Personal Development is one of the areas of self-care in the Circle of Health. It involves all the things a person can do to learn and grow. Examples of Personal Development topics that can be incorporated into Integrative Health Plans (PHPs) include building hope and optimism, finding balance in life, trying new creative pursuits and skills, volunteering, practicing gratitude, building social capital, lifelong learning, improving financial health, and building humor. Cultivating resilience is fundamentally important to personal development as well. This overview builds on the material featured in Chapter 7 of the Passport to Whole Health.

Key Points

• Personal development has many facets. Work with each individual to decide where they would like to focus first. Be sure to tie their choices in with their values and what really matters to them.
• Various aspects of personal development are beneficial to health. For example, quality of work life contributes to better health, as does volunteering. Resilience counteracts burnout and is protective in many other ways. People who are more hopeful and optimistic live longer. Employment and financial health are important determinants of well-being too.
• This overview discusses 16 potential personal development topics. Keep asking yourself about how each of them could be incorporated into a PHP, when appropriate.

Meet the Patient

Sarah is a 42-year-old certified nursing assistant (CNA). She is divorced and has a 14-year-old son and a 12-year-old daughter at home.

Sarah reports some fatigue and difficulty sleeping. Her main sources of stress are managing her household, raising her children as a single mother, working part-time at a local hospital, and never seeming to have enough time or money to accomplish her goals. She receives minimal child support from her ex-husband, who is only marginally involved in the children’s lives. She does have a few good friends, and her parents live nearby and help her with the children. She is struggling with work-life balance and finding time for herself.