The change we are in the middle of isn’t minor and it isn’t optional. An interesting quote from Clay Shirky. As Clay Shirky describes the digital internet age, it is far from minor and not optional. Right on the mark isn’t it? This description is particularly relevant to the need of how to boost personal

development. How? By paying attention to killer mistakes that wreck your personal development for long-term success.

Check out our thoughts on team leverage.

See our article on The Story and Zen of Getting Things Done

I often use checklists to create the attitudes where it is easier to see opportunity in every difficulty.

After college, I spent almost 2 years training as a naval aviator. An important element of that training was the use of checklists in the learning and refresher process.

Checklist utilization remains an important part of my business life. It is always a good idea to have a helpful checklist for reminders of improvements for your business or your personal life.

In my many years of business leadership, I often coached and mentored many employees and I would use checklists to help me. I would use both positive and negative approaches to pointing out development actions for employees.

This is one of my approaches for them to avoid mistakes that defeat their other, more positive actions. Let’s review this checklist:

Continuous live past successes

There is nothing more dangerous to life success than a great last result, is there? We are ‘only as good as our next result’. Stay paranoid and don’t slack off. Everyone is always looking for what you have done for us lately, yes?

Lacking continuity

Hairdressing icon Vidal Sassoon was famous for having said:

“The only place you’ll find success coming before work is in a dictionary.”

We have to work on ourselves. Put pressure on ourselves. Self-critique our own efforts. Be our own very best coaches and cheering squads. All of this applies as much to our personal lives as for our business lives.

No focus on continuous learning

I am a big believer in adaptation and change. You should always seek to be flexible and keep several alternative paths in front of you. Always be on the lookout for ways to reinvent ways for self-improvement.

My most favored quote on change and adaptation is from Charles Darwin:

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.

Just remember to substitute success for survival and you will have a very valuable tip. Always keep up your continuous learning.

Not trying new things often

Your life will be in constant change mode, and that is a good thing if you lead change in direction of your success goals.

To do that most successfully, you should try lots of new things continually. For things you like, get very good at them with lots of practice. But keep trying new activities.

Not prioritizing tasks

Set a goal to get more of the important things done every day. Be obsessed with getting priorities rights, on what’s really important, every day, and make sure you spend the majority of your day on these priorities.

Your personal development should be taken out 3-4 times a year to see how you are doing and to reprioritize tasks.

Fearing change

Darwin said it was not the strongest of the species that survived, but the ablest to adapt to change. There will be more change in the next five years than we’ve seen in the past 50.

Get excited by change. Be part of the most movements that you can. Help shake things up.

We’ve got one shot at our lives. Don’t fear change, just let it motivate you. Work hard on yourself to stay relevant.

Personal development … making career your life

This is probably the most difficult of the lessons, particularly early to mid-career. At least it was for me. To be successful in this lesson, you should develop breath to your list of activities and always have family and friends at the top of your list of actions and goals.

To do both well, think about activities that maximize your friends and family, like coaching your children’s sports teams.

Not practicing new skills

Most new skills won’t come to us naturally. They all take practice to help our success. Dig in and aim high.

One of my most favorite quotations about aim and goals is one from Michelangelo:

The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.

Michelangelo knew a thing or two about high aim and goals didn’t he? Need we say anything more?

Little reading

It is very difficult to learn at a good pace without a lot of reading. Let your curiosity take control and take you into new information. Read for many reasons, but most of all to be entertained and learn new things.

In today’s world of infinite access to information and knowledge, the sky is definitely the limit, isn’t it?

No kindness

All of these lessons on success get better when you have a strong foundation in knowing how to be kind to others.

I have never found a better way to stay happy. Kindness costs you nothing and you’d be surprised how much it can do for your own happiness.

Not enjoying the little things

How many times have you noticed little things after they have come and gone? Take your time in observing everything you can.

Keep it simple in everything you do. And that is more difficult and significant than you probably believe. Our favorite quote on simplicity?

Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple … that’s creativity.

That says it all, doesn’t it?

Not enough laughing

Don’t miss the chance to enjoy what you are doing. That means a good laugh often. Even at your own expense.

