Personal Development Skills Blog
Chris Farmer's Leadership and Management Training Blog
Welcome - the purpose of the blog page is to provide you with a never ending source of valuable, practical and entertaining information designed to help you get the best performance from yourself and others.
In these blogs you will find all the information you need to make faster progress in less time and effort. Here you will find all the information you need to achieve your goals. In addition to helping yourself to achieve your goals, you can use the same information to help others to achieve their goals.
Personal Development Skills Blogs
Personal development training is the best investment you can make, because your own performance is the most important factor in how your life turns out.
Many people do not take responsibility to for their results, instead they blame other people and The System. But the truth is that your own performance is paramount because you are always there. You need to improve your performance in six major areas of activity.
- Setting and achieving goals.
- Clear, convincing communication.
- Planning, prevention and problems solving.
- Handling difficult people and circumstances.
- Self-control (self-discipline, self-motivation, and self-confidence).
- Inspire others towards a positive mental attitude.
Personal Development Skills Blogs
Continuous Improvement Mindset
20 February 2024
Continuous improvement emphasises the constant pursuit of betterment in any situation. It promotes the idea that one can maintain a positive mindset while actively seeking improvement, referred to as the "happy, but not satisfied" mindset.
Continue Reading >What is Self-Image?
23 January 2024
Our actions reflect our self-image, influencing choices and decisions. Self-concept sets boundaries, often self-imposed, guiding behaviour. People struggle when actions conflict with their self-image, feeling inauthentic.
Continue Reading >Harnessing Aristotle's Ideas for Personal Development
12 September 2023
Tap into diverse wisdom sources for personal development, like philosophy. Aristotle's five predicables (definition, genus, differences, proprium, accidens) are powerful tools for self-growth. Learn how to apply them in your journey.
Continue Reading >Essential Training to Develop Core Skills
21 March 2023
Our thoughts and actions should be based on accurate, rational decisions. Therefore, proper training is a vital component for success, both for individuals and organisations as a whole. What are the core skills that need to be developed?
Continue Reading >How Introverts can Make Their Voices Heard
15 February 2022
Many introverts have great ideas and expertise to offer, but often are not heard because they feel uncomfortable being the centre of attention. Find out how to empower yourself with our top tips to feel more self-confident about speaking out.
Continue Reading >Why It is Good to be Ambitious
5 October 2021
When people are ambitious, they have positive goals, something to plan for and something to work towards. Planning towards a better future helps people feel stronger and more optimistic.
Continue Reading >How to Handle Negative Feedback At Work
22 June 2021
Being able to handle negative feedback in a positive way, is something we should all strive for. Only by listening to any criticism and eliminating any errors in our performance, will progress be possible.
Continue Reading >Self-Control
18 May 2021
Self-control means understanding the internal battles that exits between “what we know we should do” and “what we feel like doing”.
Continue Reading >Top Skills Needed by Entrepreneurs
27 April 2021
Being furloughed or working from home, has seen many people become dissatisfied with their current employment and dream of working for themselves. Find out if you have what it takes to become an entrepreneur.
Continue Reading >How to Develop Dr Carol Dweck's Growth Mindset
6 October 2020
Are you seeking to develop more of a growth mindset? Enhance your personal and professional development with our guide discussing Dweck’s growth mindset.
Continue Reading >Why Some People are More Successful Than Others
16 June 2020
Success is something we all strive for in our lives. But what makes some people more successful than others? Successful people share common traits, that you too can learn and apply to become more successful.
Continue Reading >Is Being Open Minded a Good Thing?
9 June 2020
Open minded people are eager and willing to consider other people's ideas and opinions. Whilst open mindedness can be a good thing, it is advisable to proceed with this cautionary advice.
Continue Reading >The Difference Between Objective and Subjective Reality
26 May 2020
Objective reality is the world according to the facts. Subjective reality is a person's perceptive of something. It is important to be able to distinguish between the two and know how to interpret them.
Continue Reading >Creative Imagination
22 May 2020
Do you imagine all the bad things that could happen to you in the future? Instead use your powerful imagination constructively. Turn your life around with constructive thoughts which will help you achieve your goals and feel better about the future.
Continue Reading >Why you Need Philosophy
19 May 2020
As a manager you need to be able to understand why people act in a particular way and what motivates them. Psychology is often used to analyse people, however, philosophy has an important role to play in understanding human behaviour.
