UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE

SOCIAL AND BEHAVIOURAL

SCIENCES
SDLS LECTURE NOTES
3 February 2023

SITHOLE DM
Personal Growth
PERSONAL GROWTH/DEVELOPMENT

• Personal growth is the lifelong process for people to assess, analyze, and
improve themselves, their skills and qualities

• Is a process of developing new skills, attitudes, actions, or reactions that can

have a positive impact on your life and increase your overall well-being

• Personal development is looking inward and focusing on ways to better

yourself. Personal development increases your self-awareness, your self-
esteem, increases your skills, and fulfills your aspirations.
PERSONAL GROWTH /DEVELOPMENT
Areas of Personal Growth / Development

• Basically there are five areas in a human being that require to be

developed. These are Mental/intellectual, emotional, physical, social
and spiritual growth
Mental Growth
Mental/Intellectual growth
Mental growth can be enhanced through exercising brain and staying
mentally fit . This can be done through various ways such as:
• Embracing learning opportunities
• Taking career skills training courses
• Be part of staff development team
• Attending workshops
• All these helps you to realize your potentials
Social Growth

Social Development

Social connections and relationships are ingredients for personal

development. After all, self-improvement is not a solitary pursuit.
Humans are social creatures — we need that connection to learn and
grow. Social connections help us to acquire the following skills:
Social Growth
Advantages of Social Growth
• Communication skills
• Problem solving skills
• Relationship building skills
• Through social connections, people are able to learn from those
around them
Social Growth
Social Skills
• Social skills are the skills that we use everyday to interact and
communicate with others
• Social skills also known as interpersonal skills include verbal and non-
verbal communication such as gestures, speech, facial expression and
body language
Social Skills
Task 1.
Discuss with detailed examples the assumption that the level of
economic development of a person is determined by ability to use
social skills?
Social Skills
Examples of Social Skills
• Active listening when someone is talking
• Ability to make eye contact with other people
• Ability to empathize and express compassionate
• Respect of people’s personal space and boundaries
• Ability not to interrupt others when they are talking
• Ability not to say hurtful words to others
• Ability to make friendship and maintain it
Social Skills
Benefits of social skills at workplace
• Social skills are important because they help you communicate more
effectively and efficiently and as a result help you build, maintain and
grow relationships with colleagues, clients and new contracts
• Social skills help you connect better with your coworkers, clients, and
boss because you know how to hold conversations and interact
positively with others
• It becomes easy to build teams
Spiritual Growth
Spiritual Growth

• Spiritual growth is essential for a better, happier and harmonious life,

free from tension and stresses, fear and anxiety

• Spirituality means you’re investing in a deeper understanding of your

own self in the world around you. It helps you get to know yourself
and uncover your values
Spiritual Growth
Benefits of Spiritual Growth
Hopefulness

• Spirituality can add to our life a sense of hope and optimism. Spirituality
strengthens our outlook for a better future. We will always encounter
challenges in life, but if we stay hopeful during these trying times we will
persevere. Spiritual growth enhances our ability to deal with life’s ups and
downs and bounce back from those difficult experiences.
Spiritual Growth
Benefits of Spiritual Growth
Peace of mind
• Part of spirituality is connecting to a higher power
• The important thing is the sense that there is something greater than
ourselves, and that we don’t have to carry the entire burden alone.
When we learn how to “let go” of the emotional baggage we carry it
really adds to peace of mind.
Spiritual Growth
Benefits of spiritual growth
• You become more patient and tolerant
• You rise above negative feelings and negative thoughts
• Your inner strength and confidence grow
• You become more courageous
Emotional Growth
Emotional development is learning about feelings and emotions leading to
an understanding of who we are and what we expect when we interact with
others
Examples of emotional growth
• Showing affection for others.
• Expressing awareness of own feelings and those of others.
• Displaying self-control and management of emotions.
• Paying attention to and being observant of others.
• Forming healthy friendships.
• Expressing feelings through words.
Emotional Growth
Emotional growth brings about emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand, use and manage

your own emotions in a positive way to relieve stress , communicate
effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges and defuse
conflict.
Emotional Growth
Benefits of Emotional Intelligence
• Helps employees to move to the next level
• Reduces stress
• Teaches employees how to react to constructive criticism
• Helps employees conquer their fears, doubts, and insecurities
• Improves communication skills
• Enhances social skills
• Creates a positive environment
Physical Growth
• Physical growth refers to biological changes that occur in humans
between birth and adolescence
• It includes both growth and the ability to use muscles and body parts
for particular skills
Personal Growth
Benefits of personal growth/ development to an organization
• Keeps people motivated
• Allows people to refine their talents
• Increases staff employee confidence
• Reduces staff turnover
• Improves knowledge of self awareness among staff members
• Provides a sense of direction
• Increases production
Task 2
Discuss the assumption that each step towards
personal growth is an investment to the
individual as well as to the company?