How to start working on yourself: the first steps to success. Create positive habits. Better yet, laugh

Good day, dear readers of my blog! I think that we have already figured it out in the previous article: "" Therefore, in this article we will find out how to work out a route to "our best", where to start moving and what to pay special attention to in order to get tangible results in the near future. A lot has been written about how to engage in self-development. I will try to choose the main thing, from my point of view, and state this main thing as accessible as possible.

So, let's start, perhaps, with the study of the stages that a person traditionally goes through in his development. After all, personal growth, like everything in this world, is not formed at once, but goes through a series of phases in its development.

Stages of self-development

• self-knowledge. Back in the 4th century BC, seven ancient sages formulated and inscribed on the temple of the god Apollo in Delphi the absolute and universal truth: "Know thyself." A thinking person must clearly represent his life priorities, ideals, qualities that will allow him to move "forward and upward." Only by giving an answer to the question: “Who am I in this world?”, You can try to look for landmarks and direction of movement.
• Goal setting. Goals can be long-term and short-term, but in any case, they must be flexible and should not contradict each other. In addition, the result of goal setting should be a specific result and process - systematic exercises. In itself, the problem of setting life goals in the aspect of self-development is a very important and capacious topic, which we will discuss in one of the following publications.
• Ways to achieve the goals. Self-development is a very individual process. Therefore, there simply cannot be universal tips for achieving the heights of personal growth. The answer to the question about the way to improve oneself (physical, mental or spiritual) can be searched for a long time in smart books, or you can get, as they say, "just from the sky." The story of the American businessman and gambler MC Davis comes to mind. By chance, due to a traffic jam, when he got to a children's lecture on the destruction of wildlife, he suddenly found the meaning of his life. For twenty years, the businessman-philanthropist has invested ninety million dollars in the Nokuse project, designed for three hundred years. As a result, eight million swamp pine seedlings were planted on the lands purchased from wood processing companies.
• Action. My favorite expression: "The road will be mastered by the walking one." After all, only by starting to act, having made at least one step towards the dream, one can hope to achieve a result.

The self-development program includes various areas, including the improvement of character, the formation of strong-willed qualities, the development of intellect, spirituality, and physical form. In general, self-development is both a powerful factor in business success and success in the personal sphere of human life.

Ways of self-development

1. Select priorities. To go to the top without stopping and without wandering, a person needs to clearly understand the direction of movement. Stephen Covey, a well-known coach and business consultant, focused on the fact that the majority today chooses the watch as the main metaphor of their life, while they should be guided primarily by the compass. The main task of the individual is to find his true path. The focus should not be on speed, plans and schedules, but on priorities.
2. Awareness of the fullness of life. Often in the flow of life, a person perceives the world either as a gray viscous substance, or as a motley chaotic kaleidoscope. To perceive the fullness of the moment, the harmony of the world and its versatility, it is worth applying the principle of “being here and now”. At any moment, you can give yourself the command: “Stop. Realize. Feel it."
3. Concentration of attention. The Indians have a story that the human brain is a little monkey. She constantly climbs somewhere, itches, looks at something, chews, but she can be tamed. The same must be done with consciousness. When the mind jumps from thought to thought, from idea to idea, tell it, “Come back! Look here!" By the way, I want to assure you that this technique works flawlessly. I tested for myself and came to the conclusion that with the help of self-control, you can completely focus on the task, discarding everything else. So I accumulate consciousness and the efficiency in the process becomes many times higher.
4. Write down thoughts. In order to form and strengthen any intention, I advise you to fix all the brilliant and not so brilliant thoughts that pop up in your mind about a particular problem. Use a notepad, organizer or voice recorder for this. By setting your subconscious mind to generate ideas in a given direction, you will soon receive a lot of tips and understand what and how to do next. Also, when debriefing flights of thought, pay attention to repetitive tasks. It is noticed that the task postponed three times is not worth the effort spent on its solution.
5. Time. Take good care of such a valuable resource as time. Use time management techniques. It is worth learning arbitrary forgetfulness, since some problems are solved by themselves, and work on the ability to track and block "time eaters": empty conversations, communication in networks, absorption and reaction to unnecessary information.
6. Environment. Communication with people who can teach you something, inspire you, lead you. At the same time, I advise you to limit interaction with those who drag you down, load you with whining and complaints.
7. Movement towards the goal. By mastering the art of small steps, you will steadily move towards your goal. The slightest movement in the outlined direction is already the result.
8. Multi-vector. The ability to achieve several results in one unit of time. For example, getting on a treadmill, you can stick headphones with acid music in your ears, or you can listen to an audio book or repeat the words of a foreign language. Which option is more efficient? Definitely the second one! But here you can’t get carried away, if the task is serious, it’s better to concentrate entirely on it.
9. Stress. Tim Ferriss, author of How to Work the 4-Hour Workweek, advises learning how to manage stress. Sound paradoxical. Is not it? But it is a certain level of stress that forms sufficient motivation in you. It turns out that there is a so-called "good" stress - emotional outbursts (not always with a plus sign) that make you leave your comfort zone.

