I think that regular investment of time/money for personal improvement is very much useful and necessary in making one's life 'better'. I do some simple morning exercises and have a regular walk and these are very useful in concentrating on my work.

I do spend my resources including time to learn and contribute more in academics and research. I feel it is essential ans hence i dont see it as any constraint.

Dear @Ajay, I think that time is the most important factor; as a uni Professor, I devote all of the time to teaching, research, and supervising my students; I wish to have free time to do a lot of things.

Yes dear @Abedallah, I agree that time is a bit constraint for all of us and we have to set our priorities according to our profession and personal requirements etc.

Dear Ajay,

My mornings time is a time of peace and meditation. It is an investment I make in the centering of my life force (chi), the calmness of energy, and the mental awareness that I must have for the day.

In the afternoon I make time for a nap lasting around 30 minutes also to keep my chi centered. I am a firm believer in what is called a power nap.

In the evening is time to slowly slow the heart beat and again center my chi. The life force which flows through our body is I content the most important health concern and the source of great strength and the balance one needs in order to stay and remain sane living in the world we live in today. 

Spending money on personal improvement such as the latest "place to be to work out" or "the latest fad in motivational speakers, or any other "new Fad" is a waste of money to me. 

Taking care of the self is a job for the self to do and costs no money, but is an investment of time. Spending time with and on myself is very important to a healthy me.

Douglas

I try every day to keep systematic and sustainable regular lifestyle, but with social commitment cant reach the maximum goal.   

I do spend some time on maintaining health and spend some money on research and on good books.

Dear Douglas, I do agree that morning time is the best to use for meditations etc. which are quite necessary to keep one's mind and body calm and fit.

Dear @Ajay, I do spent a lot of time in fishing. Regarding personal improvement, I do spent money, as much as I can afford, for books, dvd's, cd's, fishing equipment etc. International conferences out of my country are expensive to attend!

I also spend some money on purchasing good books and DVDs for my personal improvement.

@Ajay and all, I'm a lifelong learner, like many of you.  I read as much as I can, even when I'm travelling by train or commuter.  I need to use my own time and money for my research, because I don't have a research grant.  When I got on RG, I found a few equally committed researchers from poorer countries in a similar situation.  The main job is teaching, so I use half my weekends for my writing of research. I have to restrict my time on RG, because my teaching and writing and exercising (jogging) are important.  I went for Yoga lessons during the years I taught secondary school, but now I just jog several days a week.  This is a great place to de-stress, please enjoy our tropical greenery.

Dear @Miranda thank you for your good comment and nice greenery.

I think exercises such as jogging/brisk walking are the simplest and cheapest way of keeping the stress at bay.

Dear all,

of course there are a lot of efforts to improve my abilities. Just to list some:

- sports

- reading

- teaching

- learning unknown facts

- beeing corrected by wiser collegues

- improving my language knowledges

- communicating here in RG

BTW: professional goals are not the central motivation, the main reason is curiosity.

Spending a little time learning about time-management techniques will have huge benefits.

Yes I think spending a little time on learning time-management techniques will save a large chunk of time for productive works.

Personal development is important for everybody. As I am a scientist by profession and also teaching PG students as well as occasionally delivering lectures to probationers of Indian Forest Service (IFS), I have to spend most of my time in experiments and self study to update myself. I am health conscious, I spare some time daily for half an hour in the morning to physical exercise (Asanas) and meditation (Prayanam) for which I am fairly trained. During my Ph.D., in BHU (Varanasi), I did part time course on Dip in Yoga Science. I am fond of classical music and old Hindi songs, which keeps me relaxed. I spend some time on social media mainly RG whenever I find time, there is no fixed hrs, however, this is also a source of entertainment and knowledge addition in different areas. I do spend money on purchasing books, latest gadgets, softwares, computer programmes, etc. useful for my work and hobbies.

Dear @Shaban I think to be able to help others, we should help our self first.

I think sparing some time every morning for physical exercises and meditations will keep us mentally and physically fit for performing our main tasks.

i think that a person should try to orgonaze their time to acheive their personal and professional goals

Dear Ljubomir,

Your hobbies are mine eccept fishing. 

So you are more productive than me. Fish are good to eat. I am very good at cooking fish and other seafruits. 

Thank you from our Doyen.

