20 personal development tools
If you are a high performer there’s a high chance you are a personal development junkie. High performers know that performance comes from having your life in balance and prioritising career and health equally as one directly affects the other. There are so many ways that you can grow into the person you want to become here and 20 tools to help you do that.
Mindfulness and meditation. Paying attention to what is happening instead of judging it, letting go of what we think must happen and focus on being calm, present and accepting of what is happening.
Emotional intelligence. Easily a life changer, emotional intelligence helps you to understand your emotions, why you react the way you do, how can you be kinder to yourself and it helps you connect with people easily because it develops awareness, authenticity, vulnerability and acceptance.
Positive psychology and gratitude practices. This is where you focus on what can go right instead of all the scenarios you’ve decided in your head about what can go wrong. Coupled with gratitude practices it enables you to be appreciative for who you are, what and whom you have in your life and the experiences you encounter (even if it’s simply learning something about yourself or others through them).
Growth mindset. A mindset that consistently gets curious and asks, what can I learn about myself here? How is this challenging me to do or behave differently? A growth mindset is the absence of blaming and shaming others for what we have in our life.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). This is usually something that you work through with a qualified psychologist or counsellor however it focusses on what thoughts (cognition) impact behaviour and moves you towards reframing them so that you can change your relationship with your past, present and also your future (especially for those with anxiety. It’s greatest power in my opinion is helping you to store memories and experiences in a way that removes pain and presents facts.
Resilience and stress management. Learning how to be more resilient either by encouraging ourselves to experience discomfort (hello ice baths) or by creating a series of strategies that help you change your stress story and live life with more joy.
Personal branding and self-marketing. This is where you consider ‘who am I? what will I be known for?’ Understanding this and then learning how to ‘market’ or communicate your values consistently in line with who you are. People hire photographers to capture the essence of who they are, they style their homes to increase the comfort based on what matters to them, they get involved in charitable works that deeply aligns with their life.
Executive coaching and leadership development. Many workplaces offer coaching as part of a program for leadership development. Excellent executive coaching won’t just look at KPIs or set up learning experiences titled ‘how to have hard conversations’ but they will equip the leader with the capacity to see how their way of being impacts their leadership, in turn understanding how to connect with their staff more and create better workplace cultures.
Time management and productivity. So much of our self guilt is wrapped up in how we spend our time. Adopting skills and techniques like the Pomodoro technique will help hack your time. For others the process of learning how to be more productive begins by recording their entire week and seeing where they are working and where they are not doing anything that moves them towards their goals. This is a great place to start.
Financial planning and personal finance management. Science studies have revealed that finances is closely behind social connection in terms of importance when it comes to creating and maintaining a healthy life. Learning how to budget, where to invest and changing your mindset around spending helps you to see your bank accounts grow and your stress reduce. There are so many ways you can tap into this, work with a money mindset coach, complete a self-paced course or simply start investing and learning about it on your way.
Digital well-being and technology detox. We all use our screens but tapping into how much screen time we have had thanks to the settings in our phones is a fabulous way to increase awareness about how we spend our time. Post COVID, with an increase in appreciation for tech free time (now that we don’t have to check in everywhere) more and more people look for holidays without internet connection or head out without their mobile phones so they can be more present and focus on less than everything at once.
Spirituality and self-discovery. Learning what spirituality is, is a great start. Even if you don’t believe in a God or a faith then you are still a spiritual being with ideas about whether something greater than you exists or not. Self-discovery is when people realise that their soul actually isn’t as happy and healthy as it could be because we don’t have a deep relationship with ourselves and we start learning about the relationship we do have with ourself and what we can do to make it better (goodbye harsh inner critic!)
Mind-body connection and holistic health. Understanding that your mind and body are deeply connected will help you develop a better life in a multitude of ways. You can get caught up in thinking that your mind needs a rest when really it needs the clarity that exercise (and associated body chemicals) provides. When you look at your 8 dimensions of health like we do at Magnetic Confidence, you see how each part of your health impacts the other and when neglected has a negative impact on your confidence.
Eco-conscious living and sustainability. Many people the world over are serious about being a positive influence on the environment (even if their governments do not have the same opinion), learning about eco-conscious living helps you improve the environment while also enhancing your intellectual capacity because you have to be considerate to make it work well. At times sustainable living means living a slower life and this gives you greater appreciation for what you have.
Nootropics and brain-enhancing supplements. These have been helping cancer patients and individuals with brain injuries for quite some time but they have now made the mass market. High performance coaches like Brendon Burchard swear by them.
Biohacking and self-optimisation. Biohacking is learning about how your body works and then optimising it through the right diet, sleep habits, routines and so on. It often takes a lot of research before you can implement a solid biohack. For example you may be required to do blood tests measuring vitamins, minerals and overall health at different points in time to ascertain what your body needs and then research how you can provide it. Essentially its the opposite of one size fits all approach Eg: if you want to lose weight go on keto.
Virtual and augmented reality technology for personal development. Learning about yourself can happen anywhere any time thanks to Zoom and other virtual software. At Magnetic Confidence we use an app to provide tailor made coaching videos to busy high performers who want to develop their confidence while living a balanced lifestyle. This gives people more ways to experience success and therefore skip the harsh criticism that can come from not being able to make in person events…work on yourself anywhere anytime. Thank you internet!
Remote work and digital nomadism. If COVID taught us anything it is that working from home or while travelling to our favourite destinations IS possible and it has a greater impact on our health. However it also teaches us that there is a different level of organisation required to make this work especially if we have always been around a team and this teaches us a lot about ourselves and what we need to thrive at work.
Neuroplasticity and brain training. The art of knowing that what you know now, how you experienced the past can be changed, it isn’t fixed. The more we exercise our brains especially across the midline the greater our health, coordiation, movement, creativity, logical thinking and so much more!
Artificial intelligence and machine learning for personal development. No longer do we have to search to find the answers when we have Alexa or Google Nest in our lounge room. But does this mean we can rely on what information is being fed to us? New technology is a boost to productivity, it helps us learn quickly but we still need discernment (and an increasing amount) to decide if what we read is from a reputable source.
All of these tools reflect a growing focus on self-awareness, self-care, and continuous self-improvement. Some of these are backed by research, while others are more subjective or controversial. It's important to critically evaluate what works best for you and prioritise your own well-being and growth. Can you think of any others we haven’t discussed?
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