Of course, the ways of self-development are not exhausted by this list. Every spiritual practice, every guru of psychology will most likely bring to your attention many more ways. The ones described in this article seem to me the most universal.

2 powerful techniques

And finally, I would like to give you, dear readers of my blog, a small gift. Two great exercises to help restore inner harmony and motivate yourself to actively move to the top.

A wonderful technique with which you can upgrade your life in an amazing way is described in the book of a Vietnamese spiritual leader and Zen master Tit Nat Khana "Peace in every step". The author proposes to reconsider the attitude to reality. “We often ask ourselves the question: What is wrong? And a negative field is immediately formed around. What if we learned to ask life: “What is it?” At the same time, experience the sensations that the answer forms for a longer time.

Power Hour, a technique developed by Anthony Robbins. It is based on three whales: planning the day (ten to fifteen minutes), focusing on the goal and meaningful pronunciation of the settings. Let's talk about attitudes, or they are also called affirmations. They are the ones who program consciousness in a certain way. This is a very powerful tool that replenishes energy resources in an amazing way and works like a magnet that attracts resources, people, and events. Here are a few similar settings (affirmations):

• I feel in myself strength, determination, happiness;
• I am confident in my potential;
• I live every day with energy and passion;
• everything that I start, I bring to perfection;
• I am calm and confident;
• I am grateful for every day I live;
• I am generous and gladly share my abundance.

Conclusion

There are many different techniques and methods of human self-development. About the best of them, I will tell in the following publications.

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Good luck friends in all your endeavors.

Therefore, if you are thinking about the fact that you need to somehow self-develop and improve, then you can take note of the following tips. Remember that self-development is a complex action based on your desire, self-study and exercises aimed at improving your life.

Where to begin?

• Tip one. First of all, your self-development and self-improvement should give you pleasure. You do this primarily for yourself, so that later you can be in a more advantageous position over others, in order to use your knowledge and be sure that knowledgeable people will be able to appreciate it.
• Tip two. Realize whether you understand these concepts correctly, what they mean to you.

Self-development is a natural process that can take place both without the control of a person, and under his leadership in the area or area he needs. These include the skills that a person acquires in his life and life experience itself, the lessons that a person learns from past situations.

Uncontrolled self-development is the process itself, which is called life: birth, growing up, aging.

Controlled self-development is a conscious and purposeful action focused on improving any qualities, skills, abilities, with the help of independent studies and exercises of one's own free will and desire, without outside assistance.

Self-development can be of two types: intellectual and physical.

Self-improvement is the result of self-development. In the process of self-improvement, you improve or completely change any aspect of your life.

When you understand the concepts, it will be easier for you to work on yourself.

Tip three. Review your life in all spheres and areas. What did you achieve, what did you achieve, what goals did you fulfill and what desires did you fulfill.

Try to find your weaknesses. Make a plan of action, how you will work on yourself in what sequence and in what area.

Sample Analysis

• Physical training. If you are overweight or feel that you are not attractive enough, maybe you should go in for sports, or sign up for a gym, or do exercises at home.
• Health. your daily routine. How well do you eat. Having bad habits. Weakened immunity. Eliminate less healthy food from the diet, give up bad habits, strengthen the immune system.
• your spiritual side. How often do you suffer from outbursts of anger, envy, depression and bad mood, stress. What annoys you and how often you lose your temper. Learn to relax, meditate, treat yourself and people easier. Set yourself up for a positive mood. Give up destructive emotions such as envy, anger, anger.
• Your financial position. Are you satisfied with everything, how satisfied are you with your position at the moment. Maybe you should change something or acquire an additional profession or improve your skills.
• Your relationship with others. Do you often have conflicts with others, do you know how to control your emotions, what kind of relationships in the family circle or personal life. Learn to communicate and talk, have a constructive conversation, look for compromises. Learn to work in a team.
• Intellectual development. How attentive are you to the events around you and what is happening around you. How is the memory. Can you think broadly and see the problem from all angles? Develop creative thinking, set goals for yourself and achieve them, plan your time.