Have a good  evening

Ting Fa Marg

Dear @Mohamed, dear @Brenda, dear @Ljubomir, and dear @Ting thank you for your useful comments. I eat fish 2-3 days in a week considering its huge health benefits but I don't do fishing. 

At my old age (~ 62.5 years old), many of the activities I will list belong to the past. I used to like Swedish exercises, volley ball, heavy weight lifting, and tennis. When I was a school teacher for 3 years, I read all the books in the school’s library! I learnt languages besides English & my mother tongue. At present, my job at the university is highly demanding & nearly consumes my energy but the little time left is utilized in walking, drawing, calligraphy, RG, and some reading of paper books & e-books.

Thank you Dr. Nizar for sharing your experiences regarding this thread.

Dear Ajay,

the man in his life should satisfy some unconscious needs that forge and develop his personality.

There are the so-called basic needs inherent in human nature: the food and drink and the reproduction of the species. There are other basic needs such as love, play, friendship and introspection.

Finally there are the induced and alienat needs, created by competitive society in which we live: the thirst for money, power etc.

The media now fill the life of man and prevent him to meditate, to think, to look at himself. I feel better when I can walk on the dam of the famous island of Grado (on the northern part of the Adriatic sea), go to the spa pool of sea water, prepare new dishes and watch movies of Poirot and Miss Marple.

When I am in Rome, I like to spend whole afternoons in book stores and grant me the gastronomic pleasures in a Sardinian restaurant cooking fish and shellfish called "The Island of the sun". These are small pleasures of life. Am I doing wrong?

Many greetings to RG fellows.

Ting Fa Marg

Everyone is unique, apply Self development goal process as follows.

Think SMART

Consider your strengths and weaknesses in comparison with your opportunities and threats.

Take the time to write down, discuss and brainstorm over your goals instead of rushing through the process. Setting goals for personal development takes time, energy and effort, which will also be required for acting on the specific steps for their attainment.

http://selfdevelopmentsite.com/self-development-goals

Dear @Ting, I think you can enjoy doing anything, you love to do, i.e., cooking, fishing, reading etc. and it's mainly the matter of one's interest and passion.

Yes @Krishnan, I agree that everyone is unique considering the strengths and weaknesses and thus goals for personal development may be different.

Yes, this is true that time/money spent on the personal improvement could be a great investment for one's personal and professional achievements in long-term.

We should spend as much time as possible for personal improvement! 

"Learning is not a product of schooling but the lifelong attempt to acquire it!"- Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955) Physicist & Nobel Laureate

http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/id/X0006F576/

Personal development is a lifelong process. It’s a way for people to assess their skills and qualities, consider their aims in life and set goals in order to realise and maximise their potential. It refers to the desire that everybody has ‘to become everything that they are capable of becoming’. In other words, it refers to self-fulfilment and the need to reach full potential as a unique human being. One should spend ample time to make relevant, positive and effective life choices and decisions for his/her future to enable personal empowerment. “Minds are like flowers, they only open when the time is right.” ― Stephen Richards

I fully agree with dear @Ljubomir, that we all should spend as much time as possible for personal improvement because this is very much important for achieving anything great in any field.

Yes dear @Yogesh, this is true that personal development is a lifelong process and it cannot be done over night. For utilizing our resources at best possible ways we should assess our skills and qualities and act accordingly.

I spend about one hour daily on my 'personal improvement' and it is very much useful in achieving my personal and professional goals.

Five Most Effective Ways to Invest in Your Career

To invest properly in your career, you must know yourself extremely well.   Knowing yourself requires you to understand the factors that positively inspire you to achieve something substantive and relevant – with passion – every day.  For some people this takes a long time to discover.  For others, they know themselves well enough to make good career investment decisions.    What do you believe are the most important areas for your career investment? What areas have you already invested in and what were the outcomes?  What areas are you currently focusing on now?

For those ready to give it serious consideration, here are the five most effective ways to invest in your career:  See Link!

http://www.forbes.com/sites/glennllopis/2012/10/22/five-most-effective-ways-to-invest-in-your-career/

I think that profession is only a part of the life of a person. But the most part, or the better part, must be dedicated to the love to God because I do not see a possibility of being good with other persons and oneself without being well with God.

To do any work, personal improvement/fitness is important. To work long in life, one must care for personal improvement.

Rightly pointed dear @Subhash.