We have all heard that ‘nobody’s perfect’ and ‘Self Improvement’ seems to be a catch phrase, but how many people actually feel that they need it? And for those that do, how do you know where to start or how to go about it? Here are 5 strategies for self improvement that will allow you to start looking at your life and finding out the best ways that you can get more from it and become a better person.
1 – Start the day
I know – it sound weird right? But seriously, how many of you roll out of bed, crawl into the shower – or just throw your clothes on, jump into the car and go to work, maybe grabbing a coffee on the way? I bet there are a few people grimacing right now. The thing is, that you need to tell your body and mind that a new day has begun. Believe it or not, an alarm clock won’t do this for you, but sitting down and having a decent breakfast with your coffee will.
Aside from the nutritional aspect, the most important thing that this will do is to give you time to reflect on what the day will hold and allow you to envisage it with whatever feelings come to mind. You might find that you see the problems at your work with more clarity, or you might appreciate the job that you do and how it interconnects with other parts of the business, or you might realize that you hate it and start to look at other options for your life. All of this just from taking an extra 20 minutes in the morning.
2 – Write Down Your Goals
The pen is such a mighty instrument. That is why the reward for going to college for 5 years and passing all your exams is a piece of paper called a degree.
By writing down your goals you effectively take all those loose thoughts that are running around in your head and focus them into one short epiphany. Be specific. Don’t just write ‘I want to be rich’, write ‘I want to have $xxxx in my account in 5 years time’. Once you have written your goals down it gives you something to focus on and work toward – just like your degree or diploma.
3 – Get Together a Plan
It’s all very well having your goals and dreams, but how do you plan on attaining them?
If you put as your goals for self improvement that you want ‘a million bucks’ how do you intend on getting that million dollars? If you want to ‘lose 15 lbs by summer’ what steps will you take to make sure that it happens? If you want to be a ‘nicer person’ what defines a nicer person and what will you need to do to meet your objective?
4 – Believe
It is not good enough to say ‘I think I can’. It is not even good enough to say ‘I know I can’. You end goal has to be a ‘fait accompli’ – a certainty. You have to have no doubt at all that you will succeed at whatever you are doing, and it is this belief will drive you through all the barriers that will come your way.
One of those barriers is fear, and it is one of the hurdles that single-handedly knocks most people off their feet when it comes to self improvement. Fear of the unknown is well documented, but a fear of change is just as paralyzing for some. Fear is actually a healthy emotion and stops us being reckless, but it is just an emotion and to live by it is inexcusable.
You need to be able to push through these types of emotions, take the leap and remember that you won’t be able to make any real changes or improvements until you master your fear.
5 – Relax and Regroup
There is no point in any self improvement ventures if they end up making you a worse person or burning you out. Take time out regularly to smell the roses and reassess where you are heading. Feelings, family and circumstances do change so you need to re-evaluate your goals and dreams to reflect this.
