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The one crucial word that guides a meaningful self-improvement journey is ‘positivity’. It’s the beacon that shows the path to growth, success, contentment, & happiness in life.
Every growth journey is different, but the one thing that’ll ensure you advance in the right direction is a positive attitude. Self improvement tips that reflect this mindset not only help you challenge your limits but also encourage you to appreciate who you are at any given moment.
Why do you need self-improvement tips:
What is self-improvement
Does the need for improving yourself mean we arenāt good enough as we are? Absolutely NOT. In fact, when we accept ourselves as we are, it shows we are ready to grow.
āOnce we accept our limits, we go beyond them.ā
ā Albert Einstein
What self-improvement essentially means is that we all have capabilities, talents, and potential that haven’t been explored to their full extent because of –
- our mindset that focuses more on winning than learning,
- our social conditioning, &
- the beliefs we have about the limits of what we can do.
When you are open to the idea of self-improvement, it shows your willingness to accept the fact that certain areas of your life have the possibility of growth.
But more importantly, it shows your belief in yourself, that you have what it takes to achieve things that you value.
Related:
Change your mindset: How to positively redefine your life
Why is personal development important
Personal growth is important because –
- It gives us the tools needed to get what we want from our life.
- We gain control over what sort of life we have now and in the future.
- It helps us see things from a better perspective. Self improvement is as much about maturity of outlook as it is about finding areas that would do better with an upgrade.
The self-improvement tips we are going to discuss today won’t only help you enjoy life more, but also give your best at whatever you do in personal and professional life.
Answering your ‘how do I improve myself’: Goal-oriented self-improvement tips
Broadly speaking, the self-improvement journey looks something like this.
- Well, the first step is to acknowledge that you believe there is space for improvement.
- The second step is to find out areas in your life that can do with some DIY love.
- Then come up with specific goals for the areas you have shortlisted. The 7 self-improvement tips we discuss below will help you come up with meaningful life goals that impact your life in a positive way. If you need guidance or prompts coming up with goal ideas, you can check out the Free personal growth combo.
- Make monthly plans with specific action steps for each day. Because simply āexercise moreā or ābe more proactiveā wonāt take you far. They should be more like ādo yoga for 30 minutes 5 days a weekā or āapproach one business every month for collaboration with a plan-of-action in placeā.
- Include your self-improvement tasks in your daily to-do list. Because you are as important as ā¦ in fact, more than your duties and obligations. If you want to avoid the groundwork, take this Free 28-day self-improvement challenge and use the plan that’s created to show results. You can later modulate it to fit your specific needs once you get comfortable with the idea.
Related:
How to Set Goals and Achieve Them: Practical & Simple Guide
Self-improvement tips: 7 essentials to make reaching your goals faster & more meaningful
1. Spring clean your life:
To get a clearer view of what’s really going on & what needs to change, take away all the clutter from your mind. Without even being aware we pile up unnecessary tasks, unwanted stressors, and aimless goals as we go along in our life.
Do you remember that time you were totally stressing out over having to entertain the unexpected relatives in town at such a short notice? Well, I did!
But you see, if I had worked on not caring about what they told others about their visit when they went back and had just concentrated on doing the best I could, it would have been more enjoyable and far less stressful.
It takes maturity of outlook and clarity of vision to think like that. To take away all the clutter blocking your view, focus on these one at a time –
- Get clear about how you want your life to look 10 years from now. Strip away of all the distractions and detours that don’t fit in that picture.
- Distance yourself from negative people and unnecessary complexities.
- Remove clutter from home and workspace. Physical clutter has a way of affecting your mental space too.
- Go in for digital detox.
- Focus on your health with gentle physical detox.
- Routine mental detox.
Related:
Declutter your life: How to effectively spring clean your mind
2. Be open to learning:
If you truly want to grow & redefine what success looks like for you, the key is to be open to learning. When we try to achieve more than we now have without gaining any additional knowledge or skill, it’s like expecting different results while doing the same thing again & again. Does that seem very likely to you?
Learn from the mistakes you make so as to do it better next time. If you fail, assess the reason behind it & improve on that to make a better effort when you try again. That’s how you tweak your strategy until you come up with the one that takes you to success.
Be open to learning in general. It can be learning a new language, new skills, or learning new information about any topic that interests you. I was reading about space technology recently and the amount of creativity & out of the box thinking simply blew my mind.
Most of my day-to-day problems seemed like such wastage of
One of the many benefits of constantly learning something new is that it slows down mental aging. All the forgetfulness, muddling up, and the general blurring of thoughts are pushed further back as we gain in years. Bottom line, a better way of maturing into advanced years.