You can also simplify this diagram a little and make a list of questions. Sample questions:

• What do I not like about myself?
• What does not suit my close people?
• What do my colleagues not like about me?
• What do I need to achieve?
• What do I want to change?
• How to do it?

There may be several answers to these questions, in order to choose the right approach, write down all the answers and arrange them in order of greater importance to you. You can make a table with the name of the column: what does not suit you on the one hand, and solutions on the other. Or draw a circle, divide it into sectors and enter the answers to the questions there.

After you have analyzed your life, you can start self-development. To do this, you need to choose one of the most neglected or problem areas, set a goal and achieve it. If such a sphere is not found and all your areas of life are approximately on the same level, then you can start either from simple to complex, or, conversely, from complex to simple. In this way, you will gradually correct your shortcomings. To see what you're working on, write down your goal, and below it, options to achieve it.

Tip Four. There should always be a positive attitude in everything. You must believe that you will succeed. Don't stop there and move on to the next goal. Don't listen when someone tells you that you can't or won't be able to do something. Count only on your strengths and yourself as a whole. Here only you decide what to do.

Tip five. Don't be discouraged if something doesn't work out, look for a different approach, develop other techniques and start from the beginning. Don't give up. Failures are given in order to test your strength. They retreated, which means they failed and did not really want to go forward. As a result, you will get a more difficult task, and you will have to work twice as much. You pulled yourself together and did not give up, which means you want to move forward and develop.

Tip six. Read books, feel free to buy books that help in matters of self-development and self-improvement. Especially now there is a huge access to the Internet resources that are dedicated to improving your life and self-development in general and in certain areas that you can study, both for free and buy a full course.

Tip Seven. Write down your successes, for progressive work on yourself, you can indicate the period in which this goal must be implemented or achieved. Set a real time interval so that after once again you do not get upset that you did not meet the allotted time.

Tip Eight. You should always have motivation and a ready-made clear answer for what you are doing self-development and self-improvement. First of all, you do it for yourself. If someone doubts your abilities and intentions, do not take their words seriously, these people simply cannot gather their strength and start working on themselves.

Tip nine. Be realistic, write realistic goals and realistic deadlines for completing the task.

Tip ten. Know how to control your emotions, sometimes it is better to remain silent than to flare up. Let go of the negative.

Tip Eleven. You can get yourself a notebook in which you will write down your goals and dreams. Also a separate notebook for writing down the goal and options for achieving it.

Always remember that it is never too late to develop yourself, and that the most important thing is the process of self-improvement is ongoing. When you have achieved some goals and realized that your development has become a little higher, climb further, look for new goals and objectives.

In self-development, planning your time can help you. If you don’t have time for a lot or don’t know what time to engage in self-development, then schedule your day. First, on the tasks that you perform and those tasks that need to be done. After that, pay attention to how much time it takes you to complete a particular task. To compile your time planner, write down on a piece of paper the tasks and the time period for each task. The next day, try to follow the plan that you have made for yourself. If it doesn’t work out, then you can either reduce the number of tasks, or reduce the time of some points, devoting more time to what you don’t have time to do.

Self-improvement is a process of continuous effort to improve yourself and overcome your weaknesses and shortcomings. You can't do everything in one day. It takes a lot of patience, perseverance and constant striving to get better. And this is only a small part of what accelerates the movement of a person forward. So where do you start self-improvement?

1. Tidy up

Our environment greatly influences our thoughts and consciousness. So if your house is cluttered and dirty, then what will be your thoughts? You don't have to do it once a year. Try to clean regularly. Then there will always be clarity in thoughts. So if you are thinking about where to start self-improvement, then put things in order around you. But that is not all. Perhaps the most important thing is to put things in order in your own head. It means defining your goals and dreams. Moreover, the final result must be formulated, to which it is necessary to move every day. Set 5-7 ambitious goals and determine the steps needed to achieve them.

