PERDEV

• Personal


  • Belonging to a particular person
  • Made or designed to be used by one person
  • Someone whose job involves working for or helping a particular person
  • Of, relating to, or affecting a particular person
• Personality


  • The set of emotional qualities, ways of behaving that makes a person different from other people
  • Attractive qualities (such as energy, friendliness, and humor) that make a person interesting or pleasant to be with
  • A person of importance, prominence, renown, or notoriety
• Personality development


  The process by which the organized thought and behavior patterns that make up a person's unique personality emerge over time
• Personal development


  The process by which a person reflects upon themselves, understand who they are, accept discovery on themselves, and learn new sets of values, attitudes, behavior, and thinking skills to reach their fullest potentials
• Origins of personal development

  1. The first Homo Sapiens walked the face of the Earth. They draw figures on their cave walls attempted to narrate their experiences such as hunting

  2. Plato argued that building character, as much as intelligence, is what education is all about. This could be the seeds of personal development in Western thinking that eventually evolved into the Human Potential Movement in 1960

  3. The great Chinese being well always desire to become the "superior man", not just to his peers and followers but to himself most especially. He envisioned what Confucius must have understood as a consequence of personal development
• Psychology of personal development

  • Abraham Maslow theorized the five stages of human development based on a hierarchy of needs, peaking in what he termed as "self-actualization"
  • Carl Rogers, in his psychotherapy practice, theorized that "the individual has within himself the capacity and the tendency, latent if not evident, to move forward toward maturity"
• Three components of self-concept by Carl Rogers

  • Self Esteem - how much value you put on yourself
  • Ideal Self - how you wish you were really like
  • Self Image - how you perceive yourself
• Personal development in adolescence

  1. Adolescence - the transition period between childhood and early adulthood

  2. Early Adolescence - between 10 and 13 years old

  3. Middle Adolescence - between 14 and 16 years old

  4. Late Adolescence - between 17 and 20 years old

  5. Adolescence starts with the biological changes called puberty. The physical body undergoes growth spurts at this time, for both males and females, leaning toward physical maturity

  6. Biological changes bring about cognitive (thinking and reasoning) and effective (feeling and emotions) changes

  7. At this time, the adolescents become more inquisitive about things. They begin to ask questions about their identity

  8. Relationships with family and friends are also affected by puberty. Friends become the center of relationships more than family
• Self-confidence


  A belief that one is capable of successfully meeting the demands of a task
• Confidence


  • Can play a role in the motivation to pursue your goals, with studies, linking higher levels of self-confidence in athletes with increased motivation to practice their sport of choice
  • Your level of confidence even affects how you present yourself to others
• 9 habits that are destroying your confidence

  • You care too much about what other people think
  • Negative thinking
  • Social media living
  • Self-deprecating talk
  • Blame game is favorite sport
  • You set the bar low for yourself
  • Thinking that you don't have anything to say or contribute to a discussion
  • You dismiss compliments
  • Ruminating
• 9 ways to build your self-confidence


  • Stop comparing yourself to others
  • Surround yourself with positive people
  • Take care of your body
  • Be kind to yourself
  • Practice positive self-talk
  • Face your fears
  • Do things you are good at
  • Know when to say "NO"
  • Set realistic goals
• Defining the self


  • Adolescence is the time when young people start to ask questions about themselves, about their future, and even about their religious and political beliefs
  • For Socrates, the most important thing to pursue was self-knowledge, and admitting one's ignorance is the beginning of true knowledge
  • For Plato, the beginning of knowledge is self-knowledge
  • Philosophically, self is defined as the being, which is the source of a person's consciousness. It is the agent responsible for an individual's thoughts and actions
  • Other definition of self is self being the essence of a person; this thoughts, feelings, and actions. The self includes person's life purposes, meaning, and aspirations
• Personality


  • Refers to the unique and relatively enduring set of behaviors, feelings, thoughts, and motives that characterize on individual
  • Gardon Allport defines personality as a "pattern of habits, attitudes, and traits that determine an individual's characteristics, behavior, and traits
• Nature