Continue Reading >A Simple Trick to Help you Develop More Self-Discipline
15 May 2020
Self-discipline is doing what needs doing, even if you don’t feel like doing it. Self-discipline is one of the keys to reaching your full potential. Here is a simple way to help you develop more self-discipline, and help you to achieve your goals.
Continue Reading >What is Critical Thinking?
14 April 2020
Critical thinking involves making reasoned judgements. Don't accept all arguments and conclusions at face value. Instead develop an inquiring mentality, rational thinking and make logical connections between ideas, before making your conclusions.
Continue Reading >How to Take Personal Responsibility
15 October 2019
In order to have control over your life and have self-respect, then you need to take personal responsibility. Read our blog to find out more.
Continue Reading >How to Have Good Ideas
23 July 2019
Being creative helps you develop your imaginative ideas, turning them into reality. Develop your creativity and you will improve your problem-solving skills, both in business and in your personal life, as well as helping reduce your stress levels.
Continue Reading >How to Build More Self-Esteem
28 June 2019
People who suffer with low self-esteem, generally under-perform in all areas of their life. It is possible to raise your self-esteem, and this blog shows you how you can develop your self-esteem and feel better about yourself on a daily basis.
Continue Reading >Is It True "Everything Happens for a Reason"?
14 June 2019
Many people believe that things happen for a reason. But what exactly does that mean? Is it some act of fate that made it happen, or is there a cause? Do you get rich because of luck, or because you purposefully set goals to make it happen?
Continue Reading >What are the Qualities of a Professional Sales Person?
15 April 2019
To be a successful sales person, you need to have certain qualities. Some people seem to be natural sales people, but it is a fact that many of these qualities can be taught. Which of these qualities do you consider to be the most important?
Continue Reading >How to Get the Best From a Training Course
15 March 2019
Training courses can be of great benefit to your personal development, showing you how to improve your performance. Before attending any training, check out these tips to ensure you get the most from the course. And remember to keep an open mind!
Continue Reading >How to Improve Self-Confidence
8 February 2019
Would you like to improve your self-confidence? Even the least confident person can improve their confidence, by taking some simple steps. Check out this guide and begin your journey to becoming more self-confident, today.
Continue Reading >How to Develop Abilities and Talent
15 January 2019
There is no such thing as natural ability. All successful people have studied and perfected their talents, so it appears easy. If you want to make a success of something, the first thing you need to develop is mental focus.
Continue Reading >How can I Feel Better About Myself?
2 July 2018
If you are constantly putting yourself down, measuring yourself against impossible goals, and forgetting to take care of your physical body, then negative emotions will take over. Take these steps to start feeling better about yourself today.
Continue Reading >Ways to Develop a Success-Orientated Mindset
1 June 2018
Having a strong mindset is important to your success as an individual. The ability to adapt and change to ever-evolving political, or economic circumstances, is vital if your business is to progress and succeed.
Continue Reading >How to Improve Yourself
18 May 2018
If you want to be successful and achieve your life goals, you must look to your personal development. Do not be content with what you already know, improve your knowledge, your self belief and ability to get on with other people.
Continue Reading >How to Make Progress
13 March 2018
When things go wrong, don't despair. Instead take advantage of the situation to think about what else can be achieved. Utilise the situation to make progress in an unexpected way.
Continue Reading >How to Take Criticism
2 March 2018
We all make mistakes, but most of us probably don't take criticism well. Being able to use negative feedback constructively, is one of the most important gifts you can give yourself. We must also learn to give proper constructive criticism to others.
Continue Reading >How to Gain Confidence
27 February 2018
Would you like to be more confident? You are not alone. Many people lack confidence because their thought process is actually destroying their confidence. Here are three easy steps to improving your confidence.
Continue Reading >Great Minds Think Alike
6 February 2018
Great minds might think alike, but they don't think the same thing. Instead they think logically, using their Common Sense. They think and act according to their rational mind to make reasoned judgements.
Continue Reading >Confidence Builder
23 January 2018
Can you meet life's challenges square on? Or do you stand back to wait see what happens, or even worse hide away and miss your opportunity altogether? Rewire your brain to meet the next challenging situation with these confidence builder tips.
Continue Reading >Four Thinking Styles
19 December 2017
Would you like to be more positive and have a better memory? Would you like to say the right thing, do the right thing and feel terrific? The good news is, you can! Develop your thinking and you will improve the quality of your life.