Related:
How to Use the Power of Positive Thinking ā Overcome Limiting Beliefs
3. Be open to change:
One of the most effective self improvement tips backed by research & studies is to have a positive outlook on change & life. When you change your mindset to focus on positives in any situation, you find ways to cope, learn, & grow with every challenge. Problems stress you out less & excite you more.
You have to believe change is good to be able to enjoy life and make the most of it. If people who came before us didnāt believe change was good (and well, inevitable), we would still be stuck in the stone age. And how uncomfortable would that be!
If you keep doing what you have till now, youāll keep getting the same resultsā¦.for a while. Then, the graph starts trending down. Because the world around us keeps changing whether we want it to or not.
Step out of your comfort zone to grow. Because by doing things that you’re comfortable with, you’re only proving what you have. Take small steps to get used to the idea of taking risks, learning, & succeeding. Each win will motivate & make you more comfortable with trying something new.
Opening up about some tough life experiences used to make me feel all squirmy & uncomfortable. But once I gathered the courage and just went for it, sharing a bit here and a bit there in what I shared with my readers, it just felt super-freeing.
It gave me a new perspective on life, how I want to live it, and finally to stop reliving those moments, focusing more on the lessons learned & moving on.
Related:
Change your mindset: How to positively redefine your life
4. Slow down:
As much as life is about making plans, goals, and making the most out of it, itās also about slowing down & taking time to analyze things. Take short breaks to celebrate and relish what you have achieved, however big or small. Slow down, relax, and give your mind a well-deserved break.
I know itās tempting to do just a few more tasks or to pack every non-work related stuff you’ve been wanting to do, but itās also important to take mini-breaks, relax and rejuvenate.
Schedule self-care into your daily to-do list and stick to it as you would to those important business meets. Itās as important to your performance in life as regular maintenance is to the problem-free running of your car.
I agree that itās a privilege to grow old as not everyone gets that chance, but you can slow down your ageing by consciously making healthy lifestyle choices. Take care of yourself to be able to really enjoy what you worked for all your life.
Related:
Self-care tips: how to take awesome care of yourself
5. Plan and set goals:
When you take time to find out how you really want your life to look like say 10 years down the line, you come up with meaningful personal & professional goals. They make every action you take purposeful. When you plan out your day, week, month, & year aligned with these goals, your life becomes enjoyable & streamlined without any wasted time.
Here’s how this looks like in real life. Write down what you want from your life 5 or 10 years (whichever you feel more comfortable with) down the line. All the self improvement tips we’ve discussed till now are meant to help you come up with meaningful goals for your life.
Make sure that you are absolutely convinced about the reason why these goals are important for you. This āwhyā will keep you motivated when there are roadblocks, setbacks, or blue days along the way. This āwhyā should be something you really believe in.
Your daily to-do list should be aligned with these goals. This’ll help you cut out unnecessary tasks & make room for relaxation & enjoyment.
Itās the key to making every moment of your life purposeful.
Related:
How to Set Goals and Achieve Them: Practical & Simple Guide
6. Seek out positivity:
Happiness is a choice and so is positivity. But you see, itās important to let yourself feel sad, get angry, and go through all the rest of the emotions because thatās what makes us human. We aren’t robots programmed with only the choicest reactions.
Embrace all your feelings and give them time, but be open to see the positive side of things. Give your emotions their space and time, but tune your attitude to find the positive side of things.
I know itās not always easy, but you know what? Lifeās too short to be wasted away in regrets. A negative attitude will swamp you with forebodings whenever you try to step out of your comfort zone & grow. It limits your potential & the level of success & contentment you can achieve if you really try.
Positivity & a growth mindset will make reaching your goals easier, faster, & even go beyond.
Related:
Low Self-esteem: How to be absolutely more positive and not take things personally
7. Connect:
Connect with your coworkers, friends, relatives, neighbors in whatever way and at whatever level you feel comfortable. Appreciate the people in your life because it’s easy to ignore them when there are deadlines to be met & goals to achieve. But that leads to loneliness sooner than later.
We enjoy our wins more when we get to celebrate them with the people in our life. They make the celebrations all the more satisfying. It might not feel so when disagreeing with them on almost everything, but the simple presence of your loved ones in your life does a lot for your motivation & appreciation of life.
When was the last time you spent some quality time with your family? I know, itās easy to ignore them in the rush of life. Schedule quality time for them in your weekly to-do list because theyāre our support system. For me, they are the reason I want to take risks and grow in my life.
