This is part two of our Personal Development mini-series with a list of 20+ personal development activities for your growth.
Self-betterment doesn’t have to be tedious and hard.

As you will see with this list, there are plenty of activities you can choose from, and improving yourself can be fun.

It definitely is rewarding and all worth it, as you can see in Part 1: The Benefits of Personal Development.

Personal Development Activities that expand your knowledge

1. Master a deep and narrow skill

Basically, this means you become an expert in one skillset or field.
You focus all your attention on getting better and learning as much as possible on mastering this one thing.

An example of this could be that you specialize in Photoshop Composites.
(That’s when you blend different images together to they look like one super cool and beautiful image).

You spend all your time and efforts on becoming the best Photoshop Composite specialist you can be.

2. Broaden your horizon

You can also do the opposite (instead of deep and narrow, go wide and shallow). So instead of specializing in one particular skill, you can learn several new things.

They can even be completely unrelated to what you usually do.
This will give you a wider variety of experiences that can come in handy later.

Or maybe you’re naturally interested in many different topics and skills.

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You learn a little bit about everything so you know the basics, but you don’t specialize in one thing.
A great example of this could be sports.

You see the difference between focusing all your energy on becoming an excellent runner…or doing all kinds of different sports like running, biking, swimming, yoga, tennis, and taekwondo because you love sports in general.

3. Learn a new language

Whether it’s for vacation, better relationships, or your job: it can be really helpful to learn a new language.

And it’s never been easier to do that. There are plenty of Youtube Channels, Podcasts, Blogs, Apps and other possibilities.

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You can also partner up with somebody who wants to learn or practice your language in exchange (where I live, this is called a tandem).

That’s a great way to benefit from your time in confinement if you have more free time than usual.

4. Build something with your hands

It’s good for your brain to do something manually. This can be an activity like

• Cooking
• Painting
• Knitting
• Gardening
• Building / restoring furniture
• …

Making things with your hands can decrease stress (unless you freak out because you think you suck) and improve your mental health.

Depending on what you do, it can feel almost meditative and clear your mind.

A relaxed and clear mind can then lead to more creativity and help you find solutions to your problems.

Personal Development Activities to pick up good habits

5. Reflect and learn from your mistakes

This may not sound like an activity but reflecting on your mistakes is important for your personal development, too.

When something goes wrong, don’t beat yourself up over it.
Try to look at it objectively and figure out why it didn’t go as planned.

Then you can do better the next time.

Did you lack a skill? Did you forget about something?

Did you not put in enough planning and time? Was it something outside of your control?

“Experience is the hardest kind of teacher. It gives you the test first and the lesson afterward” – Oscar Wilde

Get clear on what went wrong so you can improve.

6. Build a daily reading habit

Reading every day has many great benefits.

• It stimulates your brain
• You get more knowledge
• It can be relaxing (depending on what you read)
• It improves your memory and focus
• You get better writing/communication skills

It’s also super convenient because you can read everywhere. This can be ebooks on your phone, blog posts, magazines, physical books…

7. Start journaling

Journaling can help you think about your successes and the things you’re grateful for. It’s great for reflecting back on your day or week.

Daily journaling has even more of a positive impact than trying to remember what happened during your week. It

• Puts you in a good mood
• Keeps your memory sharp
• Helps with your goals
• Keeps you motivated
• Can help with your creativity
• Is good for your self-discipline

Journaling will put you in a better mood. It helps with your focus on positive things.
And you can use your confirmation bias to your advantage.

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It can even help with your self-confidence because it makes you remember the situations you were proud of yourself or others complimented you.

We tend to forget that because our mind likes to focus on the negative things that happenend…

A few journal prompts

• Three things I appreciated today
• Three things my “best self” would do today
• A trigger I noticed (and handled well or not so much)
• Things and actions that moved me closer to my goals and dreams
• What or who inspired me today?
• A great idea I had (even if I don’t know how to make it happen)
• What would I do if success was guaranteed?

