Have you ever sat down and asked yofurself what it is you want from life? Is it more money? A newer car? A bigger home? Of course, these are things that we all want and strive for. But, these material possessions won’t necessarily lead to self-improvement. In fact, many people find that their lives become harder and less fulfilling as they acquire more and more material possessions. Mo’ money, mo’ problems, indeed.
In order to find the fulfillment you seek, self-improvement is usually necessary. Self-improvement revolves around things like your thoughts, beliefs, skills, intelligence, patterns, and so much more. While material possessions are nice and can bring you some degree of fulfillment in the short term, the characteristics that revolve around self-fulfillment are things that can never be taken away from you.
Today, we’ll take a closer look at self-improvement, and discuss some tips and steps you can make to start improving yourself and the way you feel about yourself right now.
Defining Self-Improvement
As we mentioned briefly above, self-improvement is the act of enriching yourself in new and healthy ways. Learning is usually at the core of most self-improvement. In this sense, learning could be literal, like taking some college courses or learning a new language in your spare time. But, it can also mean learning more about yourself on a personal level and then using what you’ve learned to better your life in some way.
Acts of self-improvement can also involve replacing destructive habits with healthy ones. For example, if you think you’re spending too much time drinking at the bar, so you start replacing your trips to the bar with trips to the gym, you would be engaging in the act of self-improvement.
What Self-Improvement is Not
To understand what self-improvement is, it’s often helpful to look at what self-improvement isn’t. When most people daydream about improvement in their lives, it often centers around material trappings. A faster car, a bigger house, a younger spouse. But, none of those things have an impact on your self.
Think of it this way: Let’s say you’ve achieved all of the trappings of success in your life. You own a luxury car or two, a beautiful home, and you have a beautiful spouse. From the outside, it appears that you’ve done all the self-improvement you need to. After all, look at that beautiful house!
Now, let’s say you woke up the next morning, and all of those things were gone. Without the trappings of your successful life, what would you have? That depends on whether or not you’ve been practicing self-improvement. Of course, you’d mourn the loss of those physical trappings either way. But, the things you gain through self-improvement cannot be taken away, and the tools you’ve learned can be used to rebuild what you’ve lost.
The Importance of Routine
In just a moment, we’re going to dig into how you can begin your self-improvement journey by breaking it into three easier to digest parts. But, before we do, it’s important to note the importance of a routine, and how your routine can help you on your journey.
Creating a routine is helpful on multiple levels as it’s a way to invest in yourself while also being a way to ensure you’re doing your best work at your job and for your family and friends, as well. A routine helps you to build momentum throughout the day, which will be especially helpful on days where you’re having trouble finding the strength to push forward.
A routine will also help you to prioritize your daily work, procrastinate less, and keep better track of your goals and how close you are to achieving them. It’s also important to keep in mind that what works for someone else may not necessarily work for you. So, create your routine based on what works best for you, not what has worked for other successful people.
Your routine should be a reflection of your life. Establish regular patterns that are comfortable and easily repeatable for you, and they’ll be easier to stick with. By creating a daily routine, your self-improvement journey should be much more fruitful.
The Three Steps to Meaningful Self-Improvement
Improving yourself and your life is something we should all strive to do. But, it’s sometimes easier said than done. How exactly does one just start improving themselves? If you look at self-improvement like a mountain, it can seem insurmountable. But, if you break the mountain into pieces, it will be easier for you to make the climb.
That’s what we’re going to do here. Think of self-improvement in three parts: mind, body, and spirit.
Optimizing Your Mind
One of the keys to self-improvement is putting yourself in the right mindset from the moment you wake up. Ben Franklin, one of the most iconic and successful individuals in American history, would start each day by saying to himself, “what good shall I do today?” We suggest starting your day with a similar mantra.
Be Proactive, Not Reactive
One of the biggest mistakes most people make in the morning is starting their day out reactive instead of proactive. For many of us, the first thing we do in the morning is to check our email or browse social media.
