Reports have shown that developing your character as a student is very important for your personality and having a sound character and personality will go a long way to attract people to you and also influence the way people view and interact with you.
There is a popular saying that when 80% of the people you love; love you back, you are successful. This write-up will show you how true that statement is.
Two of the most successful people in the world were in a discussion Warren Buffet and Bill Gates and Buffet was asked what he saw success to be and he said “the measure of success is; do the people you care about love you back?”
As a student, why will the people you love; love you back? Well it boils down to your character and personality. This is why personality development is important for students whether you are studying locally or internationally.
As a student, it is very important that you work on yourself and see how you can develop a sound character as this will help you throughout your education and also in life generally.
Education plays a key role in personality and self-development as some students could even decide to look for scholarships to study abroad believing that a change of environment, experiencing a new culture, and meeting new people will help them develop their personality and become better.
When working on your personality as a person, you will have to reflect on who you are, where you are now and where you want to be, and also how you want to get there. This is what personality development entails.
Self-development breeds personality development and when this happens, you tend to grow in all facets of life. You should know that no one is actually perfect and so as a student, you should make room for adjustments where you can learn, unlearn and relearn.
In this write-up, we are going to be talking about why personality development is important to students and how you can develop your personality and become a sound student especially when you are studying abroad.
What Is Personality Development?
Personality development is associated with a lot of names like self-development, character development, attitude development and so on. Well, there are all related when we are talking about personality development.
Personality development involves working on your personality and character. It involves developing an organized and coordinated way of behaving, interacting, and associating with people and also your environment which makes you different.
Personality development helps to distinguish you from others because of the uniqueness of the character you portray.
Personality development is a continuous process as long as you are alive and learning.
Relationship Between Character And Personality
It is worthy to note that character and personality are two different terms although they are often used interchangeably. There are a lot of things that differentiate the character from personality and we are going to be discussing that so that you can get a sound understanding of what they both mean.
Personality shows what you see yourself as and also what the world sees you as. This is what makes you unique and different and it is also easy to notice. Personality could range from optimism, enthusiasm, confidence to shyness, pessimism, and laziness. So it is either you have a positive personality or a negative personality.
As a student, your personality can easily be judged by the people that you interact with for the first time or after a short while as it is visible and easy to notice.
Character on the other hand is your moral and mental behavior and it is relative to your belief and the situation around you. Your character takes a while before it starts coming out and so people might not really notice your character at the first meeting.
Your character is influenced by your belief and the changes that go on around you. It can change as you develop and improve yourself. Character could range from humility, virtue to pride, envy, and arrogance.
So it would be right to say that a change in character leads to a change of personality. People change their character in order to adapt and survive and become better people.
Why Personality Development Is Important To Students
Personality development is very important to every individual and as a student, it is much more important as it would prepare you for any career you want to pursue. The way you interact with people matters a lot and if you don’t think there is a reason you should work on your personality and character, we will be discussing some reasons personality development is important.
You will become a motivation to others
Have you ever spoken to a successful person that is humble and honest? You won’t feel like ending the conversation as you would get to learn a lot from them. A sound character and personality make you a cynosure and will motivate others to want to follow you.
When people see your enthusiasm, optimism, and zest to succeed and bring change, they will certainly see you as a source of inspiration and if they know that you hardly give up when you set your mind to something, they will want to follow suit.
As a student, you will certainly become a motivation to your friends and a lot of them will want to emulate your character.
You will be respected by others
Students that have great character are always respected by their peers and also their teachers as they are seen as leaders. People will always want to learn a thing or two from them.
If you have self-confidence and discipline as a student, you will certainly be appreciated and respected anywhere you go.
You develop a positive attitude towards life
If you always have a negative attitude towards life, you will always be mediocre and settle for less. A negative attitude breeds procrastination and laziness.
People with negative attitudes are usually proud, arrogant, manipulative, and selfish as they always feel that they are better than others and always want to criticize others.
It is very important that you work on your character so as to develop a sound personality as it will help you to always be positive and think positively.
When you have a great personality, you see problems as a means to do better and grow and instead of nagging when you face one, you start working on a solution as you believe that every problem has a solution.
In wanting to develop your personality as a student, you can decide to change your environment and work on studying abroad, and even if you don’t have the funds, there are scholarships through which you can get the opportunity to study abroad. This can also help in personality development.
You will become different from others
An enthusiastic student will surely stand out among his or her peers as they will surely make a difference because of their unique personality. Your personality will make people notice you especially if you are charismatic and energetic for the right reasons.
Also, when you have a sound character like humility and honesty, people will always want to reckon with you as they believe you stand for the truth no matter what.
You will develop positive values
Since personality development comes with having a positive mindset, you will certainly develop positive values that will make you stand out. When working on your personality, you could develop some values and skills like time management, open-mindedness, punctuality, ability to socialize and interact with people easily, and many others.
You get to improve your communication skills, teachability, and self-discipline as all these are values and skills that help you grow.
You will perform well academically
A student that has the right attitude and positive values will surely perform well in his or her academics. When you know how to manage your time properly, you will develop self-discipline that will help you stop laziness and procrastination and this will help you do the right things at the right time which is very important to excel as a student.
You will become determined, motivated, and focused.
You become a role model
Who wouldn’t want to associate with someone that is smart, well organized, zealous, confident and punctual? If you have a sound character, people will see you as a role model and someone to associate with.
Most successful people in the world today exhibit some positive character and values and this has been the bedrock of their success today, and this has made them role models to a lot of people.
How To Develop Your Personality And Become A Sound Student
Here, we will be looking at how you can develop your personality and character as a student as you have seen that personality development and self-development are very important to students.