2. Take action!

Self-improvement is a favorite topic for many people. They have read many books about it and love to speculate and express their opinions. Just reading is not enough to make real changes in life. In books, we can only find inspiration and advice. You can talk very eloquently about what needs to be done to make changes. The hardest part is putting it into practice. Therefore, after reading any useful book, immediately act, applying the advice received in real life.

3. Maintain regularity and discipline

Regularity and discipline are the two things in our actions that self-improvement requires. How to start working on the implementation of these qualities? We need to change our attitude towards them. For many people, discipline is perceived as something that forces you to act against your own will. For example, if we do something to improve our health, then at first the body will resist with the help of laziness. Think of your regular activities as a short-term investment. It will take only a month for the things you do every day to become a habit and not contrary to your nature.

4. Find like-minded people

It happens that a person knows where to start self-improvement, but cannot take the necessary steps alone. In this case, you can try to find a team of like-minded people with similar tasks. Unification is one of the greatest forces. While working with others, you will receive inspiration and support. This can also be achieved by studying the biographies of prominent personalities. They have a lot to learn.

The paradox of self-improvement is that if we give most of our attention not to our own ego, but to those around us, then we achieve greater progress in personal development. So think about others more often. After all, a person is a social being, and the well-being of everyone depends both on himself and on the way he interacts with others.

Now you know where to start self-improvement. Be active and positive creators of your own life! Treat it like a game, and then you will succeed!

Content:

Self-improvement is a universal human experience, each of us has something that we would like to change in ourselves. Maybe you want to lose weight, improve your skills in a certain area, feel more comfortable in society, be happier or more productive. Whatever your desired improvement, in order to achieve it, you will benefit from setting specific goals, making changes, and learning how to deal with setbacks.

Steps

1 Define goals

1. 1 Imagine what the future will be like. Reflection on future positive and negative opportunities increases motivation, expectation of successful goal achievement, and commitment to self-improvement. Thinking about a positive future helps you imagine a reality where you will be the best version of yourself, while imagining a negative reality leads you to realize what can happen if you do not achieve your self-improvement goals.
   • Imagine that a miracle happened at night, and when you woke up in the morning, you were exactly the way you wanted to be. Everything you wanted to improve about yourself somehow improved at midnight. What have you changed? What do you feel? Who is next to you? What do you do? Imagine what it would be like to live the life of this fully perfected self. Based on what you imagine, you can start developing goals. Perhaps you imagine yourself more confident and in better physical shape. What do you think needs to be done or what should happen?
2. 2 Determine what needs to be improved and what doesn't. It's important to be specific about your goals and know what will be your top priority.
   • Identify your assets (honesty, hard work, courtesy, and so on) and liabilities (anger, overweight, and so on). This will help you identify areas where you need to improve the most.
   • Prioritize your list of goals. Rate each item from 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest priority for you. Focus on those goals first.
3. 3 Get feedback. Getting feedback on what you need to improve will help you complete tasks more effectively and increase your goal achievement. Asking others for advice on how you can improve will help you develop specific goals and motivate you along the way.
   • To get started, ask your significant other or family members what they think you can improve on. Be sure to only ask people you trust and who will consider your feelings (rather than belittle or criticize you). Their answers may surprise you.
   • Talk to a trusted person, such as a therapist, religious guide, or even a “sponsor” in a 12-step group. Having an independent face can help reduce the chances of self-deception and denial. Sometimes we can be either too hard on ourselves or too lenient on ourselves, so talking to another person will help you form an accurate picture of yourself if you want to improve yourself.
   • Determine what suggestions you can apply and practice them. If any of the tips don't seem to help, try another one! There is no one universal method for all. You need to find what is right for you!
4. 4 Set reasonable goals for yourself. Reasonable goals will be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound. For example, your goal might be to lose 10 kilos (specific, measurable, achievable) in 3 months (realistic, time-bound).
   • Break each goal down into smaller goals. For example, if your goal is to lose 10 kilograms, you will need to develop a plan consisting of smaller goals, such as: reducing daily calorie intake, exercising 3-5 times a week, limiting sugar intake.
   • Instead of setting big goals for yourself, start with small goals that will lead to the achievement of a big one. For example, losing 25 kilograms may seem overwhelming at first, but something as small as giving up chocolate for a week may be more feasible.
5. 5 Seek information on how this change can be achieved. Information can be gathered from books, articles, friends, family, and professionals. It's amazing how much information you get when you're ready!
   • Think about ways you have made similar positive changes in the past. If you haven't already, think about how others have achieved what you want. Talk to people who are in the same position as you and ask for help. For example, if you want to lose weight, sign up for a site that publishes nutrition advice, participate in its forum, get a gym membership, and talk to people who also go to it.

