Custom essays: Personal Portrait

Abstract
The paper focuses on the personal development grounded on Erik Eriksson’s developmental theory. Six stages of my personal development were discussed, including infancy, early childhood, play age, school age, adolescence, and young adulthood.

 
Every individual passes through stages of personal development, which may vary depending on a theorist, who developed a particular developmental theory, but, as a rule, all individuals pass through the same stages in the course of their development. In this regard, I would refer to my personal experience and analyze my personal development on the ground of Erik Eriksson’s developmental theory, which actually expands on the entire life of an individual that means that an individual keeps developing throughout all his or her life but I will focus on my development solely, which, currently, has reached the stage of the young adulthood.
In actuality, the first months of the life of an individual remain unclear for an individual because this is the infancy stage, when an individual just starts learning the surrounding world and basic skills, which help him or her in his or her personal development. In the course of the infancy, I was always vulnerable to the impact of my environment, which stimulated the development of my basic skills. However, during this stage, I have developed relatively poor physical skills as my attempts to start walking and my first successes in this field, as well as the early attempts to develop my speech and language skills. During this stage trust and hope prevailed in my consciousness for I was entirely dependent on my parents and I was fully protected by them. I did not need to bother about anything but receiving food and drinks from my parents, their care and my efforts in my basic physiological and psychological development.
The next stage was the early childhood. This stage normally lasts from 18 months to three years. During this stage, I have started to build my self-esteem and autonomy. The manifestation of my efforts to build autonomy was my first efforts to do something on my own (Harvey, 1995). For instance, when I had a meal, I attempted to hold the spoon in my hand and use it properly, although my parents still helped me in this regard at the beginning. At the same time, my world grew more and more ego-centric. I had more needs and I needed them being satisfied. On the other hand, to satisfy my needs I had to develop my self-control, courage and will. For instance, when parents forbidden me to do something, I often insisted, or, when my parents helped me, I attempted to accomplish the task on my own without their assistance. At the same time, I developed shame, which my parents often used to condition my behavior and to make me doing what they actually wanted me to do.
The next stage in my personal development was the play age. In fact, during this stage, I have developed initiative and I grew more and more purpose-oriented (Zimbardo, 2008). What is meant here is the fact that my actions became purposeful and I did my best to meet my purposes. For instance, when I wanted to play a toy, I did my best to do it. Even if the toy laid on a top shelf in my room, I climbed up using the furniture and other toys to get it and I did not give up until I got the toy I wanted. On the other hand, I have started to feel guilty when I realized that I did something wrong or when I did something bad. In fact, I felt really uncomfortable, especially if my parents were dissatisfied with my behavior or were angry with me. Their opinion was very important for me because they were the highest authorities for me at the moment.
During the next stage of my personal development, the school age, my parents still played an important part in my life, although by the end of this stage their role and significance in my life have started to decrease. During this stage, my egocentric world has started to change (Maslow, 1970). I started to think about myself as an individual, although I still felt my inferiority and dependence on my parents and other adults, who were the authorities for me.
However, during my adolescence, the authority of parents and other adults has started to decrease dramatically. I spent a lot of time with my friends and peers. Their opinion did matter for me above all. Their opinion was even more significant than the opinion of my parents. I believed that my parents could not understand me. At the same time, I grew more and more critical in regard to myself. For instance, I did not like how I look, my body, my clothes, and my movements.
Nevertheless, as I grew older, my fears faded away and I became aware of my strengths as well as weaknesses. Young adulthood contributed to the development of my personal identity and I started to look for my role in the social life. What I mean is my attempts to define my future career. In this regard, I choose counseling and now I feel comfortable and successful.

 
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