The second most important factor in your happiness is enjoying a good laugh as often as you can. Making fun of yourself and your own mistakes is a great place to start.

No end of day review

All of us can be enthusiastic and show passion on our favorite topics and on our best days. The secret sauce is to be as consistent as possible and make it contagious to friends and teammates.

I’ve always found that taking 15-20 minutes at the end of every day to review the good accomplishments you have made. This always seems to tee up future plans.

Limited networking

Woody Allen said: “85% of the secret of success is just turning up.” Turn up to events. Make that phone call. Read that book. Do that training. Have the courage to ask that question. Make the effort.

Stay connected to what’s happening around you. Always work on adding to your network.

Little patience and persistence

While we don’t want to highlight our lack of patience and persistence, all of us experience a lack of these two key personality traits in our lives and our careers occasionally.

The secret sauce is all about learning from them and moving on in our lives as quickly as possible. Realize that careers and lives won’t fall apart from them unless we keep repeating them. Practice efforts both frequently and keep track of how you are doing.

Key takeaways

As you progress in your continuous learning and development, keep in mind growth is a long-term, not short-term endeavor. In reality, it should never end. It should be pursued consistently throughout your career, day by day.

Don’t settle for less than you know you can achieve.

And remember, keep your happiness and balance at the top of your list. Everything will pivot around them.

If you are looking for additional resources for innovation, one of my favorite experts is Kate Nasser. You’ll find lots of good stories and examples to learn from her blog.

So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is completely up to you.

It’s up to you to keep the focus on personal development. Lessons are all around you. In many situations, your competitor may be providing the ideas and or inspiration. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.

All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.

When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.

Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.

Are you devoting enough energy to improving your growth hacking for your team?

Do you have a lesson about making your growth hacking better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?

Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find them on G+, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed at how reasonable we will be.

Remarkable Lessons in Motivation Steve Jobs Taught Me

How to Create Honest Employee Trust and Empowerment

The Story and Zen of Getting Things Done

10 Positive Thinking Ideas from Peers and Mentors

Like this short blog? Follow Digital Spark Marketing on LinkedIn or add us to your circles for 3-4 short, interesting blogs, stories per week.

Personal Development: 15 Things You Should Never Do

Personal Development: 15 Things You Should Never Do

development. How? By paying attention to killer mistakes that wreck your personal development for long-term success.

Check out our thoughts on team leverage.

See our article on The Story and Zen of Getting Things Done

I often use checklists to create the attitudes where it is easier to see opportunity in every difficulty.

After college, I spent almost 2 years training as a naval aviator. An important element of that training was the use of checklists in the learning and refresher process.

Checklist utilization remains an important part of my business life. It is always a good idea to have a helpful checklist for reminders of improvements for your business or your personal life.

In my many years of business leadership, I often coached and mentored many employees and I would use checklists to help me. I would use both positive and negative approaches to pointing out development actions for employees.

This is one of my approaches for them to avoid mistakes that defeat their other, more positive actions. Let’s review this checklist:

Continuous live past successes

There is nothing more dangerous to life success than a great last result, is there? We are ‘only as good as our next result’. Stay paranoid and don’t slack off. Everyone is always looking for what you have done for us lately, yes?

Lacking continuity

Hairdressing icon Vidal Sassoon was famous for having said:

“The only place you’ll find success coming before work is in a dictionary.”

We have to work on ourselves. Put pressure on ourselves. Self-critique our own efforts. Be our own very best coaches and cheering squads. All of this applies as much to our personal lives as for our business lives.

No focus on continuous learning

I am a big believer in adaptation and change. You should always seek to be flexible and keep several alternative paths in front of you. Always be on the lookout for ways to reinvent ways for self-improvement.

My most favored quote on change and adaptation is from Charles Darwin:

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.

Just remember to substitute success for survival and you will have a very valuable tip. Always keep up your continuous learning.

Not trying new things often

Your life will be in constant change mode, and that is a good thing if you lead change in direction of your success goals.

To do that most successfully, you should try lots of new things continually. For things you like, get very good at them with lots of practice. But keep trying new activities.

