The 7 Competencies of Self-Leadership

A few months ago, I jotted down some notes on what I think it means to take leadership over your own development, and here I flesh out some of those ideas. In the knowledge society, change occurs quickly. This means that you must be constantly learning, adapting, changing, and improving to succeed and thrive. And you must lead ourselves through the ambiguous, unclear paths ahead. 

Self-Leadership
I believe the following are critical components and competencies of self-leadership:

1. Set goals - you must know how to set meaningful, intrinsically motivating goals to work toward. 
2. Motivate yourself - You must learn to motivate yourself to accomplish your goals. 
3. Work toward goals - you must have a sense for how to work toward your goals effectively and efficiently. 
4. Evaluate and adjust - you must assess how well you are doing at reaching your goals and change your approach as needed.
5. Learn constantly - you must continually develop yourself. Your knowledge should be both broad (across several areas) and deep (expert in one area). Learn knowledge and skills that will help you reach your goals. 
6. Have fun - you must do work that you love and love your work. Learn how to enjoy your daily work.
7. Practice ethically - you must work ethically - be honest, carry your weight, and do your best to contribute to bring about goals (yours and others). 

These are, in my opinion, some of the most fundamental competencies for leading yourself in today's volatile, shifting society. Without each of these in place, it will be difficult to succeed and move forward in today's complex society.

Rate Yourself
How are you doing in these areas? Take a minute to rate yourself on each of these competencies. What are your strengths? What should you work on to improve? How could you develop yourself to improve on your weaknesses and maximize our strengths?

In the final analysis, you are the most important resource in your life. You must improve yourself.

Principles of Successful Team Interaction

I have been thinking a lot about effective teamwork, lately. I believe that the norms and attitudes of the people in a team or group have a deep impact on the success of the work within the group. All work can be accomplished in positive, fulfilling ways and below are what I believe to be some of the key principles for effective teamwork. I have written these as affirmative statements and as principles within an organization.

Principles of Successful Team Interaction

• Purposeful – we focus on our goals. We are not distracted by the ancillary.
• Respect – we respect one another. We avoid useless gossip and disrespectful language and focus on success.
• Openness – there are no secrets. We work together in an open, positive manner to achieve our goals.
• Collaboration – we work as a team. We work to support one another in our work in the program.
• Constructive – we are proactive and focus on solutions. We focus on reaching goals and fixing problems.

What do you think? Would you add anything else to the list?

Visualizing my Values

I recently took part in an emotional intelligence assessment tool designed by 6 Seconds to help me determine my emotional intelligence strengths and weaknesses. The test was relatively painless, and I found that I have strengths in the following areas of Emotional Intelligence:

• Exercise Intrinsic Motivation - I have internal drive and motivation that moves me forward.
• Exercise Optimism - I believe that my efforts now can influence what happens in the future.
• Pursue Noble Goals - I am goal-oriented - my long-term goals shape my decisions and actions.

I think I already intuitively knew that I had some of these strengths, and it was helpful to have them validated and emphasized. It is easier to benefit from something if you can name and focus on it.

Creating My Personal Compass
I followed up on my results with with Tracey Austin, an extremely well-credentialed, experienced coach at Franklin University. In our coaching session, he suggested that I create an image that shows my "True North Star," something that helps me to maintain focus on what is truly important to me. I decided to call it my Personal Compass. 

My Personal Compass for a successful life.

Explaining the Compass
I am not completely satisfied with it, but I think the "compass" above captures most of what is important to me. My purpose is to achieve success, the inner circle. I define success as godliness and the aspiration to become godly. Godliness in action is obedience to God and service to the people around me. I certainly do not assert that I am a godly person, but I try to work toward that ideal - I do all I can to live the life of a follower of Christ.

The middle circle indicates the four areas of my life in which success is critical: myself, my family, my church, and my employer. I have set standards of living for each of these areas, and I constantly set goals and work toward success in each. I believe that if I am diligent and true to these priorities, they will point me to a successful, happy life.