8. Yoga

Yoga has many great benefits. It’s good for your body and your soul and it can be relaxing, energizing, or both.

You can do it first thing in the morning, during your lunch break, or in the evening. Whatever works best for you. I prefer it in the evening.

You also have several options where you can do it. You can practice inside a beautiful room, outside in nature, or even on a paddleboard on the lake.

Some of the main benefits are more flexibility, energy, and strength. It decreases stress, helps you sleep, is good for your breathing, and overall well-being.

9. Meditation

Mediation is relaxing and calms your mind from all the chatter. Now, you’re not supposed to never think about anything.

But you become aware of your thoughts so you can choose them more wisely. And luckily, you can find plenty of meditation videos on Youtube.

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It’s a great place to try out

• Guided meditation (where someone talks to you)
• Music meditation
• Mindfulness bell (almost no sound)
• Tibetan bowls
• Nature sounds (like rain or birds)
• Listening to a sound in your room like a clock or ventilation

If you have never meditated, you could start with a guided meditation.
I find them distracting, but they can be extremely helpful if you can focus on what they tell you to do.

Again, meditation helps calm your mind, improves your focus, and can also increase your creativity (because you clean out any negative overload).

10. Practice self-care

It’s not all about the hustle. Self-Development Activities are great to improve your skills.
But you also need to make sure that you take care of yourself.

That’s how you restore your batteries so you can tackle your next challenges.

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And your options for some well-deserved “me-time” are endless.

A few ideas of self-care activities

• drink a tasty cup of hot coffee or tea
• get a relaxing massage
• read a good book
• watch your favorite Netflix show
• eat some delicious food
• apply a face mask
• take a refreshing nap
• go to the movies
• get a great workout
• take a nice walk…

Personal Development Activities that improve your interpersonal skills

11. Teamwork

You can read up about the subject or you can participate in teamwork workshops.

This could either be at work or completely unrelated. Even if you don’t know the people you’re doing the workshop with, you learn a ton about yourself.

It will show you how you like to work and if you can work well with others.

At work, you don’t always get to test your teamwork skills and you tend to think that most people think like you.

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I did a workshop like this once and I discovered a lot of good things about myself.
I also discovered that most people don’t think like me and have a very different way of assessing, processing, and organizing tasks.

I recommend you do a teamwork workshop. Maybe you’ll discover how special you actually are!

12. Communication skills

Why not improve your communication skills by watching a few videos or tutorials – or even take a real class?

It helps so much when you can communicate clearly. It’s beneficial for the people you’re talking to, but also to you.

And the better you communicate the more confident you feel, too. It just gets easier to talk to people.

13. Networking

For many, networking can be about the worst thing ever.

Especially if you are an introvert. Basically, you just want to get out of there as quickly as possible.

But you can train this. The more often you do it, the less awkward it gets.

Most of this fear is because you’re worried that people may not like you, or because you don’t know what to say.

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So instead of bailing as soon as you can, try to stick around and talk to people. You never know who you will meet.

So many people have an interesting story and are happy to share it. And so the conversation can flow naturally.
It’s not all on you to keep the conversation up. Just get it started and see where it leads.

A lot of anxiety comes from not knowing beforehand what you can talk about. But you don’t have to know that.

Simply ask a question and then you can ask follow-up questions about whatever the other person answers.
The more you talk to people, the easier it gets. If you can just get over the initial awkwardness.

14. Team sports for leadership

Did you ever think about how sports can be good for developing leadership skills?

You lead by example, get more confident, learn to communicate clearly, and obviously you work together in a team.

Team sports also help your organizational skills and discipline.

Personal development activities: Get help

15. Podcasts

You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with – Jim Rohn

Podcasts are an awesome way to learn more about a topic or a specific skill.
And it feels a bit like hanging out with more advanced, successful people.

