The life of a man is divided into certain phases or stages through which he inevitably passes and during which he encounters and learns to solve new problems and successfully cope with them. In any pathway as an individual or in one’s career, these stages play a key role and enhances on understanding the direction to become success and fulfilling life. In this article, we are going to discuss the stages that are inherent to any sphere of human activity, the significance of perceiving all stages, and ways to build proper personal development.
Consequently, this paper aims to stress the importance of understanding the concept of stages.
Stages are a primary principle in regard to human development . Developmental stages are the main aspects that present a detailed method of how human beings go through different steps in their childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. This idea is especially true in the careers which are divided into stages or levels one has to through in order to attain success.
In psychology, development is mostly described in terms of the progressive development of stages with regard to age. For instance, Erik Erikson’s theory of the stages of psychosocial development clearly marks eight stages, each of which is ascribed to a crucial task or known conflict. These stages range from infancy to late adulthood because development is not characterized by abrupt changes in a person’s life but by gradual progression.
Just as individuals have different developmental life stages, so does one’s profession and therefore, careers can be said to be characterized by developmental stages including entry, mid and senior professional positions. Every level has its own goal and tasks that have to be accomplished to get promotion to the next level. Knowing where you are in you career helps in determining the expectations that one needs to make and probably setting an undesired course for the future.
Stages in Personal Development
Personal development can be described as a long-term process in which an individual proceeds through the path of change for the better. It is characterized by stages where each stage depicts a phase or level in the process of achievement of a person’s full potential.
- Childhood and Adolescence: The childhood is the period that determines subsequent individual changes. Personal skills, and character which constitute the human resource base are acquired during the development stage of an individual most especially during the childhood stage. Adolescence is an interesting stage which stands for exercising individuals’ independence, discovering who one is, and who one wants to be.
- Young Adulthood: This stage is commonly associated with drastic shifts in people’s lives and the transition from youth to adulthood: acquiring higher education, finding a job, and entering stable partnerships. This demographic group essentially, has the difficult task of understanding their roles in societies, seeking work-life balance, and focusing on their life’s meaning.
- Midlife: The factors of success in the midlife stage differentiate it from other life cycles by making this period of time the time of reflection and reconsideration of the life values. People may start questioning the objectives and accomplishments, and therefore experience what is often called the ‘midlife crisis. ’ This can be a crucial development phase for a person.
- Late Adulthood: During later thematic phases people set goals related to the contribution to society and leaving a good trace. This stage is associated with the recognition of personal and other’s achievements as well as the willingness to contribute to their heirs and successors.
Stages in Professional Development
Work experience is set in stages as well as personnel training and thus does professional growth. The knowledge of these stages in an individual’s career can assist him or her to enhance the lifetime career success.
- Entry-Level: The category of entry level is the most commonly encountered level as many people start their careers at this level. This stage is focused on increasing one’s skills to improve job performance, thus acquiring knowledge in a certain area. Developing one’s own competencies, acquiring the necessary contacts, and setting up the further profession life is the key points at this stage.
- Mid-Career: Mid-career stage hence comes with more experience and increased mastery of skills. This stage is usually characterized by promotion, management and achieving of higher positions and rankings. Another characteristic of this stage is the process of becoming specialized, making efforts to become an expert in a particular sphere of the chosen field.
- Senior-Level: The last stage of a professional experience is the stage that is considered to be senior-level. Matures are commonly employed at senior levels of an organization or business; therefore, their roles mirror those of executives or directors, charged with the responsibility of making organizational decisions. This stage also involves coaching, meaning that organizations entail older and more experienced professionals to coach more junior individuals within those organizations.
- Transition and Retirement: The main and final developmental stage is achieved when the population starts to disengage from the workplace. This stage can be characterized by reduction of tasks, training a young generation, and even retirement. For many people, this stage of the life cycle also becomes a time for evaluation and thinking about the future and how it should be spent.
Subsequently, the significance of each stage which needs to be embraced in order to enhance the achievement of the health objective outlined above will be highlighted.
It is crucial to identify and accept each phase of the developmental process, be it in a person’s life or in the career. Each nucleus has his own difficulties and if they are forced to struggle and to learn, people can meet important changes in his life and his professional way.
- Self-Awareness: That is why one of the advantages of comprehending stages it is the opportunity to become self-aware. That way, it would be easier to define your position on the personal or career development spectrum and what skills are strong or weak in you. The self-awareness is essential in order to determine achievable goals and most importantly, the ways as to how to achieve the given goals.
- Adaptability: Continuity and change are inherent features of the lived world and every epoch of the life course is accompanied by certain tasks. The acceptance of this model contributes to improving the people’s flexibility as a result they are not so stressed and upset during the transition.
- Continuous Learning: E very age has its diversity and it is at this age that one learns something new in life. So, with every step insisting on the intervention of curiosity and openness, a person will be able to bring out his or her potential for success and satisfaction in the eventual performance.
- Goal Setting: With the knowledge of the stages or personal development, people can here set right goals for every point in a human life cycle. For instance, young worker may choose a plan of acquiring working experience and establishing social capital, whereas midcareer person may aim at achieving better work-family balance or realizing his/her life’s dream.
- Mentorship and Legacy: Final to higher levels of development can be characterized by the attempts to give something to others, for instance, sharing some of the acquired knowledge, helping people to improve, or participating in the improvement of a town or a city. The positive experience of these stages may help increase one’s understanding of his or her purpose, and provide personal satisfaction from assisting in the development of other people.
Conclusion: The Learning Process Through Phases
All depends on the perception and perspective one has about the life, human life is divided into stages and each of those stages comes with its own challenges and likewise with the opportunities that one can grasp. Regardless of whether an individual is seeking to improve oneself, personally or professionally, or moving up a career ladder, these stages are fundamental to personal and career success and proper management of a one’s life.
When engaging the respective stage with self-reflective, flexible mindset and openness to development, a person may overcome challenges fearlessly and head towards one’s goal. Finally, the process of moving through stages is not the linear process, which means that daily transformations are the critical point of the model. Every level is a preparation for the next level to help the person develop into the ultimate best he or she, in both the personal and workplace arena. For more information visit ventsicon.com