Let’s look at how you can develop your character as a student:
Reflect on your character
If you really want to work on your character as a student, you will have to sit back and reflect on your character. Look at your strengths and weakness and do well, to be honest with yourself.
Look at what people know you for if it is positive or negative and see how you can improve your character to become a better student.
Acknowledge that you need to change
After reflecting on your character and personality and you must have identified your strengths and weaknesses, you must then admit that there is a need for change and even if your character is good, you have to look for how you can improve and become better.
If you want to change your character, you will have to admit that there is a need for change.
Why people still remain the way they are is that they don’t see a need to change and so they remain stagnant. They always believe they are right and perfect and this has hindered their growth and improvement.
Identify your weaknesses and strengths
As we mentioned earlier that you have to spot your weaknesses as everyone has a blind spot. Knowing your weakness will help you to start your personality development process. Know your flaws and where you are lagging.
As a student, you need to identify your strengths and weakness as it will help you know where you are doing well and where you are lagging.
Your weakness could be a habit, addiction, or even a friend.
Make a schedule of your activities and stick to it
As a student, you need to make a schedule of your activities every day as this will help you to develop self-discipline and avoid procrastination. Your schedule is more like a to-do list of all the activities you have for the day.
Your to-do list will help you stay organized and focused and with the schedule, you will be able to manage your time properly.
Some students also go as far as creating a study schedule alongside their normal study schedule.
Set goals for yourself
Are you wondering how setting goals fit into the process of personality development? Well, when you set goals and always accomplish the goals you set for yourself, you will certainly feel a sense of accomplishment and this will make you more zealous, confident, and motivated to do more.
When you don’t achieve your set goals, you feel bad and want to improve. Setting goals help you to be determined and focused and this is a way of developing your personality.
Face your fears
If you really want to grow and develop yourself, you should face your fears. Two things are involved and it’s either you overcome your fears or you learn from them. In all, it is a win-win situation.
Your fears are more like your weaknesses and they can hinder your personality development process and stop you from improving.
Solve problems
If you are the type that runs away from problems, you won’t actually grow as problems make you better and stronger. Problem solvers are creative and critical thinkers.
Listen to other people’s problems and see how you can support them as this will influence the way people see you.
Don not associate with negative people and avoid negative thoughts
If you want to grow and have a positive mindset, you will have to stay away from negative people and negative thoughts. This will kill your zeal and make you settle for less.
When you stay around positive people, they tend to lift your spirit and motivate you to do your best and be the best.
As a student, always think positively, especially when you encounter problems as this will make want to find a solution to the problem. Follow people that are more experienced than you are as it will help you grow and learn.
Be open to criticism
This is one great way you get to learn. Praises are good but criticisms make you improve. Do not misconstrue criticisms with negativity. Some people criticize you for the right reasons and so you have to listen to criticisms and see how you can improve yourself and become better.
Always know that people will always have something to say about you whether good or bad so you have to listen to them.
Now, this is how you work on yourself by being open to criticisms; when about 75% of people complain about your character, then it means there is a need for you to improve.
Remember that no one is perfect.
Be ready to learn
You must have heard the saying that learning never stops and if you go with this, you will certainly grow and improve. Learning opens you to new knowledge, experience, and opportunities.
You can learn from anyone as no one is an island of knowledge. This is why it is important that you are open to learning.
Be ready to learn, unlearn and relearn. With learning, you see where you are lagging and see how you can actually improve on yourself and become a better student and person.
Be consistent and intentional about developing yourself
For you to successfully work on your character and personality, you will have to be consistent. You have to follow what you want to do till the end. Always be genuine when dealing with others and let the character you portray today be what you will portray tomorrow.
Always ask questions
A curious person never goes the wrong way. You have to develop the habit of asking questions as a student as it will help you improve your character and personality.
When you don’t understand anything, do well to ask questions so as to get clarity and also understand better. Asking questions will help you know how people feel about you (character-wise).
Learn to speak in public and interact with people
Some people blame their inability to speak in public for being an introvert. But this shouldn’t be an excuse. If you really want to develop your personality as a student, you will have to work on overcoming shyness and talking to people.
You can even step up and address people in public; it won’t take anything from you instead it will bring you out of your shell. Shyness is a result of your low self-esteem and so you have to work on improving your self-esteem.
You could improve your self-esteem by reading books and gaining more knowledge, improving your appearance and also working on your speaking skills as all these will boost your confidence.
Not everyone will like you
Know this and know peace. If you are trying to please everyone, you will certainly displease yourself. Not everyone will like you even if you try hard to make it possible.
Try to work on your character and personality and be sure that you are good to everyone. Do not try to be everyone’s favorite as not everybody can love you the same way.
Do not force people to like you.
Be tolerant
You have not developed your character or personality if you are not tolerant. You have to accept people the way they are and try to understand them as this will help you know how to follow them.
This doesn’t mean that you should associate with negative people.
Change your environment
Students can decide to change their environment by opting to study elsewhere in order to learn about other cultures and lifestyles of people. This is a way to improve your character as you will get to meet people from different countries, races, religions, and backgrounds especially when you study abroad.
You can apply for international scholarships that will give you the opportunity to study abroad where you can learn new things and develop your personality.
Final Note
As a student, personality development is very important if you want to be successful. You will have to evaluate your character and see how you can improve to become better.
Remember that you are not changing because people want you to change; you are changing because there is a need to change and become better.
As a student, it is better that you always reflect on your character as it will help you see how you can improve yourself both personally and professionally.
Start developing your character and personally today by following the tips we outlined in this article.