  Heredity or genetic make-up
• Trait theory


  • An approach in identifying types of personalities based on certain traits or attributes, which vary from one person to the other
  • This theory was developed over the past 60 years, started by D.W. Fiske (1949) and later pursued by other researchers, including Norman (1967), Smith (1967), Goldberg (1981), and McCrae and Costa (1987)
• There is no single gene that creates a trait. It is always a combination of genes, environment exposure and experiences, and cultural backgrounds
• Other personality traits are more prominent in one culture than another
• Big five trait theory

  • Openness to experiences (curiosity, interest, imagination, and creativity to new ideas)
  • Conscientiousness (planning, organizing, hardworking, controlling, persevering, punctuality)
  • Extraversion (sociable, talkative, active, outgoing, fun-loving)
  • Agreeableness (friendly, warm, trusting, generous, kind-hearted)
  • Neuroticism (calm, relaxed, comfortable)
• Measuring personality


  1. There are many different ways to measure personality. One is by observing people's behavior. This is quite limited as other people may not be able to observe all aspects of observed by others very subjectively

  2. Personality can be measured using different kinds of tests like the Rorschach Inkblot Test, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), and the Keirsey Temperament Sorter. One online test that is free of use is the Alberta Learning Information Service of the Government of Alberta in Canada
• The benefits of self-knowledge

  • Happiness - you will be happier when you can express who you are. Expressing your desires will make it more likely that you get what you want
  • Less inner conflict - when your outside actions are in accordance with your inside feelings and values, you will experience less inner conflict
  • Better decision-making - when you know yourself, you are able to make better choices about everything, from small decisions like which sweater you'll buy to big decisions like which partner you'll spend your life with. You'll have guidelines you can apply to solve life's varied problems
  • Self-control - when you know yourself, you understand what motivates you to resist bad habits and develop good ones. You'll have the insight to know which values and goals activate your willpower
  • Resistance to social pressure - when you are grounded in your values and preferences, you are less likely to say "yes" when you want to say "no"
  • Tolerance and Understanding of Others - your awareness of your own foibles and struggles can help you empathize with others
  • Vitality and Pleasure - being who you truly are helps you feel more alive and makes you experience of life richer, larger, and more exciting
• The building blocks of self: your vitals


  • Values - helping others, being creative, health, financial security, are guides to decision-making and motivates for goals
  • Interests - include your passions, hobbies, and anything that draws your attention over a sustained period of time. The focused mental state of being interested in something makes life vivid and may give you clues to your deepest passions
  • Temperament - describes your inborn preferences
  • Around-the-Clock-Activities - refers to when you like to do things—your biorhythms. In every area, it's easier to enjoy life when you don't waste energy pretending to be someone you aren't
  • Life Mission and Meaningful Goals - ask yourself the same question; "what have been the most meaningful events of your life?" you may discover clues to your hidden identity, to your career, and to life satisfaction
  • Strengths - can include not only abilities, skills, and talents, but also character strengths such as loyalty, respect for others, love of learning, and more. Knowing your strengths is one of the foundation of self-confidence; not being able to acknowledge your own superpowers could put you on the path to low self-esteem
• Stress


  A normal reaction the body has when changes occur. It can respond to these changes physically, mentally, or emotionally.
• Stress


  The body's reaction to any change that requires an adjustment or response. The body reacts to these changes with physical, mental, and emotional responses. Stress is a normal part of life. You can experience stress from your environment, your body, and your thoughts. Even positive life changes such as a promotion, a mortgage, or the birth of a child produce stress.
• Types of Stress


  • Acute stress
  • Episodic acute stress
  • Chronic stress
• Acute Stress


  • Usually brief, most common and frequent presentation, most often caused by reactive thinking, negative thoughts predominate about situations or events that have recently occurred, or upcoming situations, events, or demands in the near future.
• Short-term Effects of Acute Stress

  • Transient Emotional distress (anger, irritability, anxiety, depression)
  • Transient Muscular distress (tension, headache, back pain, neck pain, jaw pain, gut and bowel problems, heartburn, acid stomach, flatulence, diarrhea, constipation)
  • Transient hyperarousal (elevated blood pressure, rapid heartbeat, rapid pulse, sweaty palms, heart palpitations, dizziness, migraine headaches, cold hands or feet, shortness of breath, sleep problems, chest pain)
• Acute Stress


