In general, we all want the very same things.
We’re all striving for a comfortable life in which we can experience a stable sense of happiness, excitement, curiosity, love, relationship and growth.
The reason self-improvement as an idea and as a practice exists at all, is because we find that as we are, we’re not experiencing the quality of life we’re striving for.
Otherwise we would have no need to improve ourselves; there would be no reason.
There’s no lack of ways to begin working on improving yourself. You can work on anything that you don’t like about yourself.
We all dislike different things about the way we are and so the answer is somewhat unique to each of us.
But self-improvement needs an aim, and there are core methods of coming into relationship with your aim of improvement that serve as universal; they apply to all of us.
- Creating time to ponder
- Make learning a habit
- Stop wasting your nights and get rest
- Get to know the nature of your own desires
- Take care of yourself physically
If you don’t take the time to THINK about why you want to improve, to question how to improve, to learn how to improve, to make time for improvement, and eliminate all excuses for actually improving, chances are you’ll never move from where you are right now.
5 Key Ways To Begin Self Improvement
1. Creating time to ponder:
To ponder means to think deeply. To truly deliberate. To have a serious question.
We generally experience our day to day life with very little questioning. We live as if we knew all the answers.
We think we know what’s right and wrong, what we like and dislike, how people should behave, what a good life consists of, what success means, what happiness means, how to achieve happiness… even if we think we don’t know much, we live our lives as if we knew everything.
We all live with some guiding principles, right?
We’re all looking for basically the same thing – a comfortable life in which we can experience a stable sense of happiness, excitement, curiosity, and love.
Isn’t it interesting that most people we meet, including ourselves, don’t seem to experience the quality of life we’re all striving for?
***Have you ever questioned why that is? ***
Have you ever questioned that maybe the lives we’ve been taught to lead don’t lead us where we’ve been told it will?
Unless we create free time and space in ourselves to really approach these types of questions, we never get to them.
From the moment we wake up, our mind and attention is already taken by all that we have to do in the day. We start our days by literally being taken by our obligations.
Finding time to simply question your life, where its going and whether its going to take you where you want is the most important action you can take – isn’t that the whole point of this experience of being alive?
What’s self-improvement worth without knowing why you want to improve, and how it will improve the overall quality of your life’s experience?
2. Make learning a habit:
If we’re not learning, we’re dying.
Without being exposed to new modes of thinking, new information, and seeing through new eyes with what we learn, then the quality of our thoughts can’t change. If our thoughts don’t change, and we don’t change the way we live, then our entire lives will be lived the same exact way we’ve been living up until this point.
If we live the same way for the rest of our lives, then in a very serious way, we’re already dead.
To be alive is to be alert, active, engaged.
If our attention is constantly traveling the same paths, our responses to situations are automatic and without an eye towards growth, then we can’t consider ourselves active and engaged.
3. Stop wasting your nights and get rest:
If we’re not asleep, what are we usually doing from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.?
It’s one thing to be out with friends or family and enjoying a night out, but its another to be watching hours of t.v., or messing around on the internet or social media.
We’re always complaining about time, but do we ever really accept how much of it we spend with what’s basically useless and mindless activity?
Do we accept that if we stopped wasting our nights aimlessly, we could get the rest we need and wake up ready and create our day rather than being obligated to respond to it out of “lack of time” for ourselves?
We all have obligations, and we all want to do certain things – have certain desires. Stop wasting time, and take control of it so that your obligations don’t rob you of your time.
4. Get to know the nature of your own desire:
Why do you do the things you do?
What are your motivations for taking the actions you take on a daily basis?
Why is it that at one moment you want one thing, and the very next you want a completely contradictory thing? For example, why am I motivated as hell to be be productive, workout, eat healthy at one moment, but the very next I find myself making excuses about it?
We take for granted that we know ourselves – that we understand who we are, how we live and why we do the things we do. Learn to be objective towards yourself. Learn to see the contradiction in your desires. See the conflict.
The only way to even approach the possibility of growth is becoming a master of the contradiction in oneself.
5. Take care of yourself physically:
Physical well-being is obviously extremely important to a high-quality of life. When we’re sick or hurt, we can’t help but complain about it, feel bad for ourselves, and use it as an excuse for everything.
The easiest way to pass through our physical status taking our attention and willpower is by making sure we don’t have to think about it. You do that by exercising and making sure you eat the healthy foods your body needs to run properly.
Without the right oil, water, gas and regular maintenance, a car cannot run efficiently. It’s component parts start to break down one by one until the whole machine starts to go down.
Take care of your basic machinery. Allow it to work for you rather than against you.
Whatever it is you want to do, however you want to improve, these 5 actions will help you jump-start the process.
Habit Nest Self-Improvement Journals
Here at our Habit nest, our #1 goal is to help you take action and actually build the healthy habits you've always wanted to.
Each of our journals guides you through building a specific habit.
- Wake up earlier & start the day with a morning routine
- Build the habit of gratitude
- Learn to meditate & manage stress
They're perfect for anyone who has had difficulty building healthy habits in the past.
Check them out if you feel like you need that little extra push.