Complete Guide to Self-Improvement | UNWIND

Without self-improvement, you limit yourself. Find out what it is, why self-improvement is important, and how it can enhance the quality of life...

Complete Guide to Self-Improvement 

"The goal is not to be better than the other man, but your previous self"

Dalai Lama

Do you feel that you are stuck? Do you feel unmotivated or tired of pushing yourself forward, not understanding what to do in life? Well! If you feel like that, you are not alone. What you are lacking is; Self-Improvement. 

What is Self-Improvement?

You might have heard a gazillion times about improving yourself, and knowing yourself but does it work? We are so used to the routines that we have forgotten what we are, what we want, what we like, and what makes us, us. It is individuality that makes you different from others. 

Many unnoticeable things affect you i-e., you are shaped by where you live, the type of people around you, what you see, what you listen to, what you read, and what you do. And as days pass by, if you don't think, feel, or behave the way you are and what you want to become, the incongruence makes you start losing what you are.

Don’t lose the spark that makes you, YOU. To hold on to yourself, you need to be aware of yourself and constantly strive to improve yourself.

What is self-improvement? As the name suggests, self-improvement is making yourself better than you were yesterday. Not making yourself better than others. Self-improvement includes activities such as

• Improving self-knowledge
• Improving self-awareness
• Learning new skills and improving old skills
• Renewing identity and self-esteem
• Developing strengths
• Improving health
• Improving wealth
• Improving social status
• Developing spiritual identity
• Managing time
• Improving the quality of life

Why Self-improvement is Important?

Considering the above-mentioned activities, you may have an idea of why self-improvement is important. One of the activities necessary for self-improvement is Self-awareness, which brings you into acknowledging who you really are, what you like, what are your interests, what makes you different, what are your thoughts, what are your skills, what are your strengths, what are your fears, what motivates you and what holds you back. It is a never-ending debate. 

But I’m trying to bring your attention to some of the most important yet neglected aspects of your personality. Because the first step to improve is to know yourself. When you are aware of yourself, you know why you think, feel, and behave the way you do. And when you know all this, this is called Mindfulness. When you are mindful of everything, you will understand where the issues lie and then you find ways to solve them.

This is Self-improvement. When you start improving yourself, the incongruency between the real you and the ideal you (what you want to become) starts declining and you become clearer about yourself. And this self-improvement improves the quality of your life.

Key Areas For Self-Improvement:

To start the journey of self-improvement, there are some of the common areas that most people look for. I’ve gathered those key areas from which you can choose one to commence your self-improvement. 

    Spirit:

We all know that spirituality brings you peace and serenity. If you are religious, you can follow your holy teachings to improve yourself. If you are not so religious, you can still improve yourself by doing meditation, yoga, Qi Gong, and other exercises that bring your mind, body, and soul in harmony and peace. This will also make your connection with the universe, and life, stronger. And it is always good to have religion and these exercises together in your life. 

    Self-esteem:

Self-esteem is what you think about yourself. It is your self-concept. If it is positive, it will create positive emotions and positive outcomes. However, a negative self-concept is going to generate negative emotions and negative outcomes. It influences your whole life. Therefore, be gentle to yourself and mindful of your thoughts, feelings, and behavior. 

    Creativity:

Being creative is being expressive. Everyone has different types of creativity i.e., writing, painting, dancing, etc. You should find yours and engage in those activities that bring your creativity and individuality forward.

    Health:

Your physical condition also determines your outcome whether you think of the outcome mentally, physically, or spiritually. Your health, wellness, and self-improvement are strongly connected. What do you eat, how much do you eat, do you exercise or not, when and how much do you sleep, all this affects you. Take care of your body, it will take care of your mind. 

    Career:

Your career is going to be with you your whole life because this is what determines your financial situation. And you are going to spend a lot of time on your career Therefore, choose it wisely and take the necessary steps to improve your career. 

    Relationships:

Relationships are an important part of your life. If you experience issues in relationships, you should look into yourself to find out the reason behind these issues and take steps to improve them.

From the key areas of self-improvement given above, you can choose the one that needs improvement. Decide the key area, devise a self-improvement plan, equip yourself with self-improvement tips and you are ready to move towards betterment.

Now we all know about the importance of self-improvement. But mostly you don't know where to start. Sometimes, in the utmost excitement to change yourself, achieve your goals, and make your life as you have always desired, you make amazing plans that mesmerize you. 

And guess what happens next! Your fantasies make you spellbound and you no longer remain capable of starting the process. You are imagining yourself in the situation. Right! Well! This happens with all of us because we don't have a plan yet. 

So here it is:

Self-Improvement Tips:

There are many ways by which you can devise your self-improvement plan. You require some tips and tricks to keep you motivated and focused. Below are some self-improvement tips to make your self-improvement plan and bring a change by achieving your goals. 

