Personal Development Essay

If your college instructor or your employer asks you to create a personal development essay, don’t get scared! In its essence, the task is simple. You are to describe a specific event in your life or a turning point that pushed you to change or grow personally in some way. Since this is not a research paper and you don’t need to use any additional sources, the writing process doesn’t have to be complicated. Still, some preparation and brainstorming are needed. This way, you will shape a clear focus of your essay and understand what topic you really want to discuss. When you have decided on the topic of your masterpiece, you are to think of some overall ideas you want to highlight in relation to that theme.

An essay about personal growth and development is in fact the easiest type of paper to write. This is because you are the subject! Basically, you need to spot an area in life in which you have made significant progress and start by crafting an outline with the claims/central ideas you want to make. When the paper is ready, not only will you have a brilliant essay on personal development, but you will also realize how great the progress you have made in the past years is.

What is Personal Development?

First and foremost, it is a lifelong process. To write a good personal growth essay you need to know what this process entails. So, this process covers a variety of activities that develop one’s potential and talents, improve self-awareness and identity, improve the quality of life, and aid in the realization of dreams and aspirations. Such activities also build human capital and promote employability. In general, this concept is not restricted to self-help. It also includes formal and informal tasks aimed at helping others to become better counselors, teachers, guides, managers, mentors, and life coaches. In the context of a certain institution, personal development refers to tools, programs, methods, techniques, and grading systems that facilitate one’s development at the individual level in the organization.

If to speak about an individual, such a development incorporates the following activities:

• developing self-awareness
• advancing self-knowledge
• building self-esteem
• renewing identity
• learning to be a self-leader
• developing talents
• identifying potential
• spiritual growth
• enhancing the quality of life
• improving health and wealth
• initiating a personal autonomy/life enterprise
• bringing to life personal development plans
• fulfilling aspirations

How to Write a Personal Development Essay

Now that you have an understanding of the term and the topic/sphere in life/specific event you want to cover, you can start writing your personal development plan essay in compliance with a specific format. The following, a bit childish, statement will help you to remember the right paper format: announce what you are going to say, then say it, finally repeat what you said. This means that in your introductory paragraph, you will present your general topic along with a neatly crafted thesis statement. In the following several paragraphs you will explain your points. In the last paragraph, you will summarize your arguments shortly and clearly.

• Every essay about personal development starts with an introduction. It should attract your audience and make them read your paper till the last word. The best way to do this is to tell a story or create a certain image, linking them to your chosen topic and the thesis statement. This statement is a claim that appears in the last sentence of the paragraph. It should be specific and talk about you.

For example: “Caring for my deadly ill grandmother has allowed me to become a more caring person, as I have learned to see and cover the needs of others.”

Note that in this example, the central statement highlights a specific reason how looking after a grandmother has fostered one’s personal growth. Unlike most academic essays, providing a specific example in a thesis statement of an essay on development is appreciated.

• Don’t forget to check your instructor’s prompt. The personal growth and development essay prompt may contain a specific question that you are to answer. Employers and tutors tend to pose specific questions in relation to personal development. Feel free to highlight key phrases in the posed question. This will help you to answer it thoroughly. It is also recommended to use those key phrases somewhere in your paper to signal that you have addressed certain parts of a question.

Also, your thesis statement can be supported with another sentence highlighting several main topics you want to cover.

• In the next few paragraphs, you need to discuss each of your main ideas. The general rules of essay writing apply here. Thus, you should start your paragraph with a topic sentence. This statement should be directly linked to your central claim. Next, you are to explain your topic sentence using one more statement. Then, you are to present a relevant example from your life and discuss it. The last sentence should sum up what was said and offer a transition to the next point.

Repeat this procedure for all your main topics/points listed in the thesis statement. This will be the body of your essay about personal growth.

We don’t advise you to add some imaginary accomplishments or exaggerate the progress made in this or that sphere. Don’t be afraid to be honest. The majority of people underestimate themselves. We are sure, you will be surprised at how much you have managed to achieve and at the progress you have made over the past few years.

Your concluding paragraph should be short. Summarize what you have said. Add some recommendations for some kind of action plan that can be a logical extension of your personal progress and achievements.

Editing Your Development Essay

We recommend that you put aside your seemingly perfect essay for a day or two. This will refresh your brain and allow you to look at your paper with a lucid eye. Don’t get disappointed upon finding some grammar mistakes and repetitions after a break. This is normal. Address all of the detected problems and read your text aloud. Check if the paper sounds objective and professional. In other words, make sure the tone of your essay is appropriate.

Needless to say, at every stage of the writing process, you can turn to our professional custom writer. This person can simply craft an outline for your essay, write an original paper, or just proofread and edit what you have already created.

Personal Development Essay Sample

A good personal development essay example can give you an overall idea of what to write in your paper. Still, do not attempt to borrow some ideas or rewrite some parts of the example found online. Your work should be fully original and reflect your unique experience.