2 Make changes

1. 1 Make sure you are ready to change. According to the transtheoretical model of behavior, there are 4 stages of change. Determining the stage you are in will help determine if you are ready for a change or if you need more motivation.
   • Pre-thinking stage: at this stage the problem is present, but you are not aware of it or deny it.
   • Stage of reflection: you are aware of the problem and are thinking about changing it. People can get stuck at this step for a very long time before moving forward. You may be at this stage if you are still deciding what you need to change about yourself.
   • Training: you have made a commitment to change and are creating a plan of action. You may be at this stage if you are working towards your goals.
   • Action: alteration. You are at this stage if you are working on your plan every day. You have a plan, and you are currently moving towards your goal.
   • Maintenance: you have achieved your goal and maintain your progress.
2. 2 Be your own coach. Self-mentoring and daily self-checking of one's progress enhances the result of self-improvement, especially in terms of leadership qualities. A daily review helps raise awareness of your current performance and your ability to achieve your goal.
   • Ask yourself questions such as: “Did I focus on my goal today, did I work towards it? Did I have a positive attitude today? Have I been kind to myself today? Did I manage today? Have I changed anything for the better today?”.
3. 3 Consider outside help. If you find that self-mentoring isn't helping and you need some outside support, consider life coaching, it has helped many people make positive changes in their lives and reach their goals. In addition, psychotherapists and psychologists are trained in techniques to help you achieve your personal goals, such as brief solution therapy.
4. 4 Practice, practice and more practice! Change can be slow, especially if it's a grandiose self-improvement. Just keep moving towards your goal until it becomes your new reality.
   • Remind yourself of your specific goals daily.

3 Handle Failure

1. 1 Recognize that failure is okay. If change only moved in a positive direction, it would be much easier for all of us to make personal transformations. The truth is that change doesn't always follow a clear path, and sometimes you may find rocks in the way.
   • For example, when losing weight, a person does not continue to lose weight every day. Some days you may not lose anything, and some days you may even gain a little. The point is not to let these inevitable fluctuations give up on your goal. The only important thing is that, in general, over time you lose weight. Do whatever you can to stay focused on your goal (within reason, of course)!
   • Make a list of possible setbacks that may come your way to self-improvement. Determine ways to deal with each of these setbacks.
2. 2 Focus on what you will be doing in the future. Focusing on what you did wrong will not help you reach your goal. However, focusing on what you can do now and in the future will help you get there. Don't let a stone in your way stop your journey, focus on moving on and learning to deal with stones better in the future. They can be bypassed or jumped over.
   • For example, if you wanted to lose weight, but on the contrary gained a kilogram over the weekend, you should not think negatively and give up on your goal. Tell yourself something like: “Slight fluctuations in weight are normal, I will continue to feed my body with healthy food!”.
3. 3 Accept and support yourself. Research shows that people who accept their problems may be more motivated to make positive changes. In addition, people who support themselves are often more able to think about their problems and understand them.
   • Acknowledge your strengths and your challenges, even if you have to write them down.
   • Understand yourself. Try to objectively evaluate yourself by observing your behavior. Be aware of how you act, speak and think in front of other people.

• When you go to bed, you should definitely feel that you have achieved something that day - it does not have to be some major life change, but an effort to be a little more kind or read a few more pages of that book. EVERY day, will have more impact than rare significant changes.
• Be patient with yourself. Praise yourself for “victories” and give yourself a break if you slip. “Rome wasn’t built right away!” Just stick to your goal as best you can. Good luck to you!
• Trust the process and always believe in yourself.

