Personal Development Courses Target More Than You’d Think
In the past few years, personal development courses have become all the rage. From self-improvement to life coaching, these programs provide a variety of techniques and advice for achieving success in life.
This popularity has led to an explosion of "personal development" companies that are popping up everywhere from Amazon to YouTube. The reason for this is because people want something that works. Personal development carries with it an aura of success that appeals to everyone who wants something more out of their lives and beyond their career's limitations.
And personal development can do that. The right program can help you improve your personal relationships, business skills and even self-esteem. The right program will lift your inner spirit, open new opportunities and successfully guide you through any obstacles that may lie in your path.
The question is: "What kind of course should you choose to help realize this potential?" That's the topic of today's post.
The Best Type of Personal Development Course
As I stated in the introduction, personal development is a booming industry. It's becoming more popular by the day and it's not hard to see why.
Personal development courses provide techniques and advice that many people can benefit from. Therefore, it is only natural that more people will be attracted to them. They are available on all sorts of platforms to suit a wide spectrum of talents and preferences, including some free sites on YouTube or Amazon.
The result of this explosion in the popularity of personal development courses is that there are literally thousands of courses out there for you to choose from.
That's not a bad thing, per se. It means that any given area is more likely to be well-represented in terms of content and instructors. However, when you look at all these options, it can be difficult to know where to begin (like it was for me).
In my personal development course reviews, I check out many courses that link to coaches and mentors who can help guide you along the way. I will also look at why more experienced people have pursued personal growth in a particular area.
For example, if you're seeking a course on relationships and are not satisfied with the ones offered by Google or YouTube, then consider finding one on Amazon or iTunes. (If you have no money to spend on course subscriptions right now, there are many free ones that can teach you what you need to know. See my blog on that topic.)
That's the "easy" way to select the best course. However, there is another factor that is even more important than where you try to find personal development courses.
Believe it or not, this factor is something you have complete control over: The quality of your course – as well as your progress through it – will be determined by how well you follow instructions.
So which is more important, quality or quantity?
The Key to Personal Development
In personal development courses, it's certainly true that you will get the most out of whatever course you have chosen. However, quantity is not nearly as important as quality. If you're taking a course with the hope of achieving something by following instructions and receiving feedback from your coach or mentor, then look at what each instructor puts together before choosing which one to follow.
The reason for this is simple: If a course's instructions are poorly written or if the materials don't provide feedback that helps you progress through the material, then your progress will be slow. You may even decide to give up on the course before it can help you learn what you need to know.
Since most people have a finite amount of time, energy and money to devote to personal development courses, this can mean that they will choose another program over one they should have followed because they fall by the wayside too easily.
This means that the quality of your course and the quality of your progress through it will be more important than any other factor. Indeed, I have seen many instances of people completing a course, but then failing to follow through with the feedback and direction provided.
What this means for you is that you need to find a program that matches your preferences and goals in order for it to be effective.
You can do this by looking at the quality of the course materials and the feedback you will receive.
The Quality of Course Materials
In reviewing courses (including my own, which I'll get to in a moment), I have had to evaluate their course materials quite extensively. This has covered everything from book reports to digital workbooks given to people who purchase membership in a program.
Let's start with workbooks, since they're such an integral part of most personal development programs. Workbooks can be anything from the collection of exercises and questions in a book to online forms that you complete on screen.
When reviewing a workbook, you want to pay close attention to how well it is put together. Is it helpful? Will it guide you through what you need to know? Does it include examples that demonstrate how certain techniques work or don't work?
I've seen some workbooks that contain only two or three pages' worth of material while others come with several hundred similar pages.
Conclusion: Don't go for quantity but rather quality.
When it comes to courses, you'll find most of them have plenty of workbooks and lectures. If it's not stated in the course description, then there will likely be a "workbook" that comes with your subscription and which you are expected to complete.
If there is one drawback to this type of program, then it's that their presentation can sometimes get repetitive.