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21 FREE self development courses

Personal development is about investing in yourself so that you can manage yourself effectively regardless of what life might bring your way. Personal development covers activities that improve awareness and identity, develop talents and potential, and enhance the quality of lifeMaking that commitment to personal development is the first step on the path to personal fulfilment. Personal development takes place over the course of a person's entire life.





Taking a course to expand knowledge or learn a new skill is a great personal development activity. I have collected a list of course providers as well as a list of interesting personal development course.





Here is a list of course providers you can access FREE online courses (this list is accurate as of Oct 2020):


1. Future Learn 

https://www.futurelearn.com


2.  Open University 

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/free-courses


3. Natalie Bacon (coach)

https://nataliebacon.com/resources/


4. Alison 

https://alison.com/courses/personal-development


5. EDX

https://www.edx.org/learn/self-improvement


6. Course ERA 

https://www.coursera.org/browse/personal-development


7. Class Central 

https://www.classcentral.com/subject/personal-development


8. UDEMY 

https://www.udemy.com/topic/personal-development/free/



Here is a list of interesting personal development courses that may interest you:


1. Food and mood

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/food-and-mood/2


Optimise your mental and brain health through diet and nutrition.

Poor diet and poor mental health are the leading causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. We now know that diet quality is a modifiable factor that is linked to mental and brain health across all stages of our lives.

We will explore how our daily diets may affect our mental and brain health, including the role of our immune system and gut microbiome.

The course will provide research evidence, practical examples, skills development, and collaboration on dietary intake assessment, strategies and resource sharing for dietary change.


2. Resilience

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/professional-resilience


Discover how to build resilience skills to empower your life and career

In a fast-paced world facing complex global challenges, resilience skills are no longer desirable – they’re crucial.

Having a high level of professional and emotional resilience enables you to thrive in the face of stressful situations at work, and in life in general.

On this course, you’ll learn what resilience is. You’ll explore the capabilities, skills, and self-care practices that contribute to building resilience. You will develop resilience skills for yourself, so you’re ready to meet both professional and personal challenges.


3. Decision making 

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/decision-making-how-to-choose-the-right-problem-to-solve


Learn how to get others on board with your decision-making and minimise risk

On this course, you’ll learn how to better solve simple problems and sharpen your decision-making process.

You’ll evaluate your existing problem-solving technique and build the skills to improve it.

As you learn what transferable skills are required, you’ll discover how to identify a problem, how to understand it and how to analyse the associated risks and benefits of various solutions.

You’ll also spend time producing a detailed plan to persuade others that your own solution is workable.


4. Interpersonal skills 

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/money-business/leadership-management/the-importance-interpersonal-skills/content-section-0?active-tab=description-tab

The importance of interpersonal skills, will help you gain an awareness of your own skills and understand that an awareness of the interpersonal skills of others can help us enormously in dealing with the work tasks we are responsible for.


5. Failure into success 

https://www.udemy.com/course/turn-your-last-big-failure-into-a-big-aha-moment/


  • You will have a proven system to turn your last big failure into a big "aha" moment.
  • You'll discover why failure is your key to success (& how to use it!).
  • You'll skyrocket your rate of learning.


6. How to discover yourself 

https://www.udemy.com/course/how-to-discover-yourself/

  • To find the purpose of life
  • Find your passion in life
  • Able to overcome fear and become confident
  • Build your network 

7. The joy of imperfection 

https://www.udemy.com/course/the-joy-of-imperfection/

  • 8 Mindsets that Crush Personal Contentment
  • Choosing to Accept Yourself is Not a Cop-out
  • If You Don't Accept Yourself, Who Will?
  • Self-acceptance is Crucial to Self-Respect and Self-Love
  • The Foundation of Acceptance: Letting Go of Harmful Perfection
  • Honestly Acknowledge Your Flaws
  • Quit Apologising For Your Flaws
  • Turning Your Flaws into Assets
  • Know Your Limits
  • Learn to Move on


