PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

LAS 1: Knowing and Understanding Oneself

during Middle and Late Adolescence

SELF-CONCEPT
Self-concept is the way people think about themselves. As a global understanding of oneself, self-
concept shapes and defines who we are, the decisions we make, and the relationships we form.

Self-concept is our individual perceptions of our behavior, abilities, and unique characteristics—a
mental picture of who you are as a person. Self-concept
(1) is unique to the individual;
(2) can be positive or negative;
(3) has emotional,
There is indeed a big difference between what you see in yourself (real self-image) and what is projected in
the eyes ofothers (your social image).intellectual, and functional dimensions;
(4) changes with the environmental context;
(5) changes over time; and
(6) has a powerful influence on one’s life.

Humanist psychologist, Carl Rogers believed that there were three different
parts of self-concept:
 Self-image, or how you see yourself. Each individual’s self-image is a mixture of different
attributes including our physical characteristics, personality traits, and social roles. Self-image
doesn't necessarily coincide with reality.
 Self-esteem, or how much you value yourself. A number of factors can impact self-esteem,
including how we compare ourselves to others and how others respond to us. When people
respond positively to our behavior, we are more likely to develop positive self-esteem. When we
compare ourselves to others and find ourselves lacking, it can have a negative impact on our self-
esteem.
 Ideal self, or how you wish you could be. In many cases, the way we see ourselves and how we
would like to see ourselves do not quite match up.If there is a mismatch between how you see
yourself (your self-image) and what you’d like to be (your ideal self) then this is likely to affect how
much you value yourself (self-esteem). Therefore, there is an intimate relationship between self
image, ideal self and self-esteem. According to Carl Rogers, the degree to which a person's self-
concept matches up to reality is known as congruence and incongruence.A person’s ideal self
may not be consistent with what actually happens in the life and experiences of the person.
Hence, a difference may exist between a person’s ideal self and actual experience. This is called
incongruence. Where a person’s ideal self and actual experience are consistent or very similar, a
state of congruence exists. The development of congruence is dependent on unconditional
positive regard. Rogers believed that for a person to achieve selfactualization they must be in a
state of congruence. Why is self-concept important? Knowing who you are will help you feel that
you have worth and value in this world. When you can accept yourself for who you are, it will be
easier for others to accept you, too. Learning about yourself can help you develop lasting
relationships with others as well as help you make choices that will direct your life in the path you
want to go.

The Benefits of Self-Concept

 Happiness. You will be happier when you can express who you are.
Expressing your desires will make it more likely that you get what you want.
 Less inner conflict. When your outside actions are in accordance with your
inside feelings and values, you will experience less inner conflict.
 Better decision-making. When you know yourself, you are able to make better
choices about everything, from small decisions like which sweater you’ll buy to
big decisions like which partner you’ll spend your life with. You'll have guidelines
you can apply to solve life’s varied problems.
 Self-control. When you know yourself, you understand what motivates you to
resist bad habits and develop good ones. You'll have the insight to know which
values and goals activate your willpower.
8 Resistance to social pressure. When you are grounded in your values and
preferences, you are less likely to say “yes” when you want to say “no.”
 Tolerance and understanding of others. Your awareness of your own foibles
and struggles can help you empathize with others.
 Vitality and pleasure. Being who you truly are helps you feel more alive and
makes your experience of life richer, larger, and more exciting.

PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS
Personal effectiveness means making use of all the personal resources –
talents, skills, energy and time, to enable you to achieve life goals.
Your knowledge of yourself and how you manage yourself impacts directly on
your personal effectiveness. Being self-aware, making the most of your strengths,
learning new skills and techniques and behavioral flexibility are all keys to improving
your personal performance.
Our personal effectiveness depends on our innate characteristics – talent and
experience accumulated in the process of personal development. Talents first are
needed to be identified and then developed to be used in a particular subject area
(science, literature, sports, politics, etc.). Experience includes knowledge and skills
that we acquire in the process of cognitive and practical activities. Knowledge is
required for setting goals, defining an action plan to achieve them and risk
assessment. Skills also determine whether real actions are performed in
accordance with the plan. If the same ability is used many times in the same
situation, then it becomes a habit that runs automatically, subconsciously.
Here are some skills that will greatly increase the efficiency of any person
who owns them:
 Determination. It allows you to focus only on achieving a specific goal without
being distracted by less important things or spontaneous desires. It may be
developed with the help of self-discipline exercise.
 Self-confidence. It appears in the process of personal development, as a result
of getting aware of yourself, your actions and their consequences. Self
confidence is manifested in speech, appearance, dressing, gait, and physical
condition. To develop it, you need to learn yourself and your capabilities, gain
positive attitude and believe that by performing right actions and achieving right
goals you will certainly reach success.
 Persistence. It makes you keep moving forward regardless of emerging
obstacles – problems, laziness, bad emotional state, etc. It reduces the costs of
overcoming obstacles. It can also be developed with the help of self-discipline
exercise.
 Managing stress. It helps combat stress that arises in daily life from the
environment and other people. Stress arises from the uncertainty in an unknown
9situation when a lack of information creates the risk of negative consequences
of your actions. It increases efficiency in the actively changing environment.
 Problem-solving skills. They help cope with the problems encountered with a
lack of experience. It increases efficiency by adopting new ways of achieving
goals when obtaining a new experience.
 Creativity. It allows you to find extraordinary ways to carry out a specific action
that no one has tried to use. It can lead to a decrease or an increase of costs,
but usually the speed of action is greatly increased when using creative tools.
 Generating ideas. It helps you achieve goals using new, original,
unconventional ideas. Idea is a mental image of an object formed by the human
mind, which can be changed before being implemented in the real world. For
generating ideas, you can use a method of mental maps, which allows you to
materialize, visualize and scrutinize all your ideas, which in turn contributes to
the emergence of new ideas.
These are just some, but the most important personal effectiveness skills
which make the achievement of any goal easier and less costly.