The outer circle represents my values, or the means through which success should be achieved. To be successful, I endeavor to dream and envision my desired future, I work hard to reach my goals, persist in my efforts, achieve successes, create opportunities for myself and others, believe in God and in myself, serve the people around me, and always have fun in my work.

I think the image captures my values and priorities - I will probably adjust it as time goes on. At some point, I'll frame the image in my office so that I can refer to it daily. Thanks to 6 Seconds and to Tracey for helping me become more self-aware and move forward in my goals!

Use Your Thoughts to Produce Personal Power

I have thought a lot lately about the importance of our thoughts and beliefs about life. I have come to the conclusion that what we think and believe has a direct influence on our success and happiness in life. What we think and believe directly influences how we act, and our actions produce the outcomes and results we experience in life. However, becoming aware of and changing thoughts can be extremely difficult, and many people aren't even aware of their own thought patterns. In addition, negativity and hopelessness is prevalent in our society and limits the happiness and success of many people. In this post I will describe the kinds of thoughts that produce personal empowerment and success and give suggestions on how to create personal power through your own thoughts.

Empowering Thoughts
To produce personal power, our thoughts must have two characteristics: They must be positive and the must be true.

The Power of True Thoughts
As you can see in the continuum image above, thoughts can be false or true. And thoughts that are true provide personal power. Knowledge produces power. When you increase your knowledge and understanding of what reality actually is, you increase your personal power because a thought is true if it is based on evidence. The more knowledge and truth you can gain, the greater your personal power. If your thoughts and beliefs do not align with the natural laws and principles with which the world functions, then they will not produce positive results. For example, you can think all day that you can fly, and you can even believe that you can fly. But natural laws seem to indicate that you cannot. But if you attempt to act on that belief, you will likely end up very scraped up or very dead. In the same way, we must be sure that our thoughts and beliefs are based on the best evidence we can find.

The Power of Positive Thoughts
 To produce personal power, our thoughts and beliefs must include a level of hope or faith that we can help bring about positive outcomes. A thought is positive if it constructively affirms your strengths and abilities and produces effective or meaningful activity. For example, you can think the thought "I am not a millionaire" and have any number of reactions to that true thought (assuming that you currently are not a millionaire). Your attitude might include the following thoughts and feelings: All of my high school buddies are millionaires, therefore I am a loser (negative). Millionaires are all dishonest or greedy, therefore they are losers and I am much more righteous than they (negative). I am happy with my life and am fine with not being a millionaire (positive). I am going to start an incredible business and become a millionaire in 7 years (positive).

All of these attitudes come to a conclusion about how you relate to the thought and therefore produce a feeling or attitude. If you want your thoughts and beliefs to give you a sense of empowerment, then you must ensure that they are positive and constructive, affirming your own true talents and strengths.


Producing Empowering Thoughts
So, what can you do to increase the power of your thoughts? You must consciously work to produce thoughts and beliefs that are positive and true. If you can deliberately apply yourself to move your thoughts in this positive direction, you will be astonished at the power and happiness it will produce in your own personal life.

Based on my experience, I recommend the following strategies:

1. Become self-aware. To improve your thoughts, you become aware of and monitor your own thoughts. This means you have to learn to think about what you are thinking your thinking, which can sometimes be very hard work. Ask yourself questions like these: What am I thinking about right now? Is what I am thinking true? Is it based on reality? Is what I am thinking negative? Does this thought hurt myself or others? Is my attitude about this thing giving me a sense of strength or empowerment?
2. Flood your mind with the positive. We live in a world with many negative messages, and you must therefore do everything you can to fill your mind with the good, pure, motivating messages. This might mean a change in some of your habits, but train yourself to read uplifting books, watch empowering documentaries and movies, and listen to motivating, empowering audio books and music. At the same time, eliminate negativity by cutting out mindless television, negative music, and negative people from your life.
3. Learn. Gain knowledge that is true. Do everything you can to gain more and more knowledge and abilities. Go to school and gain relevant, empowering knowledge. Read books, watch videos, and visit websites that impart knowledge about the world. Infuse your mind with knowledge so that you have a sound foundation to build on.
4. Seek Spiritual Truth. The most fundamental truths, in my opinion, are spiritual in nature. A positive relationship with yourself is founded upon a positive relationship with God. I have found that when I seek and "drink" from religious texts and teachings, my view of myself and life is heightened and refined. I personally draw great spiritual knowledge, perspective, and strength from reading the Bible and the Book of Mormon.
5. Travel. If you can, travel to new areas of your city, state, or country. Travel internationally, whenever possible. Learn about different cultures and people. When travel is not an option, go to museums and libraries. Do what you can to expand your view of the world and develop your understanding of what truth and reality is.

Do what it takes to increase your knowledge and improve your attitude. My experience has been that a consistent effort will yield excellent results. And consistently increasing knowledge through study and experience will slowly and surely build your capacity to achieve success and happiness. So, how will you improve your thoughts this week?

To Reach Career Goals, Be Deliberate

I thought I would share some ideas from a recent conversation I had one of my former (now graduated) students from the IDPT Program. We were discussing approaches for working toward career goals and career aspirations, and this student was seeking general advice on how to approach their own career goal setting. In this post, I'll give a summary of the ideas that I shared with this student. I should point out that there are clearly many other important pieces, including interviewing, applying, networking, but my focus here is on preparing and qualifying for the positions you desire.

I want to note that I have applied these strategies in my own career and have been very pleased with the success I have had. It has been a difficult process filled with a great deal of hard work and sacrifice, but I am now enjoying many of the blessings that come from that hard work, and I am excited to keep moving forward in my career.

How to Reach Your Goals: Be Deliberate
The most successful people in the world are successful on purpose. They are deliberate about where they want to go and work hard to get there. In instructional design, we use systematic processes like ADDIE to deliberately ensure that we are being systematic and thoughtful in our approach. You can use this same approach to design your career:

• Analysis - Look at several positions that are similar to your ideal job and analyze them to see what the job requirements are. Identify what education, credentials, knowledge and skills, and previous positions are required. Then compare the requirements with your own current capacities and credential so that you can identify your gaps- where you fall short in the requirements.
• Design/Develop – Plan out exactly how you can start working on filling the gaps so that you are qualified. Depending on the position you are working toward, you may need to work in different prerequisite positions before you are qualified to work in your ideal position. This means that you will need to map out a progression that makes sense and helps you build your qualifications. At the same time, be sure that you keep learning and growing and credentialing yourself. The more you can demonstrate that you have the required  knowledge and skills, the better.
• Formative Evaluation – talk with several professionals to get their feedback on your plan. Be sure to interview or follow others who have done what you want to do - they will be able to give you pointers on where you can go and what to do.
• Implement – Do it. Start moving down the path. Keep doing things that will prepare you. You should be sure to work hard so that you can be fully prepared and qualified to take the position you desire.
• Evaluation – Identify what is working and want isn’t. Keep trying new things and stick to the things that are working. 

The most important thing is to keep moving forward – we all get into that phase of life where it seems like things are not going the way we planned. But if you keep working and moving toward our goals and dreams, you will eventually arrive.

Remember, if you want to be successful, you will need to do it on purpose. Work toward your dreams in a purposeful, determined manner, and you will be surprised at the rapid transformation that comes into your life.

Related Post: Creating Results in Life

I hope this approach is helpful to you. I have used this process in my own career and have been thoroughly surprised at some of the things I have accomplished in a short period of time. Best of luck!

30-day Challenges

I am a very goal-oriented person. I am always looking for something new to work toward, something to focus my energy on and achieve. This is one reason that I have worked hard to earn many higher education degrees. It is the same reason that I am constantly reading, writing, and moving.

