Goal Setting and Self-Development Planning for Your Career — 2021 — Sarah Scala Consulting
By: Sarah A Scala
Tags: Goal Setting, Professional Development, Sarah Scala Consulting, Self Development, Annual Goals

The start of the New Year is a great time to look at your own development plan and goals! As a lifelong learner, professional in the Learning and coaching fields, and an entrepreneur, I have found it to be critical to invest both time and money into my continued development and learning. When it comes to keeping engaged and your skills sharp, finding ways to think about what and how you want to learn next is important. Each New Year’s Day I write myself a personal development plan.

I have a great template I use for Goal Setting! Sign up for our Newsletter to get a FREE copy of my Purposeful Life Template for your development planning and overall goal setting.

As I reviews goals for 2020, I was pleased in my progress with achieving many goals:

Supporting a number of new clients

Creating content for my blog and newsletter (thanks for reading, by the way)

Cycling 600+ miles

Volunteering 20+ times

Reading 40+ books (audio-books count)

Development Areas on my 2021 List Include

Grow my business to support more clients with Coaching, Leadership, and Change Management in Boston.

Reading or listening to 40 books on diverse topics that interest me. I keep a list of books in a Google Docs spreadsheet, so that as books are recommended on podcasts, articles, or in other books, or suggested from friends or colleagues, I have a way to keep track of these possibilities. Sometimes I check out physical books through inter-library loan if they’re not available, other times I check out ebooks or audiobooks through apps like Overdrive and Hoopla for free. I also read professional magazines and blogs.

Continuing Education Credits. In order to keep some of my credentials current, especially as an ICF Certified Coach, I need to participate in a number of hours of continuing education. I participate in workshops and webinars for free, other times I pay for learning courses through the Gestalt international Study Center.

Professional Association Membership and Networking events have helped me keep my learning sharp and allows me to meet new people and make new friends. I am involved in:

A Coaching Community of Practice group in Boston that I meet with in-person + monthly

The New Talent Management Network- Boston: member

The Granite State learning and OD Round Table which supports New Hampshire and Vermont HR Leaders (I’m the founder and chair of this group)

Mentoring: I meet with SCORE and Peer mentors regularly to continue my learning

Volunteer in my community by providing speaking engagements and mentoring pro bono 12+ times

Mindfulness — meditating each morning and journaling each day

For fun outside of work to keep my learning sharp, I am focusing on Improving my 5K running speed and flexibility through yoga. I’d also like to keep building my swim speeds, once it is safe to train back at the gym!

As a solo-preneur, it is important that I keep myself engaged and healthy because if something happens to me I cannot run my business. For this reason daily exercise, healthy eating, mindfulness, and continuous learning are all baked into my development plan.

What do you do to ensure your continuous learning and personal development?

Please share in the comments. If you have specific questions, ask me. I’m happy to help.

Learn more about our approach to coaching and goal setting in our recent Blogs and Case Studies:

Questions? Let’s connect. I would love to hear your success stories. Please send them to: hello@sarahscala.com or visit www.sarahscala.com

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