3 hours watching TV and 1-2 hours on social networks. That works out to 4 hours a day, which is half a working day.

Imagine if you read books instead.

30 pages per hour*4 hours=120 pages per day. 120*30=3600 pages in thirty days. As a result, 20 books a month!

Computer games => Training

According to estimates, 23% of teenagers in Russia spend all their free time playing computer games.

If you are approaching or already entering this percentage, quickly delete all games from your computer and phone. Start doing push-ups, going to the horizontal bars or going to the gym. Imagine what you will look like in a year if you choose sports.

From the diagram you can understand how much time a teenager spends at the computer.

Image source – security

Smoking => Running

Smoking kills 332,000 people in Russia every year. Smoking has been compared to accidents such as plane crashes and accidents.

Why kill yourself when you can get high? Run a couple of laps and you will feel that it is much better than smoking.

Eternal salary => Setting goals

If you read Forbes, you can say that only 3% of people on earth achieve their goals and reach outstanding heights. It can be fixed. You already know how to set goals and plan, so don’t think twice about it.

#30dayschallenge

Day 1 ✓	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Day 5
Day 6	Day 7	Day 8	Day 9	Day 10
Day 11	Day 12	Day 13	Day 14	Day 15
Day 16	Day 17	Day 18	Day 19	Day 20
Day 21	Day 22	Day 23	Day 24	Day 25
Day 26	Day 27	Day 28	Day 29	Day 30

There is an opinion that if you challenge yourself, it will be easier to achieve a new habit. That's why I suggest you keep a #30daychallenge table. Copy or sketch it in your notebook.

Your task is to set a goal. Let's say we eat healthy food for 30 days. Then, starting today, check off each day if you completed the challenge. And if you lose your temper and eat something harmful, start again.

Tips to avoid mistakes

Don't distance yourself from others. In self-development, the main thing is not to distance yourself too much from society, otherwise it will not be fun.
Don't be afraid of judgment. Don't give a damn about what others will say in your direction when you do something unusual for them.
Take your own development seriously from the very beginning. Then everything will work out.
Don't attack everything at once. To avoid burnout, increase the load gradually.
Make changes. If you only read books, you will quickly get bored.
Get rid of perfectionism. We are all not perfect.
The main thing in life is to be useful for the development of society, and not to live for one’s own benefit. Change your environment, and then the whole world, for the better.

Is it too late to start after 30?

The desire to develop yourself and change something in life can arise at any age, this is normal. At the age of 30-35, a person experiences a turning point in consciousness; he begins to analyze his life and what he has achieved. Life is a constant physical and mental movement; if a person stands still, he degrades. Both at 30 and 40 years old you need to improve yourself.

A man stands near the window

Self-development, where to start after 30 years:

Health. If before this a person followed bad habits, now you need to pay attention to your body. It is necessary to give up alcohol, cigarettes and junk food to take care of yourself in the future;
Sports activities. It may seem that sports and nutrition have nothing to do with mental development, but in fact, physical activity improves brain function;
Reconsider your social circle. Some people the same age stop growing at the age of 30 and slow down those who want to develop. It is not necessary to stop communicating with your best friends; you need to stop justifying your inaction by saying that “they don’t do anything either”;
Review your activities. Does it bring pleasure or just money? If you don’t like the job, a person will live in constant tension, and you can forget about personal growth;
Don't be afraid to take risks. After 30 years, you can change a lot in your life: change jobs, move to another city. If there is such an opportunity, you should not miss it;
Focus on what is happening. If there is something that brings you pleasure, you need to develop in this area. You shouldn’t waste your energy on different activities, do everything at once, it’s better to be a specialist in one thing.

How quickly can a person develop?

If you want to see an exact figure showing how long it takes for your personality to transform, then this figure will not be here.

It all depends on how you “develop yourself”. If you read 1 book a week or even a day, it will not give you anything. Useful information without further application is useless junk in your head.

Conclusion: To get at least some results, you need to apply the acquired knowledge in life.

What helps you not give up on cultivation?

If a person does not know how to develop himself, he needs to start with minimal actions. As you achieve your goals, you can increase the requirements for further growth. How to help yourself become better:

Record your results. A person can be overly critical and forget to praise himself. You need to regularly record your progress so that in a year you can see progress;
Find a mentor and teacher. This should be a person who inspires, from whom you can learn knowledge. You can read success stories of famous people to understand their life principles;
Be disciplined. Motivation is a good, but fickle thing. Sometimes you have to do what is difficult, even if you don’t want to;
Decide on a goal - it could be buying a car, a promotion, or good family relationships;
Listen to your friends’ advice on self-development; perhaps someone has already faced similar difficulties and will share their experience.