Your personal development team may be larger than you think

I remember a time when I did not have a personal development team. As I recall those days, I had no yard to be concerned with maintaining. My tax returns were simple, and I did them myself without the benefit of computer software. Car maintenance was simpler, and I could do an oil change and other minor repairs myself. Those days are long gone.

Allow me to make a few observations about how many of us knowingly and unknowingly have assembled a personal development team. Each team member, whether they are a person, a company providing a service, or an app, all come together to make our lives easier and hopefully better.

Your team is probably a combination of personal and professional personal services. Additionally, the line between the two can be blurred very quickly. An easy example are apps.

When was the last time you read a map? As the old expression goes, there is an app for that. Apps in so many ways serve the role of executive assistant of a few decades ago. Executive assistants still exist, but their functionally has evolved to higher levels of engagement and support than in the past.

You may share the team members with others in your organization. For example, the social media specialist could be a shared resource, or you may be in position to have a personal social media specialist.

I have served on other people’s personal development teams as a business coach. Before business and life coaches became a thing, you might have received informal guidance from a more senior member of the organization. Now you can purchase personal professional guidance conveniently.

With a smartphone and a credit card you can have a car service at your beck and call at pedestrian rates. Car services and taxis have been around for a long time and still exist. However, the new service systems like Uber and Lyft have made this element of your team more accessible for casual uses.

There was a time that going to work out meant, for many, going to the local YMCA or community center. Gyms were by and large specific, to boxing, weightlifting or other martial arts. Now, many gyms are multi-discipline and more approachable. Additionally, the gyms today are the realms of the personal trainers. Personal trainers, again, are more approachable and accessible.

Also, let’s not forget the golf coaches, tennis coaches, yoga instructors, nutritionists, tutors, music instructors, personal chefs, massage therapists and others. I recall in college that occasionally the women would gather in one of their rooms to “do their nails” together. Today those same women meet at local nail salons.

The realm of health care professionals offers an extensive array of personal development team members. You can be in good health and still have multiple medical specialists assisting you with preventive care. By the way, it seems to me that once you go to a specialist you never stop going to the specialist.

I think there are multiple reasons for the increase in personal development team members. Socio-economic advancement is one, but that does not account for nail salons, apps and car services. Marketing is an old friend that can bring a want to the level of a need. Technological advancement, especially in the health arenas, can make a compelling case to manage one’s health better and more. Or maybe it is an indication of our further evolution into a service-based economy.

Whatever the reasons, some of you reading this are thinking that I may be just starting to get on board.

Other readers may be surprised when they check the roster of their personal development team.