Unit 1: Self-Development

Knowing and Understanding Oneself during Middle and Late Adolescence

SELF-CONCEPT
The actual self is built on self-knowledge. Self-knowledge is derived from social interactions that provide insight
into how others react to you.The actual self can be seen by others, but because we have no way of truly knowing how
others view us, the actual self is our self-image.

The ideal self, on the other hand, is how we want to be. It is an idealized image that we have developed over time,
based on what we have learned and experienced.

There is negotiation that exists between the two selves which is complex because there are numerous exchanges
between the ideal and actual self. These exchanges are exemplified in social roles that are adjusted and re-adjusted,
and are derived from outcomes of social interactions from infant to adult development. Alignment is important. If the
way that I am (the actual self) is aligned with the way that I want to be (the ideal self), then I will feel a sense of
mental well-being or peace of mind. If the way that I am is not aligned with how I want to be, the incongruence, or
lack of alignment, will result in mental distress or anxiety. The greater the level of incongruence between the ideal
self and real self, the greater the level of resulting distress. Personal development modules ultimate aim is greater
self-knowledge that will lead to higher alignment between these two personality domains.

PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS
Personal effectiveness means making use of all the personal resources – talents, skills, energy and time, to
enable you to achieve life goals.
Our personal effectiveness depends on our innate characteristics – talent and experience accumulated in the
process of personal development. Talents first are needed to be identified and then developed to be used in a
particular subject area (science, literature, sports, politics, etc.).
Experience includes knowledge and skills that we acquire in the process of cognitive and practical
activities.
Knowledge is required for setting goals, defining an action plan to achieve them and risk assessment.
Skills also determine whether real actions are performed in accordance with the plan. If the same ability is
used many times in the same situation, then it becomes a habit that runs automatically, subconsciously. Here are
some skills that will greatly increase the efficiency of any person who owns them:
1. Determination. It allows you to focus only on achieving a specific goal without being distracted by less
important things or spontaneous desires. It may be developed with the help of self-discipline exercise.
2. Self-confidence. It appears in the process of personal development, as a result of getting aware of
yourself, your actions and their consequences. Self-confidence is manifested in speech, appearance,
dressing, gait, and physical condition. To develop it, you need to learn yourself and your capabilities,
gain positive attitude and believe that by performing right actions and achieving right goals you will
certainly reach success.
3. Persistence. It makes you keep moving forward regardless of emerging obstacles – problems, laziness,
bad emotional state, etc. It reduces the costs of overcoming obstacles. It can also be developed with the
help of self-discipline exercise.
4. Managing stress. It helps combat stress that arises in daily life from the environment and other people.
Stress arises from the uncertainty in an unknown situation when a lack of information creates the risk of
negative consequences of your actions. It increases efficiency in the actively changing environment.
5. Problem-solving skills. They help cope with the problems encountered with a lack of experience. It
increases efficiency by adopting new ways of achieving goals when obtaining a new experience.
6. Creativity. It allows you to find extraordinary ways to carry out a specific action that no one has tried to
use. It can lead to a decrease or an increase of costs, but usually the speed of action is greatly increased
when using creative tools.
7. Generating ideas. It helps you achieve goals using new, original, unconventional ideas. Idea is a mental
image of an object formed by the human mind, which can be changed before being implemented in the
real world. For generating ideas you can use a method of mental maps, which allows you to materialize,
visualize and scrutinize all your ideas, which in turn contributes to the emergence of new ideas. These
are just some, but the most important personal effectiveness skills which make the achievement of any
goal easier and less costly.

BUILD ON YOUR STRENGTHS AND WORK ON YOUR WEAKNESSES

Most failures emanate from weaknesses that are not recognized or probably recognized but not given
appropriate attention or remedy. This could be a weakness in communications, personality or ability. Instead of

1 | Personality Development Prepared by: Hamida R. Radiamoda, LPT, RSW

giving up or indulging in self-pity, take action. Go for speech lessons, get skills upgrading, attend personality
development sessions or whatever appropriate remedies to your perceived weakness.
Instead of simply focusing on your weaknesses, recognize your own talents and abilities, build on them,
utilize them to your greatest advantage. This is where you can build your name and popularity. Handicapped
people like Jose Feliciano and other blind singers did not brood over their physical handicap. They recognized that
they have a golden voice so they search for ways to enrich that talent and now they have won international fame in
the field of music
YOU NEED TO TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR FUTURE

There are three kinds of people in this world:

The first is the Moviegoer. This person watches the movie of their lives, admires some parts and criticizes
others. Aside from that, they do nothing else.
The second is the Actor. This person does not only watch the movie of her life. She actually realizes she’s
the Actor – and can control a big part of her life.
The third is the Scriptwriter. This person does not only watch, and she doesn’t only act, but she actually
creates the entire movie from her mind.

2 | Personality Development Prepared by: Hamida R. Radiamoda, LPT, RSW