Self-improvement is a transformative process that encourages individuals to invest in their own growth and development. By focusing on self-development and moving forward, people can overcome obstacles and achieve a higher level of personal fulfillment. Here are 5 ways to push yourself towards breaking new ground.
1. Practice Gratitude
Cultivate an attitude of gratitude towards the people, experiences, and blessings in your life. Regularly expressing gratitude can shift your focus from what you lack to what you have, leading to greater contentment and happiness. Take time to appreciate the little things, and express thanks to those around you.
We’ve talked about something similar before in another article. One part of practicing gratitude is being aware. We discussed this in the context of self-reflection, where we talked about finding happiness by noticing the small joys around you. Now, what’s the difference in practicing gratitude? While self-reflection focuses on yourself, your thoughts, and your emotions, practicing gratitude focuses more on others and your surroundings. Practicing gratitude will not only change your own life but also the world around you. Gratitude is a way to give love. Just look at the reactions of others. Some people may not value your gratitude, but you will find many more who will be thankful, who you leave with a smile and a better day.
We live in a world where it’s easy to always want more as you have access to seeing everything you could have. It’s important not to let yourself be dragged down by things you see online. Remember, do not always believe everything, every picture you see. Even if it seems like all your friends are out, partying, having fun every night, and you are just staying in, questioning yourself: What is wrong with me? Why is my life so boring? If you find yourself asking those questions, it’s time to put your phone away. Especially if you’re living alone, these are the moments when it’s most difficult to be grateful. It seems like there’s nothing to be thankful for. Is that true? Probably not. Asking yourself those questions is your way of saying: “Oh, it’s time. I have to find five things I feel gratitude towards.”
Make this your new morning routine. When brushing your teeth or picking an outfit, think of five things you are thankful for. Keep a gratitude journal and write them down so you can always look back at them in weak times. This way, you can always remember that life isn’t as bad as it seems in our worst moments; life is directed by our brightest moments. So get up and create more of them!
2. Embrace Failure as a Learning Opportunity
Instead of fearing failure, view it as a natural part of the learning process. Failure provides valuable lessons and feedback that can propel you forward on your journey towards self-improvement. Don’t, and I repeat, do not let setbacks discourage you; instead, analyze what went wrong, adjust your approach, and persevere towards your goal. Try again!
Always keep in mind, you are not alone. And even if it might seem like it’s the right time to cry, don’t let any kind of failure stop you. Did you know, failing in a specific task can even come in handy when working on another one. How? You may ask? That sounds paradoxical, doesn’t it? Yes, it does. Try to see it this way: As I’ve said, failure provides valuable lessons. And these lessons most often aren’t restricted to the task you’ve failed. Whatever you learn is knowledge. Knowledge is something that brings you forward in every aspect of life. You might need that newly acquired knowledge in a field you weren’t expecting it. It can help you to start something new; it can fuel your creativity because you may find different kinds of solutions for occurring problems.
The saying “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” is true, even if lots of people use it as a joke. Failing is a very negatively connotated word. Its connotation completely overshadows the beauty in it. Try to find and bring this beauty back into your life. When you were young, did you care about failing? Was this a fear you developed just on your own or because of the pressure you felt from outside, from others? Don’t let fear take away the joy of experiencing new things.
The first person to do something, imagine how often they must have failed. Imagine how often people must have failed after them to optimize whatever this person started. So don’t quit before starting because of fearing failure, as you might even find a better way of doing something through failing at, analyzing, and adjusting the typical one.
3. Practice Mindfulness
Here we’ll discuss a more, let’s say, traditional technique. We’ve talked about being mindful, being aware, being in the present moment a lot before. In practicing mindfulness specifically, I want to talk a bit more about being mindful towards your body and your feelings. So yeah, we’re getting to meditating.
Besides being aware and improving your emotional regulation, mindful practices can also enhance your focus. They help you to live fully in the present moment without judgment or distraction. That second part, distraction, please pause for a moment and think of the last time you’ve been distracted. Have you actually read the article until now without looking somewhere else and spacing out for a second? If yes, that is very good. Very good for you, and also for me, I’ll give myself a little pat on the shoulder for that. If not, me too.
Classic techniques for practicing mindfulness towards, especially, your body, are for example mindful breathing, mindful meditation, and body scans. The body scans are probably the ones that the majority of people do not know about. I think we’ve all heard of meditation and breathing, hopefully, but body scans seem a bit more futuristic.
Well, body scans are more of a form of meditation if you ask me. There is an infinite number of different ways and approaches to meditative techniques, and that’s the beauty in all of them. There is no right or wrong way on how to meditate. When I did my first body scan, I was just sitting in the sun in a relaxed and comfortable position. One way is to just close your eyes and try to focus on everything you feel. Not meaning feelings like anger or happiness or sadness, rather referring to physical feelings of your body. Feel the tickling in your fingertips, feel the wind on your skin, feel your heart beating. If you want to give it a try, it can be hard at first to really feel anything.
Try to start with being aware of your breathing, try to be aware of the way your chest moves up and down, feel the air going all the way down into your belly. Then try to listen to your heartbeat.