Every person throughout the life undergoes different stages of personal development. For example, when babies arrive in this world, they are helpless, tiny creatures who cannot exist without due care and support of adults. Somehow, with the proper care, nurturing and other factors in the next 22 years, they grow up, become conscious, independent adults who can take care of themselves and help other people as well. The process of becoming older is a wonderful time when children find out the basic knowledge about the surrounding world and form different traits of character that in mix with innate qualities create a unique story of personal development. And I was not an exception. Of course, I have my own history of my development from childhood through adolescence and into the present time.

I was born in Cameroon, a small Country in the continent of Africa. I grew up there until I was thirteen then I moved to the United States of America. Growing up in Cameroon, I faced many challenges, which have made me into the girl I am right now. I have been in the United States for almost 9 years now. I spent part of my childhood years in my country Cameroon and the rest here in the U.S. I do not remember much about my childhood but in this paper, I will try to explore and explain the main stages and moments of my life.

When I was an infant, as everyone in this period, I was not able to take care of myself. However, it seems to me that I was very busy person, because there were many new things around me which I wanted to explore. My mother remembers that I was extremely active and one of my favorite activities was to touch and lick everything that I saw around me. My first steps I did at the age of 12 month and it provide me with an excellent opportunity to discover new things. However, I remember that in the age of three just walking was not enough for me, because I wanted to do everything that adults did. I wore my mother’s skirt and shoes and imitated her behavior. These moments have etched in my memory because I have many photos from that time. Moreover, my relatives always with a smile remind me about it. Therefore, the main problem of my infancy and early childhood was the impossibility to behave like adults and it was the first challenge that I had experienced. This challenge rewarded me with such trait of character as shyness, reticence, as I was afraid to show my feelings to other people and talk with different strangers since that.

In the preschool period, I remember that studying was my favorite occupation. It brought me a lot of pleasure to draw different simple pictures, learn by heart short rhymes, sing funny songs and read small words. Moreover, together with my friends, we explored different laws of nature and every discovery made me extremely happy. For example, I remember that one day we learned that it was very easy to let sunbeams with the help of mirror. We had been playing in this game almost two years. Moreover, when I was 5 years old I began to understand that I was a beautiful girl, I needed to know more, and nursery school could not provide me with it. Therefore, I began to understand that such a small space like the house, the neighborhood and nursery school was not enough for me. I wanted to go to real school and it was the second period of challenges in my life. This period, in comparison with the first one, was more difficult because I clearly understood what I wanted and I knew that for the 5 years old child it was impossible. I cried many nights and asked my mother to enroll me to primary school. This age crisis rewarded me with such traits as determination and patience.

At the age of 6, my dream came true. However, at primary school everything was much more difficult than I had expected. The primary school required a lot of attention, patience and concentration in comparison with nursery one, which provided more opportunity for entertainment. To make it clearer, first, I want to start with explaining the peculiarities of the educational system in Cameroon, because it played a major role in my relation to school and in further studying at the USA. In Cameroon, the educational system differs from the US educational system. In Cameroon, there is a nursery school for two years, primary school for seven years, college and the university. I started going to nursery school at the age of four, then was primary school and I had finished first two years of college before I moved to the USA. At school, I was an active child. My siblings say that I was full of beans. I had a lot of energy for studying and for the entertainment as well. Moreover, I had the energy for playing with my little brother as I was babysitting him while my mother was working on the farm. On the other hand, mother’s permit not to help her planting or bridging made me a little bit lazy. Therefore, the years of studying at Cameron school and college awarded me with such positive qualities as a sense of competence, concentration, energy, restlessness, ability to overcome obstacles, and some negative ones as archness and laziness.

At the age of 13, I had experienced the most difficult period in my life. In comparison with previous crises, it was the most difficult one. It seemed to me that my life ended and nobody could help me. It was the time of realizing that I was not a child anymore, however not an adult as well and the greatest turnover in my life had happened. I had to leave Cameroon, my hometown, where I had many friends and came to the U.S, where I did not know anyone. It was difficult for me to integrate, because I did not understand well the peculiarities of the new culture and American – English language. Moreover, it was hard for me to adapt to the new school system. However, everything started to change for the better when I began studying at school in the USA, because I found many friends there. My classmates were friendly and they helped me to overcome many difficulties, which I faced there. They helped me to understand that the most important things in the life of every person are friendship and mutual support. The period of adolescence awarded me with such qualities as friendliness and sense of personal identity.

At the period of young adulthood, the most important task for me was the career choice. Fortunately, I have made the right choice. I am completely satisfied with my education at college. In addition to it, I have formed loving, friendly relationships with many people during the period of young adulthood that is my achievement as well.

Using my own life experience, I can define the boundaries between childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Boundary between childhood and adolescence is about at the age of 13 while between adolescence and adulthood is about at the age of 18.. However, every person has an individual development according to the principles of bringing up, traditions and so on, that is why there are no concrete age when you grew up, as it is different for everybody.

To sum up, the story of my personal development consists of different stages, challenges and outcomes. Al these altogether have made me whom I am right now and have formed me as a unique personality.

Once your personal growth essay is ready, you will get the feeling of accomplishment. This work will allow you to realize how you have grown on many levels, and how many goals you have achieved. You will also be able to create a plan for you not to stop on what you have already achieved. As was earlier said, personal growth and development is a lifelong process.