Continue Reading >How can We Continually Improve Our Results?
6 October 2017
Results are the measure of our own performance. Your performance can be continuously improved by three elements; improving yourself, others and the systems around you.
Continue Reading >Social Inheritance
28 March 2017
To succeed, you need to test and challenge your existing mind-set and try to refine and improve it so that every year, you are wiser than the year before.
Continue Reading >Success is Simple
24 March 2017
We all know people who do not add value to others, or even worse, take value from others. However, the people who get on well in life and who succeed, are those people who strive to add value to others.
Continue Reading >How to Improve your Productivity
6 December 2016
Learning how to be more productive is about changing your habits, allowing you to achieve your goals more quickly and improve your lifestyle. Read more.
Continue Reading >Don't Let Fear Stop You
29 November 2016
Fear is one of the strongest emotions, designed to keep you safe from harm. However, not all fear is real and imaginary fear can inhibit your life.
Continue Reading >Personal Development: Wise Words From Jim Rohn
2 August 2016
Discover the one reason you are not doing very well.
Continue Reading >Get Better Every Day
6 May 2016
If you got a little better, every day, can you imagine how great you would be in the next five years?
Continue Reading >Fear can Cause Failure
11 March 2016
The fear of failure, the fear of loss, the fear of disappointment is sufficient to stop many people from even making the attempt to win a prize. And as a result, they lose. Fear of failure causes failure.
Continue Reading >Develop your Mind, Body and Spirit
4 March 2016
Don't wait for random chance to operate in your favour, take action to improve your life for the better.
Continue Reading >Seeking the Approval of Others
12 February 2016
The fear of rejection is, for many people, a deep seated fear. It is so deep seated and primitive a fear, that many are not consciously aware of its existence, though we are painfully aware of its effects.
Continue Reading >Personal Development: the Power of Persistence
29 January 2016
Quick and easy is a great marketing tool, but most goals are not easy to achieve; Persistence is required.
Continue Reading >Develop your People Management Skills
15 January 2016
In order to manage people you need to use the right approach. You need to develop your people management skills.
Continue Reading >How can I Create Better Results?
11 December 2015
Everyone wants their lives to be better, in the sense of enjoying better results. So what is it that determines the quality of results?
Continue Reading >Fantastic Quotes to Inspire You
3 November 2015
Personal development is about refining your thought processes, so that your mind conforms to your own ideas of perfection.
Continue Reading >Personal Development: Self-Image
27 October 2015
Your self-image is very important. Everything you ever say, and everything you ever do, is governed by your self-image. Developing a strong self-image is important.
Continue Reading >Striving After an Ideal
22 September 2015
You will never reach your own ideal, but trying to strive towards an ideal is a very valuable exercise in self-discipline and personal development.
Continue Reading >Five Ways to Manage your Own Emotions
17 July 2015
It is important not to blame other people, nor circumstances for how you feel. Instead, you should take full responsibility for your own emotions.
Continue Reading >The Business of Helping People
7 July 2015
If you want to do well in business, or in your relationships, or life in general, then it is important that you should endeavour to make other people's lives better.
Continue Reading >Soft Skills Training
8 May 2015Soft Skills Training Soft skills training is the name given to panoply of skills that will help you to inspire a positive response from everyone you work with. "Soft skills" is a generic term that denotes many subset skills, meaning that there are many skills falling under the general heading
Continue Reading >What Skills Do I Need to Improve?
21 April 2015
Learn from expert trainer Chris Farmer the skills that you need to improve to progress in your professional life. Read advice in our online training blog.
Continue Reading >How to be Even More Successful
17 February 2015
No matter what you currently possess, you would probably like to see an improvement in your current situation. You would like to be more successful.
Continue Reading >Get Out of your Comfort Zone
6 February 2015
Your continued progress in the modern world now demands that you advance to positions far outside your normal comfort zones.
Continue Reading >Four Forces That Affect You
15 January 2015Four forces that affect you You are continually affected by four forces: Your own thoughts and actions. The actions of others. Mother Nature. Systems. With respect to these four forces, most people tend to fall into two personality types: They tend to have one of two ways of looking at the
Continue Reading >A Can-Do Attitude
13 January 2015
Developing a can-do attitude is one of the greatest things you could do for yourself, your family and your boss.
