If you really want to understand all the possibilities on your road to personal development and self-improvement, brainstorming is an excellent way of finding out where you could go. You may well have done this in your professional activities, brainstorming an opportunity or even a crisis with colleagues. Exactly the same principles apply, even though on this occasion you may be doing it on your own, or perhaps with a select group of family or friends.

Whatever the case, remember to apply the same rules. First of all, on a big, clean sheet of paper, write down anything that comes into your head that might be connected with where you might want to go. Do not filter or sort at this stage. If "go to the moon" crops up in your mind, then write it down. And if you are doing this brain fitness exercise with friends or family, be sure to explain that no criticism or judgment is to be passed during this stage. Do this for twenty minutes and then take a break.

Making your priorities

The next stage will be to take your big (right?) list of brainstormed personal improvement items and in this second stage to start to put some order into the list. If you wrote down an item, which someone said and the connection does not seem clear, ask for some clarification. You can start to review all the items in the light of a four-year plan for example. Check through the following points to get the most out of the exercise:

1.If in four years time you were to make another list, a list of items entitled "In the last four years I did that", what would you want to see on that list? Make a selection from your brainstormed items to self-improvement to see what you can aim for and, if possible, how you can measure the result. This may be simple enough ("went to the moon" is either yes or no) or more elaborate ("raised my net personal income by 50% every year" - and yes, this is possible!).

2.Feeding your ego positively with visualized results and with positive affirmations is one thing, but don’t forget to feed your mind with knowledge and learning as well. Check your list for items that can fall into this category and that will truly expand your horizons. Make a priority list now to be sure to acquire the most important knowledge to reach your personal development goals, even if unforeseen events limit what you can do.

3.Make a list of things that are good, useful, core value items and that you want to maintain over the course of working towards your life goal list during the next four years. If there are things you just started and want to continue, put them into the list as well. Build on what is good and positive in your life today, at the same time as keeping an open mind to be able to embrace new opportunities as well.

4.Make a list of things that you want to change, things that have been turning in a bad performance or that have been having a negative effect on you. Stop accepting mediocrity or being palmed off with second best, either from yourself or from other people. Better fitness, more drive, less condescension, you name it – whatever needs a makeover to have you firing on all six cylinders.