8. Be inspired 

https://www.udemy.com/course/beinspired/

  • Get clear on where you're heading this year 
  • Create a roadmap for the most productive and inspired year of your life 
  • Start taking action to turn your big ideas into your reality
  • Let go of the fear and self-doubt that hold you back 
  • Free yourself from others’ expectations 
  • Create a sense of personal meaning, purpose and direction 
  • Create balance and positivity from the inside out


 

9. Stress management 

https://www.udemy.com/course/keystone/

  • Instead of letting stress control you, learn to use stress to your advantage (especially during the COVID Pandemic)
  • Strengthen your relationships and feel better about life
  • Face stress with confidence, and recover quickly from new challenges and setbacks
  • Banish the stress monsters in your life that steal your joy


10. Conflict resolution skills 

https://www.classcentral.com/course/conflict-resolution-skills-4194

Resolving conflict in a positive manner is a skill that can be developed and practiced. Being heard can be one of the most important goals of someone engaged in conflict. Knowing how to listen and deploy appropriate communication tactics is determinative of whether a conflict will have a positive or negative resolution. Examine listening skills, appropriate and strategic verbal and non-verbal communication skills, and how to assemble a conflict management plan likely to yield positive resolutions.

Upon completing this course, you will be able to:
1. Use active listening skills when dealing with conflict
2. Choose appropriate communication tactics when dealing with conflict 3. Create a usable plan for managing conflict


11. Mindset

https://www.coursera.org/learn/mindshift

Mindshift is designed to help boost your career and life in today’s fast-paced learning environment. Whatever your age or stage, Mindshift teaches you essentials such as how to get the most out of online learning and MOOCs, how to seek out and work with mentors, the secrets to avoiding career ruts (and catastrophes) and general ruts in life, and insights such as the value of selective ignorance over general competence. We’ll provide practical insights from science about how to learn and change effectively even in maturity, and we’ll build on what you already know to take your life’s learning in fantastic new directions. This course is designed to show you how to look at what you’re learning, and your place in what’s unfolding in the society around you, so you can be what you want to be, given the real world constraints that life puts on us all. You’ll see that by using certain mental tools and insights, you can learn and do more—far more—than you might have ever dreamed!

This course can be taken independent of, concurrent with, or subsequent to, its companion course, Learning How to Learn. (Mindshift is more career focused, and Learning How to Learn is more learning focused.)


12. Finding purpose 

https://www.coursera.org/learn/finding-purpose-and-meaning-in-life

Welcome to Finding Purpose and Meaning in Life: Living for What Matters Most!

In this course, you’ll learn how science, philosophy and practice all play a role in both finding your purpose and living a purposeful life. You will hear from historical figures and individuals about their journeys to finding and living a purposeful life, and will walk through different exercises to help you find out what matters most to you so you can live a purposeful life. As an added benefit, you will also have complimentary access, for a period of time, to the Purposeful App. This groundbreaking mobile and desktop app is designed to help you build a purposeful rhythm into each day, so you can bring your best self to what matters most. Look for more information in Week 1 of the course! By the end of this course, you will: 1. Understand that having a strong purpose in life is an essential element of human well-being. 2. Know how self-transcending purpose positively affects well-being. 3. Be able to create a purpose for your life (don't be intimidated, this is different from creating "the purpose" for your life). 4. Apply personal approaches and skills to self-change and become and stay connected to your purpose every day. We are thrilled that you are here! We look forward to hearing and learning from you throughout this course!


13. The science of wellbeing 

https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-science-of-well-being

In this course you will engage in a series of challenges designed to increase your own happiness and build more productive habits. As preparation for these tasks, Professor Laurie Santos reveals misconceptions about happiness, annoying features of the mind that lead us to think the way we do, and the research that can help us change. You will ultimately be prepared to successfully incorporate a specific wellness activity into your life.

THE SCIENCE OF WELL BEING WAS PRODUCED IN PART DUE TO THE GENEROUS FUNDING OF THE DAVID F. SWENSEN FUND FOR INNOVATION IN TEACHING







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