IDP: Current State

When documenting an Individual Development Plan it is best to start with a clear understanding of your current state. This is the starting point on your personal improvement map. Whether you are focusing on a single competency or a combination of personal factors, you should begin by answering the following questions:

1. If you are working from some sort of assessment, ask yourself, "How would the people who rated me low in this area describe me?"
2. "What are my habits?"
3. "How do I see the world today?"
4. "I am concerned that I might be..."
5. "This issue concerns me because people are critical of me when I..."
6. "The most overt symptoms that people have observed include..."
7. "The underlying cause of this behavior is..."
8. "The things that I do well and do not want to lose sight of include..."

It is important that you internalize the assessment of your present state by taking the time to document it. You should be clear about the positives and the negatives. It is probably not all bad news because no one is completely incompetent. There are things that you do well in this area that you don't want to lose as you change.

The most important thing to do is to be brutally honest with yourself.