  Highly treatable and manageable, but repeated acute stress can become very harmful for physical and mental health.
• Episodic Acute Stress


  • People who frequently experience acute stress, or whose lives present with frequent triggers of stress, often live a life of chaos and crisis, are always in a rush or feel pressured, take on many responsibilities, and usually can not stay organized with so many time demands.
• Personality Types with Episodic Acute Stress


  • Type A personality (excessive competitive drive, aggressiveness, impatience, abrupt, sense of time urgency, reactive with hostility, deep-seated insecurity about performance)
  • The Worrier (almost incessant negative thoughts, core beliefs that the world is a dangerous, unrewarding, punitive place where something awful is always about to happen, thoughts frequently filled with "What if..." statements with projected negative outcomes)
• Episodic Effects of Acute Stress

  • Emotional distress (anger, irritability, anxiety, depression, short-tempered, impatient, tense)
  • Cognitive distress (compromised attention/concentration, compromised processing speed, compromised new learning and new learning memory consolidation and retrieval, mental fatigue)
  • Interpersonal relationships deteriorate, workplace becomes very stressful
  • Muscular distress (tension, headache, back pain, jaw pain, pulled muscles, tendons, and ligament problems)
  • Stomach, gut, bowel problems (heartburn, acid stomach, flatulence, diarrhea, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome)
  • High blood pressure, rapid heartbeat, sweaty palms, heart palpitations, dizziness, migraine headaches, cold hands or feet, shortness of breath, insomnia, chest pain, heart disease
  • Immune System Compromise (frequent colds/flu, allergies, asthma, and other immune system compromise illnesses)
• Chronic Stress


  • The most harmful type of stress, if left untreated over a long period of time it can significantly and often irreversibly damage physical health and deteriorate mental health. Can set in when an individual feels hopeless, does not see an escape from the cause of stress, and gives up on seeking solutions. Can be caused by aversive experiences in childhood, traumatic experiences later in life, long term poverty, repeated abuse, unemployment, dysfunctional family, poor work environment, substance abuse, or an unhappy marriage.
• When an individual lives with chronic stress, their behavioral actions and emotional reactions become ingrained, there is a change in the hardwiring of the neurobiology of the brain and body, making them constantly prone to the hazardous stress effects on the body, mind, and cognition regardless of the scenarios. This can result in a physical and mental breakdown that can lead to suicide, violent actions, homicide, psychosis, heart attacks, and strokes.
• Warning Signs of Stress

  • Dizziness or a general feeling of "being out of it"
  • General aches and pains
  • Grinding teeth, clenched jaw
  • Headaches
  • Indigestion or acid reflux symptoms
  • Increase in or loss of appetite
  • Muscle tension in neck, face or shoulders
  • Problems sleeping
  • Racing heart
  • Cold and sweaty palms
  • Tiredness, exhaustion
  • Trembling/shaking
  • Weight gain or loss
  • Upset stomach, diarrhea
  • Sexual difficulties
• Reducing Stress


  • Keep a positive attitude
  • Accept that there are events that you cannot control
  • Be assertive instead of aggressive
  • Learn and practice relaxation techniques (meditation, yoga, tai-chi)
  • Exercise regularly
  • Eat healthy, well-balanced meals
  • Learn to manage your time more effectively
  • Set limits appropriately and say no to requests that would create excessive stress
  • Make time for hobbies and interests
  • Get enough rest and sleep
  • Don't rely on alcohol, drugs, or compulsive behaviors to reduce stress
  • Seek out social support
  • Seek treatment with a psychologist or other mental health professional trained in stress management or biofeedback techniques
• A nuclear family consists of two parents (mother and father) and their children.
• Setting specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals is crucial in personal development to ensure progress and success.
• Family is defined as a group of people who are related by blood, marriage or adoption living together under one roof.
• Self-awareness is a key component of personal development as it involves understanding one's own emotions, strengths, weaknesses, values, and goals.
• Personal development involves activities that improve awareness and identity, develop talents and potential, build human capital, and facilitate employability.