Personal Development AND EMPOWERMENT

Personal development is a lifelong process. It’s a way for people to assess their skills and qualities, consider their aims in life and set goals in order to realise and maximise their potential.

This page helps you to identify the skills you need to set life goals which can enhance your employability prospects, raise your confidence and lead to a more fulfilling, higher quality life. Plan to make relevant, positive and effective life choices and decisions for your future to enable personal empowerment.


Practical Steps to Personal DevelopmentPractical steps can be taken to enhance personal development, including:

• Organising your time.
• Producing a personal CV or résumé.
• Undertaking a skills appraisal.
• Looking at your transferable skills.
• Overcoming barriers to learning a new skill.

What is Personal Empowerment?


At a basic level, the term 'empowerment' simply means 'becoming powerful'.  Building personal empowerment involves reflecting on our personal values, skills and goals and being prepared to adjust our behaviour in order to achieve our goals. Personal empowerment also means being aware that other people have their own set of values and goals which may different to ours.

Many other, more detailed, definitions exist. These usually centre on the idea that personal empowerment gives an individual the ability to:

• Take control of their circumstances and achieve their own goals in their personal and working life.
• Become more aware of their strengths and weaknesses and therefore be better equipped to deal with problems and achieve goals.
• Enhance the contribution they make both as an individual and as a member of a team.
• Take opportunities to enhance personal growth and a sense of fulfilment.

Developing personal empowerment usually involves making some fundamental changes in life, which is not always an easy process.  The degree of change required will differ from person to person, depending on the individual starting point.