It's been almost a year since I completed the Personal Progress program, and my goal with the blog and these resources is to help every Young Woman do the same! Let's dive right into these 10 terrific tips to help you complete your Personal Progress.
Here is a cute little infographic -- please Pin and share with anyone who's still working on their Personal Progress.
Each tip doesn't have many words describing it -- to see the descriptions, read below.
1. Team Up
The more the merrier, right? Friends can make anything extra fun, and that includes Personal Progress. Teaming up is especially great for those lovely two-week experiences that we simply adore.
When you're texting with a friend about how you're doing on developing attributes and skills, etc, you're held more accountable and are less likely to forget.
It's the best plan of attack for those big mountains to climb!
When you're texting with a friend about how you're doing on developing attributes and skills, etc, you're held more accountable and are less likely to forget.
You know you have a good friend when she's willing to team up with you on Personal Progress. And if you feel like if you tried to talk about...feelings and spiritual stuff... with one of your church friends they would laugh in your face, give your leaders a text.
If your ward has a Personal Progress leader, you can ask her if she'd be willing to work on that with you.
I can't think of any YW leader I know that would refuse to help a Young Woman on her Personal Progress! What I love about the Young Women's program is that no matter where I'm visiting, in whatever ward, the leaders always notice my unfamiliar face and make sure I feel welcome. Just ask them! They are there to help.
2. Personalize it
I think that many people think that our church lives and home lives and school lives have to be separate, but one of the main purposes of Personal Progress is to bring them all together!
Julie B. Beck said, "The busiest girls use Personal Progress as a tool to accomplish what they most want to do. It brings your temporal and spiritual pursuits together. It shows that what you do on the volleyball team or the chess club has a direct relationship to who you are as a daughter of God." This is gold, my friends!! Personal Progress isn't designed to be just one more thing we're forced to add to our ever-growing to-do lists. It's supposed to be a part of our lives, as we incorporate things we do already as projects and goals.
I think about half of my projects were things I would do anyway - but thought really applied to several of the YW values. (And I completed them with my leaders' full approval.) An autobiography I wrote for a writing class became my Individual Worth project. Something I was going through that required Faith and 10 hours -- well, that one could soon be checked off.
Now, I'm not talking about passively categorizing your past achievements. Saying, "Oh, yeah, I remember I, like, took an honors class freshman year, and that's like, hard, so uh, lemme mark off the Knowledge project."
This is more like, "Oh my goodness, I'm finally old enough to drive. I really want to drive, but I need knowledge and lots of practice to do this. Hey. Did I say Knowledge? I think maybe I can incorporate this when Drivers Ed begins in a few weeks."
3. Start early
When I look at my life when I was a Beehive, I have to laugh. Or cry. Or both. I was such a wee little creature, with such little responsibilities and social events and clubs and honors classes. Life is always just going to get busier, especially as you get older, so if you're wanting to earn it, start now!
Now, of course, this was a more applicable tip back when Personal Progress wasn't strapped to a ticking time bomb, so if you're a new Beehive with these 6 months (what! That's so long, you can totally finish it!!) it's not your fault, obviously.
And if you're a Laurel or Mia Maid who has let it sit to the side for the past few years, don't beat yourself up over it. Even if you agree that you're busier now, beating yourself up over things you can't change (ie: the past) won't do any good. Come on! You could use that time to do a super easy one-day experience!
4. Break it down into steps
I remember, again, back when I was first starting the program, Personal Progress seemed very overwhelming.
I would open my booklet, see the pages and pages of copy, and my head would spin. In fact, there's a good chance that you're not even reading this whole section right now, no judgment. As humans, we just want to skim things, and if we see a huge blob of words, we're like "Eek!"
Obviously, Personal Progress is designed to help Young Women, not to showcase graphic design skills; I'm not trying to throw shade, but the huge paragraphs accompanying each experience are intimidating!
I found once I took a breath and wrote the actual things I needed to do down, it was actually super easy. For most experiences, it was a) read scriptures, b) journal the answer to a question, with a few variations like discussing items with parents, developing skills, etc.
I found once I took a breath and wrote the actual things I needed to do down, it was actually super easy. For most experiences, it was a) read scriptures, b) journal the answer to a question, with a few variations like discussing items with parents, developing skills, etc.
It's so simple when you really look at it! You know your "soul will delight in plainness" once you make a simple to-do list.
The good news is that if you use my worksheets, you get to skip this step. As I was creating the worksheets, I realized that there wasn't room to fit the overview descriptions AND everything y'all would need to do. So, instead of telling them the scriptures they would need to read and the question they would need to answer on the top and bottom, I just put this info in charts, banners, etc, things that were easier on the eye.
5. Complete multiple experiences at a time.
As I was creating the amazing ULTIMATE Summer Personal Progress Journal recently, I noticed that some of the required reading segments were the exact same. Again, I'm not criticizing the program, I just thought, so much time could be saved by combining things.
Don't try to complete too many at once -- you'll be overwhelmed, complete nothing, and defeat the purpose -- instead, check out similar Personal Progress. (I would say do, maybe, 2-3 experiences max at once.) While you may have trouble remembering to read the scriptures, pray, be a peacemaker, develop a divine attribute, help others feel of worth, be kind, etc, completing similar Personal Progress experiences is no big deal.
If you feel morally compromised by doing this, well...don't do it! It's fine! I wouldn't normally recommend it, but the clock is ticking on Personal Progress.
6. Hang up reminders.
I loved doing this! A great way to remember to develop things is by hanging them in obvious places -- your mirror, bedroom door, anywhere where you will see it every day and go "oh yeah. I'm doing Personal Progress."
You can also try using reminders on your phone, Alexa, computer, etc. There isn't a "right" way to get your own attention. It's all about what works for YOU!