PORTFOLIO OUTPUT NO. 1: I’M PROUD OF MY TALENT / SKILL

Reflect on the talent or skill (dancing, singing, cooking, drawing, public
speaking, writing, critical thinking and the like) you are most proud of and share it.
You have two options on how to flaunt it. Choose only one based on your available
resources.
Option 1. VIDEO
1. Using your smart phone, record a video showing your talent or skill.
2. Your presentation should be 3 minutes to 5 minutes.
3. You need to do the following sequence in your presentation:
a. Start with an introduction of yourself (name, age, family, address, and hobbies).
b. Briefly talk about your talent or skill.
c. Showcase your talent or skill thru a demonstration.
d. End your presentation with an inspiring quote about talent/skill and then thank your viewers.
4. Your performance will be graded using the following criteria:
35% - Content (clear demonstration of the topic)
35% - Organization (sequence of information is logical)
20% - Creativity (content and presentation is original)
10% - Production (well-planned with smooth transitions and excellent sound)
Option 2. 300-WORD ESSAY
1.. On your journal, you are to talk about your talent or skill creatively. Do this by following the
steps below:
a. Give a brief introduction of yourself (name, age, family, address, and hobbies). Talk about your
talent or skill by answering the following questions:
1. What would you say is your greatest talent or skill?
2. Does your talent come out naturally or you have worked hard to develop this?
3. Does your talent or skill give you opportunities in school and in the community? Share how and
in what way you were able to make use of it. End your essay with an inspiring quote about talent
or skill.

Instructions: Identify what is asked or described in each item. Write the letter of the
correct answer on your journal.
1. Which of the following is not true about self-concept?
A. Individual perceptions of our behavior, abilities, and unique characteristics
B. Has emotional, intellectual, and functional dimensions
C. Has a powerful influence on one’s life
D. Typical to one individual
2. Parker tells his friend, “I am fat, ugly, and weak-minded.” This statement best
reflects his:
A. Ideal self
B. Self-image
C. Self-esteem
D. Other self
3. Louise enjoy a healthy balance of work, play and relaxation. What part of self
concept is described in the situation?
A. Ideal self
B. Self-image
C. Self-esteem
D. Other self
4. Philip wanted to be a good and well-respected person. What part of self-concept
is described in the sentence?
A. Ideal self
B. Self-image
C. Self-esteem
D. Other self
ASSESS WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED13
5. Mikaela sees herself to be a good daughter. At home, she stays inside her room
most of the time and play with her phone. Which of the following best describe
the situation?
A. Self-concept congruency
B. Self-concept incongruency
C. Positive self-esteem
D. Negative self-esteem
6. Pio is focused to become a senior fire fighter that he gives less attention to
unimportant things. What efficiency skill did he demonstrate?
A. Persistence
B. Determination
C. Creativity
D. Generating ideas
7. Though Mathew is having some problems at home, he still managed to perform
well in school. What efficiency skill did he demonstrate?
A. Persistence
B. Determination
C. Creativity
D. Generating ideas
8. What does “Think Outside of the Box” mean?
A. Persistence
B. Determination
C. Creativity
D. Generating ideas
9. Which of the following people manifests self-confidence?
A. Tiana is having difficulty making own choices.
B. Jay want to spend most of his time alone.
C. Andrew is full of energy in everything he does.
D. Era always think of her personal problems.
10. Frances wanted to design a modern house with a vintage touch. Which of the
following ways may help her best to generate ideas?
A. Mental map
B. Read more books
C. Meditation
D. Talk to friends