Many people dream of self-improvement for years, but plans remain vague, dreams are passive, and the desire to get everything-and-now keeps you from taking the first step. They daily admire the beautiful pictures of someone else's life instead of starting to change their own. They are hostages of suffering. And how do you act? Do you know how to stop absorbing knowledge and move on to concrete steps towards the ideal? What are you willing to sacrifice to improve the best? In our lives, we become our own teachers and choose our own path to perfection.

What is self-improvement

Self-improvement is the continuous conscious improvement of personal qualities and the development of skills to achieve happiness. The main part in the word is the prefix "self-", because a person cannot be forced to work on himself by any means. This cannot be done by threats, persuasion, bribery, and even under hypnosis. The pursuit of personal excellence comes only from within. Other people's schemes and requests for help do not help, because everyone has their own concept of the ideal.

The list of paths for self-improvement is endless. This is:

• Healthy lifestyle.
• Sport
• Physical development.
• Spiritual development.
• Language learning.
• Creative thinking.
• Creation.
• Horizon.
• Intelligence.
• Business skills.
• Oratory.
• Strength of will.
• Endurance.
• Professional skills.

Perfection both attracts and repels. On the one hand, we see the perfect picture, meet Lady (or Mister) Perfection and sigh enviously. On the other hand, we are afraid to even try on a Superman costume. But the desire for perfection is as ancient as all of humanity. And the same infinite, since a person is constantly changing. So it’s worth treating self-improvement as a path, not as an end goal. And as the sage Lao Tzu said, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.”

How to prepare yourself for self-improvement in 3 steps

Each person has their own reasons for improvement. Someone wants to achieve success in business, someone dreams of winning a beauty contest, someone's soul cries and asks for changes. Why are people able to help themselves or can ask for help but don't? They prefer to suffer and remain childishly helpless. Self-improvement requires constant personal control and effort. Therefore, the first step on the path to your perfection is the cessation of habitual suffering.

Step 1: End Suffering Now

Shows where people fight with their weaknesses are very popular today. For example, they begin to lead a healthy lifestyle and lose weight. We look at them in the final, compare them with the picture “before ...”, say Wow, sigh and continue to suffer. They are fine, they have already lost weight. But the whole point is not in them, but in time and in our habit of suffering in inaction. Imagine that you, last year, stopped suffering from being overweight and at that (last year's) moment began to lead an active lifestyle (as the participants in the show did). As a result, today's You do not sigh with envy, but proudly kiss your powerful biceps. Still, a lot can be achieved in a year.

So. If today's self stops crying for no reason, next year it will be able to achieve perfect biceps, for example. Or something else outstanding.

Step 2. Love yourself

The advice that has set the teeth on edge still remains relevant. And without it it is impossible? It is forbidden. You can't improve what you don't like. And liberation from negative thoughts about dislike will give a lot of energy that can be spent on the same improvement. If you can’t fall in love with yourself right away, try to accept it. In total - with the mistakes of youth, wrong words, ugly deeds, missed chances, unfulfilled New Year's resolutions. Of course, psychotherapy sessions help a lot in this matter. The psychologist professionally responds to requests for help. It will help you get through difficult moments and stop wallowing in the past.

Accept the Self of today as the starting point for change. Can't accept? Pretend. Try to live as if you love and appreciate yourself.

Step 3. Start dreaming actively

We love to dream passively. Sometimes we show glimpses of activity, but in principle, we do not change anything. Because we don't like effort. Of course, you can wait indefinitely for a courier with a suitcase of money to ring the door and hand over a million just like that. Or the desired prince in a white Mercedes will jump in and put a wedding ring on his finger. Just like that again. But that doesn't happen. To motivate their trainees to take action, some coaches mention the phrase from Nike advertising: “just do it.”

Maybe it's time to stop absorbing information and dream passively. It's time to JUST-DO-IT.

If you are thinking about where to start self-improvement, then the inner need for this is already ripe. Before you begin the process, it's worth taking a break and asking yourself a few questions.

5 important questions to yourself

Question 1. Why do I need it?

Thinking about improving their "I", many do not even imagine the scope of this concept and grab onto everything. But for some reason, endless reading of books and articles does not make us happier, watching motivational videos never motivates us. After all, daily running in the morning, meditation, learning English, learning business or public speaking are all different paths to personal excellence.