Not prioritizing tasks

Set a goal to get more of the important things done every day. Be obsessed with getting priorities rights, on what’s really important, every day, and make sure you spend the majority of your day on these priorities.

Your personal development should be taken out 3-4 times a year to see how you are doing and to reprioritize tasks.

Fearing change

Darwin said it was not the strongest of the species that survived, but the ablest to adapt to change. There will be more change in the next five years than we’ve seen in the past 50.

Get excited by change. Be part of the most movements that you can. Help shake things up.

We’ve got one shot at our lives. Don’t fear change, just let it motivate you. Work hard on yourself to stay relevant.

Personal development … making career your life

This is probably the most difficult of the lessons, particularly early to mid-career. At least it was for me. To be successful in this lesson, you should develop breath to your list of activities and always have family and friends at the top of your list of actions and goals.

To do both well, think about activities that maximize your friends and family, like coaching your children’s sports teams.

Not practicing new skills

Most new skills won’t come to us naturally. They all take practice to help our success. Dig in and aim high.

One of my most favorite quotations about aim and goals is one from Michelangelo:

The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.

Michelangelo knew a thing or two about high aim and goals didn’t he? Need we say anything more?

Little reading

It is very difficult to learn at a good pace without a lot of reading. Let your curiosity take control and take you into new information. Read for many reasons, but most of all to be entertained and learn new things.

In today’s world of infinite access to information and knowledge, the sky is definitely the limit, isn’t it?

No kindness

All of these lessons on success get better when you have a strong foundation in knowing how to be kind to others.

I have never found a better way to stay happy. Kindness costs you nothing and you’d be surprised how much it can do for your own happiness.

Not enjoying the little things

How many times have you noticed little things after they have come and gone? Take your time in observing everything you can.

Keep it simple in everything you do. And that is more difficult and significant than you probably believe. Our favorite quote on simplicity?

Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple … that’s creativity.

That says it all, doesn’t it?

Not enough laughing

Don’t miss the chance to enjoy what you are doing. That means a good laugh often. Even at your own expense.

The second most important factor in your happiness is enjoying a good laugh as often as you can. Making fun of yourself and your own mistakes is a great place to start.

No end of day review

All of us can be enthusiastic and show passion on our favorite topics and on our best days. The secret sauce is to be as consistent as possible and make it contagious to friends and teammates.

I’ve always found that taking 15-20 minutes at the end of every day to review the good accomplishments you have made. This always seems to tee up future plans.

Limited networking

Woody Allen said: “85% of the secret of success is just turning up.” Turn up to events. Make that phone call. Read that book. Do that training. Have the courage to ask that question. Make the effort.

Stay connected to what’s happening around you. Always work on adding to your network.

Little patience and persistence

While we don’t want to highlight our lack of patience and persistence, all of us experience a lack of these two key personality traits in our lives and our careers occasionally.

The secret sauce is all about learning from them and moving on in our lives as quickly as possible. Realize that careers and lives won’t fall apart from them unless we keep repeating them. Practice efforts both frequently and keep track of how you are doing.

Key takeaways

As you progress in your continuous learning and development, keep in mind growth is a long-term, not short-term endeavor. In reality, it should never end. It should be pursued consistently throughout your career, day by day.

Don’t settle for less than you know you can achieve.

And remember, keep your happiness and balance at the top of your list. Everything will pivot around them.

If you are looking for additional resources for innovation, one of my favorite experts is Kate Nasser. You’ll find lots of good stories and examples to learn from her blog.

So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is completely up to you.

It’s up to you to keep the focus on personal development. Lessons are all around you. In many situations, your competitor may be providing the ideas and or inspiration. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.

All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.

When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.

Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.

Are you devoting enough energy to improving your growth hacking for your team?

Do you have a lesson about making your growth hacking better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?

Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find them on G+, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed at how reasonable we will be.

More reading on mentoring from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:

Remarkable Lessons in Motivation Steve Jobs Taught Me

How to Create Honest Employee Trust and Empowerment

The Story and Zen of Getting Things Done

10 Positive Thinking Ideas from Peers and Mentors