Personal development

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.