Behaving this way immediately takes the focus off your priorities and places it onto someone else’s priorities. For example, if you see an email from someone requesting documents, you’ll probably be compelled to provide them immediately, even if you have more pressing tasks to take care of for yourself.
The morning is the best opportunity to get your day started on the right foot, and it’s also a time when we’re at our most productive. Don’t let tasks that aren’t time-sensitive sap up your productivity. Instead, focus on behaviors that are proactive.
Visualize Success
Visualization is a powerful tool that far too few of us engage in on a daily basis. Meanwhile, it’s a tool that highly successful people use each day to make themselves more efficient and effective.
The purpose of visualization is to connect your conscious mind with your unconscious mind. Your unconscious is inclined to believe what you tell it, and it will do what it can to make what you tell it a reality.
Each morning, visualize yourself having an awesome day in as much detail as possible. What that means is entirely up to you.
For some, an excellent day would involve crushing a morning presentation followed by successful meetings, multiple items crossed off the “to-do” list, and a relaxing evening at home after the day’s work is done. For others, their perfect day would look entirely different. What’s important is that your visualization is rooted in your reality.
Keep a To-Do List
Keeping a to-do list is one of the easiest ways to stay focused and productive throughout the day. Creating this list helps you get the most out of your day by keeping you on task and focused on what’s most important to you. This way, you’ll have a road map of sorts that lights the path to success, instead of just randomly chipping away at tasks and hoping they move the needle forward for you.
In order for you to have success with your to-do list, you’ll need to keep it manageable. If you overload your to-do list with ambitious tasks you know are outside the realm of possibility, you aren’t going to benefit from writing a to-do list.
A smart way to ensure that your to-do list doesn’t become unmanageable is to write it on a post-it. The size of a post-it means that you’ll only be able to fit a handful of tasks on your list each day. Be sure only to write down your most important tasks each day, and focus on getting them crossed off your list before you go to bed that night.
The Pomodoro Method
One of the most popular and effective productivity “hacks” in the world is the Pomodoro Method, and you may be surprised by how useful it can be for you.
We know that taking regular breaks from your work is a great way to keep yourself on task while also helping to avoid burnout. But, it’s easier said than done. Sometimes, when you’re on a roll, the last thing you want to do is take a break. The Pomodoro Method can help simplify your processes, allowing you to get more done while also building regular breaks into your workday.
Here’s how the Pomodoro Method works:
- Pick your task
- Set a timer for 25 minutes
- Focus exclusively on your task until the timer goes off
- Take a five-minute break
- Repeat the first four steps three more times, then take a fifteen-minute break
Many people credit this productivity method with allowing them to get far more done in less time, with less effort. Plus, the built-in breaks help to keep your energy levels up so you can avoid burnout.
Optimize Your Body
Part of the path to self-improvement involves improving your body as well as your mind. Here are some easy and actionable ways that you can start getting the most out of your body.
Practice Deep Breathing
Our lungs are incredibly powerful filters that allow us to release up to 70% of the toxins we take in each day. Not only can deep breathing help to energize you and elevate your mental state, but it’s also a powerful way to detoxify your body.
Self-help guru Tony Robbins recommends employing a 1:4:2 power breathing ratio. In this ratio, you breathe in for a defined amount of time, hold that breath for twice as long as you spent breathing in, then exhale four times as long as you spent breathing in. To use five seconds as an example, you would inhale for five seconds, hold the breath for twenty seconds, and breathe out for ten. Then, repeat the process ten times.
Eat Foods That Work For You
The food we put into our bodies does more than just whet our appetite. If you eat right, what you’re eating can also go to work for you. More specifically, there are some foods you can eat, which can help to nourish your body as well as your brain so that you can perform at the highest level.
Foods like dark chocolate, fish, nuts and seeds, carrots, blueberries, and avocados are all brain-boosting foods that can help you focus and perform throughout the day. So, try and pay these foods special attention when you’re deciding on your next snack.
