You’ve probably spent a lot of time in the last few months working on your business plan for the year ahead.

You’ve worked on budgets, cashflow projections, marketing plans and other strategy documents. 

This is all good stuff and vital for your business. But now you need to take some time to think about your personal development plan for 2012.

Finding time for personal development is never easy, but it’s crucial that you do it. A leader who is not looking to improve themselves or get new skills will quickly find themselves falling behind.

One good way to approach this is to plan a personal development activity for every quarter. That way, you make a manageable commitment that will still have great benefits.

Think about how you can mix these activities up. Perhaps do a two-day seminar one quarter and take an online course the next.

Consider some different things. Could you donate some time to a charity or join the board of a local organisation? Could you organise to be seconded to your biggest customer for a day?

Come up some ideas and book them in your diary now – before another year goes past with no personal development done.

Get it done – today!