About

If you are looking for hands-on advice on how to create, complete and follow through your personal development plan for your annual interview, for a training or simply for yourself, you are in the right place.

If you are generally interested in personal development, but do not necessarily know where to start, you are also in the right place.

Smart Self Development Plan is about finding the means and learning to self-improve and to make it happen – at work and at home. Touching topics around motivation and determination, around direction and passions and around skills and talents. To discover how you can lead yourself better, not only your team (if you happen to have one). Putting your plans into action to make a difference. In your world. Leading by example, or finding more balance. Whatever your vision and passions might be.

So, why the Smart Self Development Plan Blog ?

With this blog, I want to share my insights and experiences as a facilitator, a trainer, a coordinator, an employee and simply as a human being to help you to work on yourself and to keep the momentum and to make things happen. Surprisingly, a lot of people abandon their initiatives, made a list once and do not really look at it again. And there are many potential reasons on why they do so. Here on this blog, there are plenty of strategies, tools, tips and techniques from lessons learned and personal experiences, easy to implement for those of you who want to change. Do not get me wrong, I am still on a steep improvement path myself, but I am here to be as realistic and straight forward as possible to illustrate on how I have done certain things – wins and failures – that can help you reach your goals.

Who is behind the Smart Self Development Plan?

Jantje Bartels, Smart Self Development PlanMy name is Jantje Bartels, currently living in Duesseldorf, Germany after various experiences abroad in France and Australia throughout the last 15 years. For ten years now, I have been working in multinational companies in the human resources domain. Having a great passion for social learning, I have been engaged as a trainer, facilitator, speaker and moderator on different occasions. I consider myself lucky to have a great family and an awesome circle of friends in different places around the world. I love being exposed to different cultures and speaking different languages.

Beginning of January 2013 I jumped into the deep blue water, quitting my regular job and starting out my own business. It is still very fresh, I am thoroughly enjoying it and we will see how it goes!

Okay, so know you know me a bit better, but I guess you are not here because I consider myself being a great achiever with sufficient self-confidence. What I have accomplished is not because I have extraordinary skills that can help you to implement your self development plan tomorrow to have better relationships and to simply be a better person.

No, what I have accomplished is because of one simple motto – I do what I say and I say what I do (99,99% of the time – I am not perfect, either).

Do not worry, I am not trying to tell you that it all depends on one simple formula, no, this is not the case. What I am trying to tell you, that it all starts with a certain mindset – and this is why I am where I am today.

And finally, please read this carefully:

On this blog, it is not about the greatest self-help recipes or big theories like the famous Herzberg or Maslow’s. I am attempting to provide useful concrete tips and techniques based on personal experience. By no means am I claiming to know everything about self improvement and personal development. I am not trying to compete with coaches, psychologist or trainers on the contrary, if you happen to be one of them I would be grateful to receive your feedback!
So, this blog is by me, but for you! What steps you take, depends at the end of the day solely on you, so, go on!

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope to see you on the blog sometime soon!
Jantje.

P.S.: If you want to learn some of the tactics I use, all you have to do is subscribe to the newsletter on this site!