Drink More Water
Three out of four Americans don’t drink enough water on a daily basis, and most of us don’t recognize how not drinking enough is affecting us. Not drinking enough water has been linked to headaches, fatigue, and a lack of strength and stamina.
At first, it may be hard to stick to the habit of drinking more water, especially when you consider the Mayo Clinic recommends you drink as many as 13 cups a day. But, if you commit to drinking water when you wake up, after any strenuous activity, and with every meal, you’ll be surprised how easy it is to hit your daily goals.
Get Up and Get Moving
Scientists are learning that there are a bunch of negatives associated with sitting down for too long. Sitting for too long is associated with an increased risk for breast or colon cancer, type-II diabetes, stroke, and cognitive decline, to name a few. These issues are especially concerning considering how many of us work in a stationary environment all day.
Make it a point to get up and moving regularly throughout the day. A standing desk can also be helpful, as can sitting on a balance ball.
Commit to an Exercise Routine
For many people, committing to an exercise routine is one of the hardest parts of self-improvement.
While the physical benefits of exercising are more obvious, there are so many benefits below the surface that will be equally beneficial to you in your self-improvement journey.
Regular exercise can help fight feelings of depression and anxiety, improve your self-esteem and self-confidence, and help to fight the effects of stress. Of course, there are the physical benefits as well, since exercise will help get you in shape and boost your energy levels.
Improve Your Sleep Routine
We all love getting a good night’s sleep, but for many of us, it’s easier said than done. Poor sleep can have a profound effect on your mood, judgment, and memory. Over the long term, lack of sleep can contribute to issues like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity.
Plus, it’s virtually impossible to get yourself into a solid routine when you’re sleep-deprived. When you’re tired, even the smallest of tasks seem insurmountable, so getting a solid night of rest should be on the top of your self-improvement priority list.
Getting seven hours or more of sleep each night is important. But, it’s also important to normalize your sleep schedule as much as possible. Try and maintain a schedule where you go to sleep at the same time each night and awake at the same time each morning. Of course, you can break from this schedule as necessary on the weekend or your days off.
Optimize Your Spirit
While we tend to think of things in terms of our mind and body, there is a third piece of the puzzle; you must seek to improve on your self-improvement journey. Not only should you strive to improve your mental and physical health, but your spiritual health as well.
Give Meditation a Shot
For years, the concept of meditating was going completely over my head. What exactly was I supposed to be doing, anyway? Today, it’s easier than ever to start meditating, as there are tons of helpful and free resources that can help put you on the right path.
Daily meditation can help reduce stress, depression, and anxiety while also improving your cognitive skills and memory, too.
Find Sources of Inspiration
Inspired people work harder, better, and more efficiently than people who aren’t, and they also make the most of their free time as well. Best of all, inspiration and motivation can come from anywhere, so there’s no excuse not to find what inspires you and let it motivate you to be your best self.
Finding inspiration can help to keep you grounded, providing you with a stable foundation from which to grow. So, regardless of what makes you inspired, harness that inspiration and allow it to motivate you in your daily life.
Practice Gratitude and Giving
They say that the more blessing that you’re thankful for, the more blessings you attract in return. We’re not sure if that’s true or not, but we’d hate to be wrong if it is. Each day, show gratitude for the things you’re thankful for. Plus, when you take time to think of the things you’re grateful for, you’re more likely to recognize all the reasons for which you’re fortunate.
Not only should you practice gratitude, but you should also give back wherever you can. You can give back with time, or with money, or in any number of smaller ways you may not even realize. A simple compliment to a stranger is an example of giving back.
Each day, make it a point to be grateful for what you have, and also to give to others wherever you can, even if it’s a gesture as simple as paying someone a compliment.
Track Your Progress
Each of the tips above are great ways for you to improve yourself on every level. But, it can sometimes be hard to see the progress you’re making on your journey. Keeping track of the changes you’ve made and your progress is a great way to look back on how far you’ve come.