Practice Mindfulness:

For self-improvement, clarity is important, to be clear in your perspectives, to be clear with who you are, and what you want, and to be clear about what you want to be. To make this easy for you, you can listen to the video given below and meditate as meditation leads to clarity.

5-Minute Meditation You Can Do Anywhere

The Kaizen Approach:

This approach is rooted in Japanese philosophy. "Kaizen" is derived from the word "Kai" which means change, and "Zen" means good. The Kaizen approach is based on change, where small increments bring drastic changes. This concept was first applied by Toyota company to its production process, and it became famous later on. 

These small achievements improve quality and efficiency and enable you to grow and thrive. Sometimes when you try to start something new, you feel overwhelmed and unmotivated. One of the reasons for feeling this is that you have not structured the process. You believe that you must have known each and everything before you start. Although it may be right because prep work is necessary. But don't forget that you learn as you proceed.

Accomplish Goals the Kaizen Way:

To achieve your goals good habits are a must-have. According to the Kaizen approach, good habits are to take small steps daily. These small steps will take you to your goal. When these small steps will become a good habit, they will replace the bad ones, building up a foundation to maintain consistent winnings;

What you can do is:

• break down your goals into smaller parts
• accomplish even a percentage of each part
• these small percentages will accumulate eventually into a major gain

To simplify it, let's say you want to read a book for a long time now but haven't completed it yet. Considering the Kaizen approach, divide that book into certain parts for instance 5 pages per part. Read these 5 pages daily. These 5 pages will be more manageable and less intimidating for you. And when you start feeling achievements daily, you stay motivated.  

Although the Kaizen approach was developed to improve the business, you can imagine, what impacts it could have when applied to your everyday life and to achieve your goals. 

S.M.A.R.T:

Has this ever happened to you that you have been working hard for a long but have not yet reached anywhere? And you wonder how are you going to get your goals. Just like the Kaizen approach, SMART is another concept that helps you understand and create your goals the way you can achieve them. 

What does SMART mean?

S- Specific

M- Measurable

R- Relevant

T- Time-bound

In short, SMART means that your goal needs to be specific, measurable, relevant, and time-bound. You may have got the idea, but if you didn't, let's discuss it further.

Specific:

Your goal needs to be specific and clearly defined. Vague ideas lead to a lack of focus and motivation. For instance, "You want to be rich" or "You want to earn $300 this month. You can see the difference. Thus, you should answer certain questions that will make your goal more clear and well-defined. 

Measurable:

As it says, your goal should be measurable because when you can measure something, you can know about the progress. If you want to measure your milestone by being happy, this is not what measurable means. However, you consider it measurable if you want to be healthy and you exercise 45 minutes a day. 

Attainable/Achievable:

Another important point to consider is that your goal must be realistic and achievable. When you set an unrealistic goal your mind believes that this is impossible and thus it doesn't make any effort to achieve it. 

On the other hand, when you set a goal that is realistic and achievable or you make your goal achievable by dividing it into milestones and considering your strengths and weakness and other factors needed to achieve your goal, the mind believes it is possible and provides you with new unique ideas. 

Relevant:

Your goal should be relevant to you, what matters to you, not that you see someone else, and start making efforts to achieve it. and after some time you realize that is not what you want. To find out whether your goal is relevant or not, ask your questions such as whether is this the right time to spend time and effort for it, or whether are you the right person to reach it, also considering other people besides you. 

Time-bound:

You should assign a deadline to your goal because this helps you focus on your goal and prevents you from engaging in other everyday tasks that divert you. A realistic time frame is important to achieve smaller goals that lead you to your major goal. 

"When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too."

Paulo Coelho

7 Steps of Self-Improvement Plan:

Now that you are well aware of how you can make it easier to achieve a certain goal, you can effortlessly create your self-improvement plan. Following are the seven steps to make a self-improvement plan:

1. Set your goals
2. Clearly define and prioritize them
3. Time-bound your goals
4. Evaluate your strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities
5. Set milestones
6. Design an action plan
7. Review progress

Another important thing to consider is that never forget to use your support network i-e, your family, friends, colleagues, and others. 

Some other self-improvement tips include:

• Constant Learning
• Financial discipline
• Be more conscious of self
• Wake up early
• Cut the noise
• Spend some time in silence
• Plan your day
• Exercise daily

Bonus:

9 LESSONS FROM JAY SHETTY

Jay Shetty is a former monk, life coach, storyteller, and also the author of the book "Think Like a Monk". He has mentioned 9 life lessons, that can transform your life and ease your journey to self-improvement.

Don't forget to read.

9 Life Lessons From Jay Shetty

Conclusion:

To bring life to your every day, you should be aware of yourself, your goals, and your meaning in life. To achieve self-improvement, you need to make your self-improvement plan. I have given a complete guide to your self-improvement plan and also included some self-improvement tips to make your work easier.