Continue Reading >Train your Brain to Focus on the Future
31 December 2014Train Your Brain to Focus on the Future It is very important to focus on the future. The past is gone and can never come back. Whether that past was good or bad, it can never come back. If the past was bad for you, then it's good to forget. If
Continue Reading >Learn From your Mistakes
14 November 2014
Criticism is good for you. Don't get upset when you receive negative feedback, instead use the criticism to make adaptive changes. Learn from your failures and you will be on track to succeed.
Continue Reading >How can you Improve Self-Confidence?
24 July 2014
Self-confidence is crucial to your happiness, your personal effectiveness and the level of success in your interpersonal relationships.
Continue Reading >Three Ways to Improve your Personal Effectiveness
26 May 2014Three ways to improve your personal effectiveness You may be thinking about how you might be able to improve your personal effectiveness. Your personal effectiveness is a measure of your ability to make rapid progress towards your own goals or the goals that have been assigned to you. If John is
Continue Reading >Personal Development Develop a Positive Attitude
17 January 2014
Positive people are mentally strong to cope with whatever life throws at them. Having a positive mental attitude is something that can be developed by mindfulness over your own thoughts. Increase your chances of success with a PMA.
Continue Reading >Personal Development - Self-Discipline
30 September 2013Personal development - Self-discipline Personal development is the act of developing your skills, knowledge, and abilities in order to improve your effectiveness, and thus be more likely to achieve your goals. Achieving your goals is important to you because your success depends on your ability to achieve the goals that you
Continue Reading >Professional Development Training
12 September 2013The art of asking the right questions Everything that exists operates according to the laws of logic. In order to understand anything, it is essential to keep your thinking attuned to the same laws of logic. If nature is operating to strict logical laws- but your thinking is not - then
Continue Reading >Habits of Highly Effective People - Planning Ahead
24 July 2013Planning ahead is the major habit of all highly effective people Do you know what are the subset goals that will form the steps towards your next major achievement? The atomic theory tells us that all big things are composed of a vast number of small things. Therefore all your elephant
Continue Reading >A Good Training Needs Analysis
1 July 2013A good training needs analysis All successful people are successful because they all possess the same set of "success qualities" that distinguish them from non-successful people. If you were to identify the qualities of the "successful personality", and if you were to then make the necessary improvements in your habitual patterns
Continue Reading >How to Create a Personal Development Plan
14 June 2013
To cope with an ever-changing world, you should be a continuous state of personal development. By developing your professional skills you will be in a good place to achieve your goals and achieve success.
Continue Reading >The Personal Development Programme (Pdp)
25 February 2013Your personal development programme is a method of systematising your approach to your own development. Learn more about PDP with Corporate Coach Group.
Continue Reading >How to Get the Best From Yourself - Personal Development Training
9 September 2012How to get the best from yourself Both in your work life and in your home life, you need to get the best from the others around you. In order to get the best from others, you must first learn to get the best from yourself. Before you can hope to
Continue Reading >Return to Work Job Interview Skills
12 January 2012Return to work job interview skills People often say: "You shouldn't judge others" and "You can't judge a book by its cover" But the truth is the just the opposite. You must judge others (ie you must judge whether to do business with them or not). They must judge you
Continue Reading >Improve your People Management Skills
20 April 2009People management skills How can you get the best from yourself and others? Answer: develop your: "People management skills" People management skills are the "soft skills". Some people develop them all naturally; and sadly, others don't. Do you know anyone with good technical skills, but poor people management skills? The
Continue Reading >Blog Categories
Accelerated Learning (6)
Accelerated learning techniques are special methods of organising information, so that you can more rapidly memorise and more accurately recall it on demand. Accelerated learning also includes mind mapping and creative thinking techniques.
Assertiveness (4)
Assertiveness is a both a communication style and a mind-set which, when combined, allows a people to express their meaning using just the amount of forcefulness, in relation to their body language, voice tone and spoken language.
Change Management (15)
Change management training is how to use the fact of continuous change, to work FOR you, rather than against you. It is a fact that all improvement implies change, but many people hate change. Change management is about training people to love change as a means of making the future better.
Coaching, Mentoring and Developing Staff (8)
There is a pressing need to develop the next generation of leaders, managers and technical experts. One way to develop staff is through coaching and mentoring. To be an effective coach and mentor is not an easy skill to master. These blogs discuss the skills of coaching, mentoring and staff development.