Tracking your progress also has short-term benefits as well, since it can help you course-correct a bad day in real-time. There is no shortage of different productivity apps out there that can help you track the changes you’re making so you can measure the impact they’re having in your life.
More Actionable Self-Improvement Tips
Our guide above can help you to focus on your mind, body, and spirit so that you can realize the best version of yourself. But, we have some more helpful tips as well that you may want to try incorporating into your self-improvement plan.
You Alone are Responsible for How You Live Your Life
As you continue on the path to self-improvement, you must understand that you are the only person responsible for your thoughts and actions. These thoughts and actions play a critical role in what you will get out of your life. You must take complete responsibility for both your thoughts and actions in order for you to improve on a personal level.
Identify What You Want in Life
In order for you to achieve new heights in your life, you’ll need something to accomplish in the first place. Many people have trouble setting goals, and as a result, they walk through life aimlessly. This behavior can sabotage your self-help efforts, so it’s critical that you set goals for yourself and work hard to achieve them.
Beyond setting goals, you’ll need to identify your values and priorities, and set a clear path for how you can achieve your priorities and goals. Only then can you begin the work necessary to fulfill your self-improvement goals.
Pain is Evidence of Progress
Unfortunately, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to improving and enriching yourself. Until they invent a pill that allows you to awake the next morning as the perfect version of yourself, the only way for you to get there is through hard work, sacrifice, and effort.
There are sure to be times during your self-improvement journey where you question if the juice is worth the squeeze. Trust us, it is. You will need to invest time and effort into the process, and there will be times where it’s quite uncomfortable. But, pain and discomfort are evidence that you’re on the right track. Let them motivate you to keep pushing forward.
The Only Thing You Can Count on is Change
Change is constant, especially as you make self-improvement progress. Whether you’re making wholesale changes or tiny ones, you’ll see changes in yourself. It’s essential to embrace these changes and consider them evidence of your hard work.
Don’t Underestimate the Power of Your Thoughts
Since thoughts aren’t tangible, it’s easy to consider them to be inconsequential. Meanwhile, that couldn’t be less true. Your thinking has a strong influence on your actions and how you respond to the various situations you come across in your daily life. While your actions will determine your life, your thoughts have a profound influence on your actions.
Habits Are Important
The things we do habitually also have a profound impact on our lives. So, if you plan on making changes to improve yourself, you’ll also need to make changes to your habits. Start by identifying the habits you engage in which aren’t making a positive impact on your life, and work diligently to change them.
You Only Have One Body
Self-improvement goes hand in hand with taking care of your body and physical health. Since physical health is so closely intertwined with mental health, improvements you make physically can have positive implications mentally, as well. In order to unlock your best self, you’ll need to make positive changes with your eating, exercise, and sleeping routines.
Taking care of your long term health is an investment in yourself that can only lead to self-improvement, and it plays a critical role in you realizing your best self.
There is Power in the Present
There truly is no time like the present. Each decision we make and every action we take has immediate implications for the present moment. As you grow more attuned to your place in the present, you’ll be able to exact greater control over your thoughts and actions. Tomorrow isn’t promised, but today is the perfect time to wield the power you have to improve.
There is Knowledge in the Past
The past is an indispensable resource for us to learn from, and it can serve as a road map for how to handle certain situations in the future. Reflect on the things in your past and think of what you could have done differently to improve the outcomes. Then, let the past inform you as you take action for the present and future.
The Future is Bright
While there’s no crystal ball that will illuminate our future, it’s important to remain hopeful and optimistic about what the future holds. If you look towards the future with pessimistically, you’ll soon realize that this is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Meanwhile, if you look toward the future with excitement and optimism, it will help set the stage for positive things to come.
Conclusion
Self-improvement is a never-ending journey, and it’s something that you should keep working on until the day you’re no longer on earth. Start with small changes to your routine, and as you continue to improve yourself, incorporate more changes and new ideas into your daily life.