In the literature on the topic of personal excellence, the concept of "self-improvement" most often comes with the words: confidence, success, wealth, beauty, health, and others. Because it is impossible to achieve perfection in everything. Yes, and no need. Experienced coaches and trainers insist that you need to improve daily, 7 days a week. If you grab onto everything at once, look for everything, haphazardly absorb information, you can quickly run out of steam and be disappointed in yourself. Are you planning to choose several directions for development? Everyone has to pay attention every day. It's hard. You may have to temporarily give up something or compromise with yourself.

The answer to the question "Why do I need this?" will help narrow down the concept of self-improvement just for you. And you still have to sacrifice something.

Question 2. What can I sacrifice for self-improvement?

Of course, life from the picture attracts. But perfection in all areas of life is an unattainable illusion. Striving for complete perfection is an unproductive and dangerous hobby. Many generally consider perfection to be boring and unsympathetic. And compromises help us come to terms with imperfection and become happier.

In the matter of self-improvement, compromise is a conscious willingness to accept one's imperfection in some areas of life. Want to be perfect, live in a perfect home with the perfect partner, and do what you love? In reality, everything is different. An ideal business leads to the collapse of the family, and the pursuit of an ideal body forms an inadequate perception of the world around. The complex of an ideal wife leads to the fact that a woman, worn out by an endless list of tasks, turns into an ordinary servant and ceases to be attractive to a man. The syndrome of an excellent student at work repels colleagues, and for some reason does not contribute to career growth.

Yes, our resources are limited. A clear understanding of the finiteness of resources will help you concentrate on the most important thing and hone your skills in the realities of your life.

Question 3. How can I apply my knowledge in life?

Self-improvement is the application of any knowledge gained in business. If you read books on pedagogy, then one of the main commandments sounds like this: “if a child masters something, you can’t leave it without application to business.”

If you absorb tons of books about physical activity and at the same time do not develop physical activity, there will be no sense from this. Have you decided to start developing brain activity and read about a new technique for quick memorization? It's worth trying it out right away. Will the courses help you find a new job? It's best to sign up right away. Of course, you shouldn't rush from diet to diet, from yoga to powerlifting, or endlessly spend money on courses. But it’s also not worth swinging, waiting for the perfect moment. So any information that the universe gives us should be turned into action.

Applying the acquired knowledge in practice gives a skill. Skill makes a habit. But it is new habits that give us a sense of comfort and confidence that the chosen path will still lead to personal excellence.

Question 4. What am I looking forward to in the future?

Self-improvement is a continuous and endless process. A clear vision of the future makes it possible to focus on the process every minute of life, find a reason and take a small step towards “improving the best”.

Therefore, at the very beginning of the path, it is worth motivating yourself. The right motivation will provide a constant burst of energy that will help you find time every day for the improvement process and allow you to come up with new experiments. They, in turn, will provide a new impetus to development and make the process interesting. The second thing that will clarify this issue is the expediency of the efforts expended. For example, you want to achieve perfection in the game of basketball and become the second Michael Jordan. But with the growth of "a meter with a cap" it is unrealistic to achieve this, no matter how hard you try. What if you reach? What will you feel at this moment? Will you be happy?

These questions are not rhetorical at all. They help you calibrate your own happiness scale.

Question 5. What will I feel when I get better?

Self-development is a difficult but enjoyable process. After all, in the end, a prize awaits us - an improved copy of ourselves. Being aware of how you feel at each stage of development is an important indicator. If you wish, you can analyze what improved or spoiled your mood. It is better to give a chance to your own feelings than endlessly breaking into other people's doors. And this happens often. Surrounded by stereotypes, we begin to live other people's dreams. And when we achieve what we want, we feel not pleasure, but disappointment or irritation.

Constant reconciliation with your feelings helps to motivate yourself for daily improvement, leads to a state of inspiration. Inspiration gives energy. And energy works wonders.

Findings:

• The recipe for self-improvement is simple: every day you need to take small steps towards your personal ideal.
• Understanding " why do I need all this' will help you achieve success. In every area of ​​life.
• If you move in the chosen direction, the process of self-improvement becomes simple, interesting and understandable.
• Practice does not lead to perfection, but gives a feeling of comfort and confidence.
• The process of self-improvement will progress as quickly as you regularly take concrete actions and master practical skills.
• In striving for the ideal, it is worth remembering happiness. If you want to reproach yourself for something, say: “there are more important things in life” and smile.