7. Complete personalized electives
The strategies I have above mainly aid in those little... two-week experiences we love and enjoy.
I'm not kidding, I was such a fan of them that I literally completed every one-day Personal Progress experience in the booklet before I realized there were a few I had to do before I could finish.
Now, not to trash the two-week experiences although they're, like, hard. We can do hard things! The good thing about those is that they help you to actually DO things, not just talk the talk and walk the walk of Christianity. It's designed to help you get good habits in your life.
But if completing these makes you anxiously engaged to not do Personal Progress at all, you can mix it up and complete some personalized electives so you don't need to do as many two-week experiences. I have tons of ideas already planned out, all you have to do is go to the value you want and print the easy worksheet.
8. Work on it every Sunday.
"By small and simple things are great things come to pass." Just by doing an experience or so every Sunday, your efforts will slowly add up, compound, and you'll have earned your medallion before you know it.
So, anyway, the 2019 June New Era has a little article that totally represents this. (I can't link to it bc old and new issues of the New Era are no longer available online 😫 so bear with me)
Basically, a General Authority is hired (as a boy) by his uncle to move a mound of dirt. It's huge, like a killer, and so big that people will do tricks on their bikes with it...well, you get the idea. A mountain. Lol, so he is determined to get it done no matter what, and he moves wheelbarrows upon wheelbarrows of dirt every single day. And as he looks at the mound, it seems like it's not getting any smaller. He tries diligently every day, but it doesn't appear to be shrinking.
Then one day he notices that the mound he is creating at the other side is growing. Growing slowly, but... still growing nonetheless, right?
Suddenly, the task isn't to destroy the huge amount of dirt, and it doesn't seem like such a big deal either. He continues to work and enjoys watching his pile slowly grow.
This is a lesson about hard work and character, but it also teaches us that the little things add up.
Whether it's little sins or little acts of kindness, they are going to eventually accumulate and cause a huge effect. This can be said with working just a little bit, diligently, every week showing up to do your Personal Progress.
9. Make it fun!
Who says that Personal Progress has to be a bore? Ugh, most definitely NOT ME!! Even just deciding to believe that Personal Progress is fun and easy will work wonders for the experiences.
Other ways to have fun doing it? Determine rewards for finishing a value. If you're competitive, find a friend and make a little challenge. Make a fun environment for working on it - grab your favorite healthy snack, or enjoy working on it in the sun.
I get that it is hard to make Personal Progress fun, so if you're still stuck on how to make it enjoyable, don't stress. Skip to the bottom or click here to check out my new Personal Progress product. I guarantee the color palette, bright lettering, illustrations and feel make it fun -- you can also visit its post to see a sample and proof that it's just a good time.
10. Use my blog
Hey, I'm biased, but I'm not ashamed to be super proud of this blog! When I started Personal Progress, there were some PP blogs but none of them were quite what I was looking for.
Some had long lists of projects, almost none of which would really add up to a ten hour total.
Some had terribly designed graphics.
Some had lots of ideas but no room for me to write my thoughts.
Not to say that Personal Progress/Latter-Day Saint blogs are terrible!! I love the Latter-Day Saint blogger community, everyone in it so good and passionate at what they do and so dang nice!
I just found myself a little annoyed because of my high expectations and hoping for, oh, I don't know, beautifully designed Personal Progress worksheets, for, like, every experience. Is that too much to ask?
Lol. Not anymore! Because for my Good Works project, I created them. And I loved blogging so much I didn't stop there.
Soon I was rolling out holiday Personal Progress ideas, cute trackers, lesson helps, and so much more. While my marketing doesn't reflect it anymore, my earliest readers know this blog is here because of Personal Progress.
Not only that, but it's the best blog to help you finish it! It's like a buffet, where you can grab whatever worksheet you like, oh, and maybe some tasty cute seasonal and holiday worksheets, and whatever your heart desires.
I made these, all for free, with two-week trackers, detailed PP ideas, booklets, and more, and all you have to do is click "print."
Wondering where to start on the blog? Go to "Personal Progress", where there are links for every value page, where there are links to every worksheet. I also know everyone loves the Personal Progress binder, which is another efficient system where you can complete Personal Progress.
BONUS BIGGEST TIP: Invest a little $ for this life-saving product
Lol, that title sounds so evil. But I'm not evil! Money is not evil!
Here's what the product I can't stop talking about really is.
I love it because it is a game changer. Are you tired of working on your Personal Progress without, well, actually progressing? Are you ready to become excited to work on it again?
This ULTIMATE Summer Personal Progress Journal will take you to where you want to be -- on the podium as you receive your medallion!!
It's 85 pages of hand-lettered and illustrated gold, with whimsical and fun designs to help you get motivated to do Personal Progress. Also... it incorporates almost every terrrrific tip above!
It breaks the whole program down into experiences and each experience into steps which you are routinely called to follow up on.
It allows you to personalize your projects with plenty of guided writing and planning space.
It has lots of personalized electives which are fun and easy alternative experiences.
You do a little every week, and after a 12-week summer, boom! You're done and it's off your back.
Like I said before, it changes Personal Progress into a fun thing you can look forward to achieving.
You are given several cute prints as reminders to hang up wherever you want.
And, well, doing it this summer when you still have 7 months, that counts as starting early.
Check out the product here or go to the post to see a delectable free sample. You'll love it, and where it takes you!
And if you're not interested or can't afford it? It's fine! That's why I have so many other free resources. 😊😉
I'm so glad you found this blog post, enjoy your Personal Progress journey!
I'm so glad you found this blog post, enjoy your Personal Progress journey!
Enjoy these other Pin-able images to save for later.
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