Personal development (also known as self-development or personal growth) comprises the development of the self.

The term may also refer to

• traditional concepts of education or training,
• counselling and coaching for personal transformation
• New Age movement and spiritual beliefs & concepts - including "inner pathways" to solve social and psychological issues.
• professional development business trainers (some treat the whole person instead of business only)

To understand this further: a person can have different personalities in different contexts (at home / at office / at parties etc) but these share common threads of who he is and this can be called the "personal self". When someone is referring to personal development then he is meaning a full and total transformation from deep within and not just a temporary personality change for a specific occasion or context.

See also

• Developmental psychology
• Human enhancement
• Human Potential Movement
• Humanistic psychology
• Positive psychology
• Personality
• Self-help
• Transpersonal psychology