Once you feel comfortable, try to go from one part of your body all the way through. For example, start at your toes and move up until you reach your hairline. Try to only feel one part at a time. This is a great way to also recognize pain you feel in certain areas of your body and it helps you to extinguish it directly at its root. Start listening to your body to nourish it in the most powerful way.
4. Cultivate Positive Relationships
Surround yourself with supportive and positive individuals who uplift and inspire you; cultivate meaningful relationships. What does meaningful, in the context of a relationship, mean?
Find people you can trust and be someone they can trust. Remember, no one needs millions of good friends. You are allowed to be selective and take your time finding the ones you want to rely on and open up to. If someone doesn’t understand your need for time, it’s probably their self-esteem that leads them to take your decision as something personal against them, thinking they’re the center of the world.
Set boundaries! This can be another tough but essential pillar of self-improvement. Don’t be ashamed if setting boundaries or saying no is something you struggle with; we will discuss this in another post as well, as it’s something a lot of people struggle with. Remember to always protect yourself and your energy. It’s OK to feel down sometimes, it’s OK to need help sometimes, it’s OK to not be able to do everything on your own. That’s what the ones close to you are for, and trust me, the people that love you are happy if you’re reaching out to them. They’re happy to be gifted with your trust.
If you’re someone who likes to deal with things on their own, I understand; I’m that way too. But trust me, sometimes it’s not advice or an hour-long talk that provides just the right amount of comfort; sometimes a little hug is more than enough to re-energize.
If you’re having a hard time getting close to people, to new people, you can, if you want to, but you don’t need to see this as a suggestion to go out talking to thousands of people about the weather and their interests and their horror stories and life. You can think of the people around you: your family, friends, mentors, and colleagues. You probably know more people around you than you recognize at first.
Even if I would love to tell you that everything will be good by just wishing for it, this can be an uncomfortable process as you need to go out and talk to others. There’s no way around it, but it is very rewarding! Positive relationships will boost your self-esteem, provide emotional support during tough times, and offer valuable perspectives and advice. Invest energy and effort in nurturing your connections with these people. Spend time with the ones that leave you feeling like the better, glowing version of yourself, that help you climb that mountain in front of you to see the sun again.
You know, being surrounded by light when everything seems dark — isn’t that the best solution to finding the exit?
5. Take Action
We peeked into it in the paragraph before already, but ultimately, self-improvement requires taking consistent and purposeful action towards your goals. Break down your objectives into manageable steps. Remember “Sitting upright“? Create a plan of action and commit to following through!
You might start to see why ultimately you are the one who needs to want to improve. If you’re not fully committed, you won’t do it. It’s as simple as that. So, do you want to improve? I want you to scream “yes” loud enough for me to hear it here at my place.
Keep in mind, procrastination and indecision can stall your progress. Even if they occur, and as I’ve said, these are sometimes unavoidable, don’t let them stop you. Nonetheless, we all need some time to rest; we all are indecisive at times and a lot of decisions are very impactful and hard ones that shouldn’t be made without consideration. Therefore, don’t overburden your capacity! There will be setbacks; there will be good and bad times. Don’t let these get the upper hand!
Be realistic. Believing you can always keep up with your plan and never fail once would be foolish and demotivating, but trying your best, seeing the chance and possibility in failing, and working on a new plan is a visionary’s way of thinking. We’re already working on perceiving failure as a learning opportunity. Think of that as your new mindset. The only important part is: whenever you fall off track, get back on! It will be difficult and challenging, but as long as you’re dedicated, you can do it. Whenever you feel down or demotivated, remember your successful moments, the feelings you felt. Remember why you started, remember yourself, remember you are worth it and you can do it!
Be proactive; challenge yourself! Start to incorporate little challenges to help you connect to yourself and, more importantly, overcome your fears. Start with writing down things you are afraid of, maybe even categorize them into ones you fear a lot and the ones you only fear a little. Start working on the little ones first, connect them to a small goal you want to set for yourself, and then set a reasonable amount of time to accomplish it. Whether the task itself will be worth it or not, afterward, nonetheless you can be proud of yourself for your bravery. Focus on that!
This feeling, pride, is what you should feel when thinking about yourself. If you fail to achieve a goal, think of a time you accomplished one. Honestly, think of anything that gives you comfort and joy. Once you’ve calmed down, try again.
No one has ever been able to do anything directly. No one needs to. That’s the reason we’re dedicated to self-improvement, right? Because we want to work on being better, and working takes time, especially if you’re trying to do your task the right way, if you’re trying to do it very thoroughly and precisely. Once your task seems easy, you can move on and maybe even decrease the amount of time you give yourself over time. But keep in mind to revisit old challenges now and then to make sure not to lose your progress. Once again, never overstress yourself; this will only increase negative emotions. Take small steps every day towards becoming the best version of yourself.
In the journey of self-improvement, taking decisive action, practicing gratitude, and cultivating mindfulness are foundational steps toward a more fulfilling life. By nurturing positive relationships and embracing failure as a learning opportunity, we can continuously grow and thrive. Remember, self-improvement is an ongoing process that enriches both our own lives and the lives of those around us. Practice these five methods and learn to move forward, just like a baby starting to crawl.