30-day Challenges

I have come across a couple of blogs and videos lately that highlight the idea of doing 30-day challenges. For example, this video:

Because I am slightly obsessed with learning, goal-setting, and pushing myself to do new things, I think I will try this out for the next few months to see what comes of it. I'll write about my experiences here. My plan is that when I commit to a challenge, I will work to complete the challenge during the challenge period, though I might not necessarily do a challenge every month.

My First Challenge: Whole Foods, Plant-Based Diet - May 1 through May 31

For my first 30-day challenge, which I already started beginning in May, I am going to eat a "Whole Foods, Plant-Based Diet." What does that mean? It means eating no animal products, including meat, fish, eggs, milk, or cheese. I am eating only plant-based foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, and grains. It has gone pretty well so far.

Why am I doing this particular challenge? First, for personal health and well-being. I've been exposed to some research that indicates that animal-based proteins are directly related to obesity and many chronic diseases. In contrast, a vegetable-based diet appears to help one achieve a sense of well-being, weight loss, and a significant decrease in risk for cancer and other terrible diseases.

Additionally, as a practicing Mormon, I already adhere to a fairly strict health code called the Word of Wisdom. Because of this code, I do not drink coffee, tea or alcohol, nor do I smoke or use recreational drugs. The Word of Wisdom also recommends eating meat "sparingly," which reinforces my desire to eat in this manner. I believe that spiritual benefits will also come as a result of this challenge. I plan to report on my progress and success at the end of May.

Future Challenges
Here are some of my ideas for future challenges.

• Do 50 pushups a day for 30 days.
• Send 30 real letters to friends and associates in 30 days (thank you cards, compliments, etc.)
• study a totally new topic or skill I'd like to master for 30 days.
• draw or paint a picture each day for 30 days.
• read the entire New Testament or Book of Mormon in 30 days.
• do an extra act of kindness for someone each day.
• work out 6x a week for 30 days.
• 30 days of 30 minutes of meditation, study, and prayer.
• 30 days no complaining.
• 30 days no television or movies.
• read 6 new books in 30 days.
• write a novel or book in 30 day. Apparently this is already a thing.

Any other challenge suggestions? My goal is to do things that I believe will help me enjoy a more fulfilling life physically, mentally, or spiritually... We'll see how it goes!

To Reach Your Goals, Avoid Distractions

If you don't decide what to do with your life, someone else will decide for you. 

Whether we know it or not, we all have goals, in life. Goals give us direction, focus, and something to work for in life, but so often we seem to get distracted from reaching these goals. Distractions are ever-present in our society - the constant flow of information, entertainment, and the influence of others can overwhelm our ability to think clearly and move forward toward our goals. I have observed that many people simply do not reach their full potential, and this is often due to distraction.

Previous Post: How to Set and Reach Career Goals

Ask Three Simple Questions:
To overcome distractions, I have found that asking the following questions are extremely helpful. These questions are designed to help you clarify your goals and help you move forward toward what you really want.

1. What is my goal? What do I really want out of this meeting, this day, this conversation, this life? The goal here is to help you keep a focus on what you really want to achieve.
2. Is what I am doing now helping me reach my goal? Think of how your current thoughts and actions are contributing or distracting from your goal.
3. If not, what can I do right now that will help me reach my goal? Focus yourself on activities that will help you reach your goals.

Obvious Distractions
Here is a set of obvious distractions that might be keeping you from your goals:

• Mindless facebook time or internet surfing
• Purposeless television-watching
• Frivolous chatting or gossiping with coworkers

These kinds of activities are important and can relieve stress, but if used excessively, they can totally distract from your own purposes and goals, and in time you may lose your ability to succeed at what you really desire.

Less Obvious Distractions
The previous examples are pretty obvious, but here are some examples that you might not have considered before. These examples are more internally oriented in nature and are not as easy to monitor, but they are definitely distractions.

