How would you react if we told you that it is always within your control to create the best version of you?
You can decide at any moment to reach your full potential by embarking on a self-improvement journey that propels you forward and empowers you to become the person you want to be.
Self-improvement isn’t about reinforcing the idea that you aren’t good enough – it’s about recognizing your unique talents, skills, and attributes and reconfiguring your perceived shortcomings, to live a life that’s filled with more joy, fulfilment, and success.
Improving yourself and making positive changes doesn’t have to come at the expense of your confidence and self-esteem. No, it’s possible to become the best version of you while loving and honouring the person you are right here, right now. You – yes, YOU – can decide right now to make a change.
Here’s how…
Get To Know You
There aren’t enough words in the dictionary to sum up the unique and wonderful person you are.
You are a complex, multi-faceted being with more quirks, characteristics, and traits than you can put into words – and there isn’t another person on earth who’s exactly like you. That’s why self-improvement begins with understanding you in all of your awesome, indescribable uniqueness.
Are you ready to get up close and personal with you? Good! Grab a pen and a piece and paper and start jotting down everything you like about yourself. Keep going until you hit 50 (Yes, 50!) and then start a new list titled ‘Areas For Improvement’.
Maybe what you really want to work on is your relationship with money, the limiting thoughts that have been holding you back, or getting your health and fitness up to par. Whatever it is, be gentle with yourself and jot it down.
Congratulations: not only have you bolstered your self-esteem with a list of your best qualities, but you’ve also identified where you can make a change.
Struggling to get your thoughts out on paper? Consider splitting your list into categories like career, relationship, money, and health to really get those creative juices flowing.
Keep Learning
When was the last time you picked up a self-help book or started a new course? Last week? Last year? Uh, never? Learning doesn’t start and end at school. Nope, it’s a continuous process, and get this, whether you’re training for a marathon, dreaming of changing careers, or bravely starting your own business, learning is the key to unlocking your full potential.
Remember that ‘Areas Of Improvement’ list you made early? Great! Go back to it now. Chances are there is a book, course, or conference out there that’s loaded with all the information you need to improve in each of those areas.
Better yet, there are stacks of free resources out there that can help you level up too. So, what are you waiting for? Soak up all the information you can get.
Learning comes from life experience too, so go on, sign up to that cookery class, go on that date, or book that vacation. There’s no telling what you might learn about yourself in the process.
Be Your Own Cheerleader
Let us tell you a secret: self-improvement is all about how you speak to yourself and we’ll bet you spend more time hyping up your friends than you do yourself. It’s time to flip the script.
Make a start by working through your limiting beliefs. Been telling yourself since time immemorial that you aren’t good enough, smart, enough, or pretty enough? Change that by creating an affirmation. An affirmation is simply a positive statement that you repeat over and over again until it seeps into your subconscious mind and becomes a belief.
Create affirmations that make you feel confident, motivated, and inspired (Hint: they often include words like ‘I Can’, I am worthy’ and ‘I am deserving’.) and repeat them morning and night until you start to feel those uplifting new sentiments in your bones.
Edge Out Of Your Comfort Zone
‘Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway’. If that phrase (and best-selling book title) just struck fear into your heart, it’s time to put your big girl pants on and start navigating your way out of your comfort zone.
But don’t panic, you don’t need to do something that leaves you paralyzed with fear to make progress. Introducing the stretch zone: it’s that lovely sweet spot between comfort and panic. In the stretch zone, you’re making progress towards your goals without the side order of terror.
The good news? The more you inch ever so slightly out of your comfort zone the easier it gets.
Stop Procrastinating
It doesn’t’ matter how much you lavish yourself with positive self-talk or how many personal development books you read; none of it matters if you don’t take consistent action towards self-improvement.
What you do, matters more than what you think, say, and consume, so to put your journey in motion write out a list of action steps that will move you forward in each area and quit the procrastination habit.
An awesome tip to stop procrastination in its tracks? Practice the ‘5 Second Rule’. (No, not the one you use when you drop your toast on the floor.) The next time you find yourself procrastinating on a task, count down from five, and when you get to 0, do the thing you have to do.
Your self-improvement journey is in your hands and it’s always within your control to create the best version of you. So go on, get out there, and make it happen!
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