In the beforetime, we watched films where a spot of elocution, a can-do attitude and a pink dress could turn a girl’s life around. Sometimes, all she needed was for her glasses to fall off and her hair to come loose for her boss to spot her beauty queen potential. “Why Miss Jones, you’re beautiful!” he would exclaim and cart her off to a new life involving labour-saving kitchen appliances. However, times have changed and personal development is no longer about snaring a husband and a 3-speed blender.
Is that a throbbing vein in your forehead or are you just pleased to see me
Part time personal development courses cater for all kinds of people and behaviours. Their aim is to improve your life and to make you happier and more relaxed. For example, you might need to learn how to deal with situations calmly. Are you tired of being locked in the car at family gatherings Perhaps your eulogy to your great aunt didn’t need quite so many swears, or maybe it was unnecessary to punch that usher at your sister’s wedding. A course can teach you how to modify your behaviour without becoming a submissive.
If you constantly blow your top at an unreasonable boss or client, then you will learn how to communicate your disagreement without getting angry. This doesn’t mean that you have to become the Stepford employee. You can and will still feel angry but you will be equipped with the tools to deal with it appropriately. You learn how to use your rage in a non-Carrie way and come up with a new approach that will leave you satisfied and your antagonist vanquished.
Don’t mind me
People who lack confidence or who have low self esteem can also benefit from a part time personal development course. If you always feel anxious in work or social situations, then your course lecturer will stand you on a chair and make you tell the class all about it. Ah, not really. Come out from behind the couch. The class will help you understand where a lack of confidence can come from and how it can be conquered. Simple exercises and tips will help you take control of your life and start to communicate effectively and probably with a bit more volume.
There is nothing wrong with being flexible but you don’t want to end up becoming a doormat. Learning to stand up for yourself will help you become more relaxed, both at home and at work. Once you are able vent some of your anxieties, you will gradually feel the ball of tension that you carry around start to unravel.
Conning the interviewer
A personal development course will help you present the best of yourself. It doesn’t mean changing your entire personality, just judiciously showing the rest of the world your most salient points. Turning up to a job interview in floaty chiffon sarong may display a devil-may-care air of whimsy but it is unlikely to impress a conservative employer.
It is important to pick the most relevant points from your previous career to tell the interviewer. We know you were proud of that Science and You prize that you won in sixth class but you have to be selective. If you go into every little detail of your achievements from the age of 6, then your employer will think that you are trying to avoid talking about your present. A course can teach you how to edit your CV – what to leave out and how to improve what’s in there.
So whether you want to be able to stand up to the person who always skips you in the bus queue; or if you feel you’re losing out in the office; a course in personal development can help you. . . good luck!