• Worrying about what other people think of you
• Worrying that someone might say no (or yes!) to your requests
• Allowing personality conflicts or issues to distract you from the goal

I have noticed that people (myself included) often allow their pride and their insecurity to get in the way of their goals. I have seen rooms filled with very well-educated people become emotionally charged that nothing is accomplished and the goal remains unfulfilled.

So, try out the three questions above and see if they help you keep your focus on your goals.

Book Review - "Instant Influence"

I recently listened to Dr. Michael Pantalon's book Instant Influence. In this book, Pantalon synthesizes research that he and others have done on how to influence others by helping them find motivation to make some kind of change in their life. He presents a series of questions that have proven to create motivation in others and help them create their own motivation to make change in their lives.

According to Pantalon, when you are working to motivate another individual, you must adhere to a few key principles:

• Affirm the individual's free choice, their autonomy to choose their own actions. This affirmation must be sincere.
• Do not tell the individual to change. Do not tell them why or how to change - have him or her generate personal reasons and ways to change.
• Have sincere care for the individual, have a true desire to help the individual move forward.

Pantalon recommends asking the individual 6 Questions, which are designed to help the individual determine their own motivation for doing a specific thing. After identifying a change that you believe the individual should make to improve their life, ask the following questions:

• Why might you change?
• How ready are you to change on a scale of 1 to 10?
• Why didn't you pick a lower number?
• Imagine you have changed. What would the positive outcomes be?
• Why are those outcomes important to you?
• Whats the next step, if any?

The goal of these questions is to help the individual determine his or her own internal motivation for doing the behavior in discussion. I believe that the internal motivation is much more powerful than any outside motivation, and these questions appear to help an individual tap in to that internal motivation.

Pantalon also recommends using these questions to help motivate oneself into some kind of action or change in your own life. I have personally used these strategies on myself since reading the text and find that it truly does provide a surprising sense of internal motivation and excitement about making changes that seem important but that are difficult to start doing.

As a scholar, I prefer books that appear to be based on sound research and experience, and Pantalon references his own research, the research of others, and his experiences using the system he promotes. I found the book easy to follow and found the many examples very helpful in aiding me to understand how the 6 Questions can be applied.

Great, useful work.

Creating Results in Life

I've been thinking a lot about achieving success and happiness in life. I believe that there are some fundamental processes that shape our reality, and we have the power to use those processes to create happiness, success, and peace. Here is how I believe our reality and the results we get in life are shaped:

In life, we receive endless information input- what we sense with our bodies. These inputs have massive influence on our thoughts and on how we perceive reality. This perception of reality shapes our attitudes, or how we feel about and relate to reality. Our attitudes have a huge influence on our actions, what we do in the world, which ultimately drive the results and shape our reality. This reality then becomes input which perpetuates the cycle.

Using The Cycle for Success and Happiness
We have the power to take advantage of this cycle and use it to achieve goals of happiness, success, and peace. Each of these elements - inputs, thoughts, attitudes, and actions - can be used to our advantage:

• Inputs - We can choose to place information that is Positive and True into our minds. It should be positive and provide motivation to act in a proactive manner. It should be true or based on what is real it is useful. Tips include:
• Do: Read motivational, empowering books by authors such as Stephen Covey, Zig Ziglar, and Anthony Robbins. Read sacred literature, scripture. Surround yourself with positive poeple who have similar goals and ambitions in life. Listen to music and spoken words that are positive and uplifting.
• Don't: Spend time with people who are negative or who complain excessively. Watch mindless television or waste time excessively on the internet.
• Thoughts - While our thoughts are heavily influenced by Inputs, we can still choose what we think about. We are constantly "talking to ourselves" in our minds. Our minds are always thinking, and we can choose what we think about and how we think about it.  Tips for creating empowering thoughts include:
• Do: Choose thoughts and beliefs that empower you, that bring success and happiness to you and to others. These include thoughts that are positive, true, and hopeful. 
• Don't: Dwell on negative things. Acknowledge that they are there, to be sure, but live proactively, focusing your thoughts on the things you can control and on things that will bring positive results.
•  Attitudes - Although attitudes are heavily influence by our thoughts, we have the capacity to consciously choose a positive, self-sustaining attitude. By controlling attitudes through consistent efforts (and trial and error), we will find that our actions are more proactive and bring greater results.
• Do: Have a positive attitude about life and about yourself. This means exposing our minds to people and media that infuse a healthy, positive attitude into our minds.
• Don't: Focus on the negative or on things that you cannot control. Avoid watching too much news or being exposed to people and media that are overtly negative.
• Disciplined Action- Our actions are the most vital component to success and happiness in life. We must align our actions and habits with the results we want, and we have the power to control our actions and habits.Habits are the vehicle through which success is attained.
• Do: Focus your actions on those that will bring you positive, lasting results in your life. This usually entails work of some kind.
• Don't: Waste time or energy on habits that limit personal success, growth and happiness. This can include addictive habits and gross time-wasters such as mindless television or internet.

By taking control of each of these components in our live, we have the power to create the Results we desire - success, happiness, peace, or whatever outcome we desire.

This view certainly isn't absolute, and outside influences (Input from the environment and people we are in and around) on our thoughts, attitudes and actions are massive. But viewing the world according to the process described above focuses our energy on the things that we can control. It enables the individual to take control of personal habits and to begin to move forward toward desired goals.

What do you think? Any insights? Does this seem right? I appreciate all critiques and feedback.

The Tendency to Jump to Conclusions

We live in an increasingly complex world, one that is competitive and sometimes harsh. A poor decision now can mean many negative consequences in the future.

What constantly surprises me is that in all of the organizations I've worked in, people (including myself) have the tendency to jump to a response before they consider the problem. Why do people tend to do this? There are probably many reasons- it is easy, we think we know the right answer, we are conceited or overly-confident, etc. When we jump to a response, we might sometimes be right, but we can very often be very wrong.

The Importance of Analysis
To make good decisions in business, in instructional design, and in our lives, we need to analyze what is happening before we jump to our responses. The capacity to consider a problem from different perspectives, to gather data on the nature of the problem, and to critically analyze that data are absolutely vital, and if we do not analyze the problem, we might end up making these common mistakes:

• fail to articulate the actual problem and work to solve a pseudo-problem.
• fail to articulate our goal.
• overlook crucially important data that could help us solve the problem or fill the need.

Instead of jumping to conclusions, we should ask the following questions and gather data and research deeply to answer them:

• what really is the problem? What is the root cause of the problem?
• what do we want to happen? what is our goal?
• what data are there to help us answer these questions correctly?

By truly analyzing a problem and articulating what we want to have happen, we will be much more likely to respond in an effective way. So, what do you think? Is there something I am missing? Why do we tend to jump to conclusions without thinking through all of the issues clearly?

How to Set and Reach Career Goals

Several years ago in my Masters degree program I created a goal-setting booklet for setting and reaching career goals. If you use this booklet, you will do the following:

1. Identify and write down your goal
2. Plan and write down the steps to reach that goal
3. Do the plan by following the steps outlined
4. Evaluate and adjust your plan based on how it went

 I followed a solid instructional design process for creating the booklet, and I feel pretty good about the content and the strategies used. It was a really fun project and I think the booklet is useful for those who want to reach their career goals. I thought it would be worth sharing the finished product- feel free to use it or share it as desired! Here is the Career Goal-Setting Booklet.