Communication - Clear Communication (77)
One to the most important facets of communication is clarity. Whenever you write or speak, your words should denote only one possible meaning. If your words can be properly interpreted in multiple ways, then you are creating the conditions for confusion, error and misunderstanding. These blogs discuss the nature of clear communication.
Communication - Listening Skills (5)
Communication includes the ability to attend to, understand and memorise what people say to you. Effective Listening is an active, not a passive process. These bloggs discuss what it takes to be a good listener.
Communication - Nonverbal Communication (8)
Communication includes a large visual component. How you appear, as you speak, makes a big difference to how your message is received. These blogs are about how to best use your body language. (Eye contact, posture, dress, hand and arm gestures, etc.)
Communication - Persuasive Communication (39)
Persuasion is the art of convincing others that your ideas are good, right, fair and practical, and in addition, persuasion includes motivating people to put your ideas into action. Persuasion is a key communication skill that everyone should study. These blogs discuss how to be more persuasive.
Communication - Written Communication (5)
A part of your communication is in the written form. Writing well is a skill that most people do not study, though it is of immense importance. These blogs discuss how you might improve your written communication.
Conflict Management and Handling Difficult People (28)
Conflict is inevitable, and when it occurs, you need to resolve it quickly and efficiently. Conflict management (and handling difficult people) is about managing your communication and your emotions, so that you arrive at a negotiated solution as quickly as possible. This series of blogs discusses the various ways you can best manage conflict.
Decision Making and Problem Solving (21)
Decision making is the skill of selecting the best option from many options. And problem solving is the skill at determining the causes and implications of a problem and finding efficient remedies. This series of blogs discusses the elements of effective decision making and problem solving.
Goal Setting (7)
Success is the achievement of a worthwhile goal. And therefore, the first step to achieving a goal is to set it. Goal setting is the starting point of all achievement and is one of the most important topics you could study. This series of blogs discuss the elements of goal setting.
Leadership and Management (143)
Leadership is the art of setting a clear goal and inspiring others to achieve it. Management is the art of organising resources so as to most efficiently achieve that goal. This series of blogs discuss the details of leadership and management.
Mental Health (12)
Mental health is the skill of managing your own mind so as to achieve mental stability and a high degree of rationality. Mental ill health is the opposite, mental instability and irrational actions. This series of blogs, discusses how you might manage your mind.
Motivation (32)
Motivation is an emotion that induces action. Without motivation, nobody would achieve anything of value. This series of blogs discusses the various ways you can motivate yourself and others.
Other (36)
Whilst interesting and informative in their own right, these blogs don't fit into a category.
People Management (11)
People management is a combination of skills including goal setting, communication, planning, handling conflict and motivation skills. This series of blogs discusses people management skills.
Personal Development (72)
The best investment you can make is in your own personal development. If you develop your skills, knowledge and experience, then you will maximise your potential to produce excellent results. This series of blogs looks at the details of personal development.
Personal Effectiveness (85)
You are not paid for how hard you work; you are paid for your effectiveness. It is possible to improve your effectiveness and get more valuable work done in less time and effort. This series of blogs discusses how you might improve your personal effectiveness and therefore speed up your rate of progress.
Positive Thinking (8)
The quality of your results is based upon the quality of your actions. And your actions are controlled by your thoughts. To simultaneously improve both your material results and your mental health, it is vital to develop the skills of positive thinking.
Stress Management (3)
Stress can be both good for you and bad for you. Good Stress triggers improvement. Bad stress grinds you down. Stress management is about using stress to help you to improve, and to avoid the negative effects of too much stress. These blogs discuss the various aspects of stress management.
Supervisory Management Skills (4)
Supervisory management skills are a combination of five major skill sets, setting goals, communication skills, planning, performance management and motivation. These blogs discuss the details of supervisory management skills.
Team Leadership (6)
For the most part, we all work in teams. Leading the team effectively can make all the difference to the performance of the team, as a whole. This series of blogs discuss the details of team leadership.
Teamwork (19)
Teams are often composed of people who have very different personalities and skills. In order to perform well, the members of the team must work well together and play to each other’s strengths. This series of blogs covers the importance of team work skills.
Time Management (16)
Time management is about prioritising, planning, organising and delegating, so that, at any moment, you are always adding the most value, and setting the conditions for your future success. This series of blogs investigates how you might better manage your time.