15 Questions To Inspire Your Annual Self-Development Plan
Unless Things Change They Stay The Same. Why is this simple truth so difficult for us to embrace in our churches and our personal lives?
Fear, complacency, ignorance, lack of accountability or discipline can all be contributors.
Effective ministry leaders discover ways to overcome these barriers to change by constantly re-inventing themselves through self-development.
This commitment to personal change allows them to lead their ministries and churches into the future as conditions change, sometimes dramatically.
Five Key Areas for Annual Self-Development
I have been privileged over the years to serve beside pastors, staff and lay leaders willing to embrace personal change.
I have observed that in their path towards new ways of thinking and behaving they focus on significant changes in five key areas: Knowledge, Values, Practices, Relationships and Habits.
As I strive to embrace personal change I find it helpful to ask a series of questions around each of these key areas.
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KNOWLEDGE
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How can I increase my own sense of competence, contribution and confidence?
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What do I need to learn?
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What do I need to unlearn?
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VALUES
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How can I increase my own sense of impact by changing what I value?
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What do I need to value more?
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What do I need to value less?
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PRACTICES
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How can I increase my own sense of purpose, meaning and spiritual vitality?
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What do I need to practice/experience more of?
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What do I need to practice/experience less of?
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RELATIONSHIPS
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How can I increase my own sense of influence?
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Who do I need speaking in to my life?
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Whose life do I need to speak in to?
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HABITS
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How can I increase my own sense of personal and ministry goal alignment?
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What do I need to spend more time doing?
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What do I need to spend less time doing?
By incorporating these questions into an annual self-development planning exercise I find myself stimulated and motivated to embrace new goals and fresh ways of thinking, learning, acting and relating.
Action: Putting my goals into an Annual Self-Development Template helps me keep these commitments to myself.
We’ll return often to this topic of continual self-development because of its importance to effective leadership and a healthy ministry, so Click HERE to subscribe to Sacred Structures and stay tuned for more insights into personal change and self-development.
Posted on December 29, 2015