Why I Teach and Practice Instructional Design

Originally posted on the EdTech Dojo on Jan 24, 2012

I LOVE INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN. I love thinking, reading, writing about, and doing it. I love talking about it with my designer friends and I have chosen to spend my career as an instructional designer and as a teacher of instructional design. But why is instructional design so important to me? Why am I so excited about it? Here are several reasons:

I believe in human potential.
 I believe that people have the power to learn, grow and become better. I believe that every human has the capacity to learn and to contribute to society in meaningful ways. Education gives people the power to contribute to society. We all have within us the “seeds of greatness.” We have the capacity to grow, expand, develop and become something incredible.
I believe in education. 
My experience is that education can absolutely revolutionize an person’s life. Through gaining a high quality education over the last decade of my life, I have come to view the world in totally new ways and I have a sense of personal empowerment that I would likely never have known without that education. Education breaks the bonds of ignorance, stupidity, and narrow-mindedness. It opens opportunities that were never available before.

I believe in self-improvement.
I have spent many hours listening to self-help audio programs by success speakers such as Stephen Covey, Anthony Robbins, and Zig Ziglar. This form of education has helped me build a positive attitude and to set and reach difficult goals. This experience has shown that I have the ability to do difficult and rewarding things, and it fuels my belief that education and learning can change lives.

I love to see people succeed.
I have known some personal success, and it has been rewarding. But I receive as much or more gratification when I assist others in their success. I have worked with individuals and classes over the years and find deep satisfaction when I see my students succeed.

Knowledge empowers.
Underlying all of these is the certainty that knowledge gives people power. Knowledge lifts us, ennobles us, and makes us better. Providing an individual with knowledge through effective instruction is a noble, just, good act, and is something that is worthy of my time and energy.

So, this is why I love instructional design. As an instructional designer and an educator, I am participating in work that empowers people, that gives learners the capacity to grow, to succeed, to take control of their lives more fully. I am giving people tools that can totally change their lives. This is why I have devoted my professional life to teaching and doing instructional design.

Ideas for Instructional Design Professional Development

I am writing this post on New Year's Eve, the time at which many begin thinking of New Year's Resolutions. I have been reviewing my personal goals and resolutions and thought it would be interesting to write about instructional design professional development goals.

Change Is Constant
No matter what we do, the world is constantly changing. Our roles as instructional design professionals is changing, and we must continually acquire and expand our knowledge and skills to improve ourselves and make ourselves valuable.


Professional Development Ideas
So, how can we develop ourselves as instructional designers? Here is a list of ideas for professional development in instructional design. If you are now an instructional designer or want to make a career change into the field of instructional design, this list will give you ides for developing your knowledge and skills in meaningful ways:

1. Earn the degree- if you haven't already earned a degree in instructional design, this is perhaps the most important. Earning the degree will improve your credibility, knowledge, and abilities in very important ways. There are dozens of program options. Franklin University where I am currently a faculty member has a good online program that provides excellent training in Instructional Design and Performance Technology.
2. If you are already working in instructional design, consider expanding your knowledge by developing yourself in a related and useful area. This could mean project management, technology management, human performance technology, human resource management, or any other related skill or discipline.
3. Refine and extend your expertise in instructional design. Consider doing one of the following:
1. Read 1 or more new books on instructional design.
2. Go to a new conference or workshop that you have not yet attended.
3. Learn and use one (or more!) new design or development technologies.
4. Get into academia - read the current literature on a given instructional design topic. Or write and submit an article to an instructional design journal or magazine.
5. If you want additional insights, ask a trustworthy coworker or associate for areas you could work on or improve in.

My Professional Development Plans
Here is my own plan for developing myself as an instructional designer (and as a scholar) for 2012:

• Attend the Principles and Practices of Human Performance Technology Workshop at the ISPI Conference, this year.
• Attend and present at the Annual Convention of the Association for Educational Communication and Technology (AECT).
• Find and attend a workshop on Project Management.
• Publish at least 2 articles in peer-reviewed journals.
• Teach at least 2 courses in the  IDPT program at Franklin University.
• Post to this blog weekly.