Most of them are free, with regular content that you can simply listen to while you’re doing something else (like chores or commuting).

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It’s a super-efficient personal development activity if you’re an auditory learner.

If you are a visual learner, Youtube videos may be a better option for you.

Or you could just listen to the podcast and when you hear something interesting, you can check it out online later.

16. Take (online) classes

In this day and age, you can find classes on pretty much everything online.

And the good news is that there’s a lot of free or inexpensive classes to get you started (for example on Udemy).

But at some point, you need to get serious about your personal development and invest in yourself and your future success.

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You can only get so much from free classes and podcasts. So if you really want to make progress, you should consider investing in professional help!

Online classes are great for their convenience while in-person classes are awesome for additional support and motivation.

You can save years of trying to do it on your own. So, what class would you love to take?

17. Join a Memebership site

Memberships are another way to get the precious information you want to make the progress you deserve.

You usually pay a monthly fee to get access to all that helpful content, mini-courses, downloads, and support.

They are great to give you direction, help you with your progress, and the community can also help with your motivation and inspiration.

18. Get a mentor or a coach

You don’t have to do it all alone. And a good coach or mentor can help you save years trying to figure it out by yourself.
And I really mean years!

So if there’s something you truly want to do, you may want to think about investing in help from someone who knows what you need to be successful.

19. Mastermind

Masterminds are kind of the high-end version of an exclusive membership.

It’s made up of a handful of brilliant people who meet on a regular basis to exchange ideas, resources, contacts, feedback etc.

It’s a peer-to-peer mentoring group, for example of successful business owners you can join to accelerate your success.

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They mainly rely on expertise, knowledge, and relationships.
It’s about things like collaborating, brainstorming, networking, and motivating each other.

And it tends to be very expensive because you get premium support and insights you usually can’t get anywhere else.

It’s a great investment if you want to go all in and accelerate your success.

Personal Development Activities that challenge yourself

20. Sign up for a competition

A deadline is a helpful tool because it gives you direction and a goal.
You can sign up for a marathon, a triathlon, or some other competition that’s related to the skills you want to improve.

This could be contest for singing, cooking, designing, writing etc.

If you have a deadline it’s easier to stay motivated because you signed up for real.
It’s not just some vague idea that you should be doing something.

21. Start a 30-day challenge

30-day challenges are all about making small changes every day that will add up to a great result.
Just make sure you don’t overdo it because overwhelm will quickly make you throw in the towel.

Make sure you pick something you really feel excited about.
You can use these challenges to get rid of an unwanted habit or to build a new one you would love.

Your 30-day challenge could be about

• Health (eat healthier, go to bed early)
• Communication (connect with people)
• Fitness (exercise more)
• Decluttering (get organized)
• Time Management (get more productive)
• Meal planning
• Finances (create a budget)
• Self-care (journaling, morning routine…)

And make sure you track your progress because that’s what will fuel your motivation! You want to be able to see how far you’ve come.

22. Leave your comfort zone

This tip could have be in the 30-day challenge section, too.

Every day, do something that scares you. Obviously, this doesn’t mean you should meet some creepy guys.

Simply do something that you normally wouldn’t do because it makes you feel uncomfortable.

Typical fears we have

• Fear of failure
• Fear of inadequacy
• Fear of missing out
• Fear of change
• Fear of being judged
• Fear of rejection

So, every day, try to do something that scares you.

You could give a presentation, volunteer for a new task, ask a stranger for help, post something on Social Media, respectfully disagree with someone, sing or dance in front of others, sign up for that class…

Now it’s your turn

Personal development activities are great to boost your motivation and help you reach your goals.

Some are super quick and easy to do, others take a little bit more time and effort.

But as we saw in Part 1 of this Personal Development mini-series, even tiny changes of 1% improvement per day lead to big results over time.

Which are your favorite personal development activities from this list?
What do you think should be added?

Have a great, productive day!

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