This is my current list and I am sure I'll add more goals next year. I plan to continue to develop myself as an individual and a professional so that I am more valuable to my organization and can learn more about the things I am interested in and excited about. I am especially blessed to work in an organization that provides me with funding and support for professional development activities, and I am grateful to enjoy this benefit as a faculty member at Franklin University.

What about you?
So, what are your professional development goals? How do you want to improve yourself over the coming year? What have been your most positive past experiences improving your skills and knowledge in the field of instructional design?

Setting Professional Goals

As a freshman in college, I stumbled across a Zig Ziglar cassette tape at the college library. Listening to Zig explain the power of goals was one of my first exposures to the basic process of setting goals, and since then I have learned more and more about goal setting and have set and achieved many educational and career goals. The culmination of these career goals happened 10 years after my first Zig Ziglar experience: I took my position as a faculty member at Franklin University in Columbus, Ohio. After taking the position, my wife bought me tickets to hear Zig Ziglar speak- a truly excellent experience. I am now continuing the process of setting new career goals and am excited to achieve future success.

The Goal-setting Process.

Setting Goals is Crucial
One thing that I have learned over the last several years is this: For career success, it is absolutely crucial that we set goals. But what is the best way to set these goals?

The most effective process for setting goals is actually very similar to the process for systematically designing instruction. It is the systematic process for designing your life. You could interject career, health, relationships, or anything else for "life." This process has helped me and my beautiful wife develop a healthy, happy relationship; I have set and reached numerous educational goals. I have also gained several desired professional positions through this goal-setting process. Organizing your mind and your habits around this process can help you achieve your own goals as an instructional designer and as a human being.

Goal Setting Process

I will use the basic ADDIE Model (with modifications, of course) to show you you can systematically "design" your career (or any other part of your life) using this goal-setting process. To succeed at reaching your goals, answer the following questions:

Analysis- What are your goals?

What are your specific career goals? What position, job description, or title would you like to have?

Design- What must you do to reach this goal?

What education or credentials must you obtain to reach these goals?
What additional skills or knowledge must you obtain to reach these goals?
What real-world experience must you obtain to reach these goals?

Develop- What will you do this year to reach these goals?

What are the first action steps that you must take over the coming year to begin moving toward your career goals? Be sure to include the education, knowledge, skills, and experience necessary for reaching your goals.
What preparations must you make to begin working toward these goals?
What obstacles will get in the way of taking these action steps?

Implement- Do the plan!

Star doing your plan as identified in the previous steps.This is perhaps the most difficult part, but if your plan is sound, you will find yourself moving toward your goal.

Evaluate- How is it Working? What can I do to improve?

During the Implementation of your plan: 
How is your plan working? Are you moving toward your goals? Are you successfully completing your action steps? What is going well? What obstacles and problems are you seeing? How can you refine your plan so that it works more effectively and efficiently?

After the Implementation of your plan:
Did it work? Are you moving closer to your career goal? What else could you do to gain the education, knowledge, skills and experience required?

Repeat Your Goal-setting
Goals and action steps should be reviewed constantly to ensure you are on the right path. The goal-setting process should be done on a regular basis, perhaps every 3 to 6 months. I recommend setting long-term goals first (3-5+ year goals) and then mapping out what you can do on the short-term (1-2 years) and immediately (this year/month/week). This keeps the long-term goal in mind and at the same time helps you focus on what you must do now to reach your goals.

I review my goals regularly to see where I am and see where I need to go. It has helped me to achieve a lot over the last few years, and I plan to continue to set goals and achieve excellence through this process. When we think about our career and life goals systematically, the path becomes more clear and we can more easily change our actions and move forward successfully.

What do you think? Have you used this or a similar process? Is the goal setting process of value? Your thoughts and insights are welcome in the comment area below. In my next post, I will share my own professional development goals for the coming year and will also provide some ideas for setting new years resolutions for setting professional development goals this coming year.