Connect with people in the same professional field as yours. Do it not just to network, but because theyād be better able to appreciate your struggles, your efforts, and what it took to achieve whatever you have.
Related:
How to be happy – Choosing happiness as your reality
Personal development is a very subjective thing & one plan doesn’t fit all. And so these self-improvement tips are meant as guiding beacons to whatever growth goals you set. They are aimed to add positivity to your self-talk & balance in your approach to life.
Just go ahead & give yourself the freedom to dream. That’s your subconscious mind letting you know what you’re capable of if only you stop holding yourself back.
What do you feel about self improvement? Do you think it makes reaching your goals more meaningful?
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Wonderful blogpost!! loved it!
Great tips! I will be giving some of these a go! xxx
Thanks Siobhan š …I’m sure you’ll find them helpful
These are great actionable tips for really getting the best for yourself and being the most productive you can be. Thanks!
Thanks Holly š
I love these tips!! I think I am stuck on taking some “me” time. I always feel guilty but running a household, business can be rather stressful!!
I know! I’ve been there…well, I’m stil there sometimes š But, looking at it as necessary maintenance for carrying out all your duties & responsibilities efficiently might help…just like your car needs regular maintenance for running smoothly š
I think the overall theme of the tips you shared was that self-improvement requires us to slow down, re-evaluate some things in life, and then make small, incremental changes. It’s about taking the time to be more self-aware so be can be an even better version of ourselves.
That’s just it…it’s about unerstanding who we really are & taking small steps towards who we envision ourselves to be down the line.
These are some wonderful self imrovement tips! It’s so important to seek out positivity, detox, and connect!
wow , these are some really great tips! i especially LOVE #1 and #4! detox, and slow down, so need it!
Thanks Ananda š ….yes, slowing down and taking a look at our progress is the one thing that we really forget
I needed to read this! The tips you share are amazing. As a working mom with a full time job plus running a business on the side it takes a lot out of me.
This is such a great list! Iāve never thought about detox for more than just health. And I definitely need to slow down sometimes.
Self improvement is super important, I completely agree. Especially the one about slowing down, as you time is needed to refresh and recharge the batteries x
Great tips! I agree about improving yourself does help you to become happier. I need to start detoxing.
These are all great tips! I feel like this is something everyone needs to read because as humans, we always need to be working on improving who we are.
I like your overall theme, that we are never too old to change and improve. I’ve been in meetings all weekend for a board on which I serve, and we’ve all been operating under the same principle – even if there are some things our organization does really well, we can always afford to innovate and change for the better!
Nice way to connect the dots! Self-improvement does work for the corporate world as much as it works on an individual level. The urge to do one step better is what has brought us from the stone age to where we are today.
These are great tips for self-improvement. I definitely need to work on detoxing and slowing down…
I have never thought about detoxing pertaining to life, only in health but I love the concept! These are all great tips.
Thanks Tonya š
So many helpful tips! I am so glad you shared this.. so much wisdom!
Thanks Mal š
These are all great tips, for me the learning to slow down seems to be the hardest. I am always on the go and it is hard to be your own boss and know when to disconnect.
I totally get you Evelyn…I am my own boss too and I know how hard it is to let even Sunday go by without checking if everything’s running fine.
These tips are very thought provoking! In fact I also believe there is always room for improvement, I’m always trying to learn and improve but I’ve never done so in such a systematic way.
But, you have already accomplished the hardest part – accepting the need for growth & taking the first step! So, congratulations š
Setting out a self-improvement plan will help in being consistent and actually seeing results for the effort you put in.
These are amazing tips! I live my life but almost everything you posted here.
Thanks Carmen š
Lovely post, enjoyed reading it. You shared some very helpful tips š
Thanks Teona š
These tips are super helpful! I just started my graduate program and I feel like I definitely could use some self improvement to keep me on track. I’ll have to try these out!
Thanks and all the best š
What a wonderful tips for improving our life! I can definitely agree with number 6, if you gonna think positive, good thing will happened to us! Forget the sad stuff, you dont need to remember those things!
Thanks Ada š Yes, it’s important to remember the lessons learnt and not keep dwelling in the past.
Great post, with lots of important steps to consider! Thanks so much!
Thanks Mary š
those are fantastic self improvement tips , i love the no 7 the most connect – speking to another human being is so good for the soul
Thanks Pati…yes, we tend to ignore connecting with other human beings while thinking about self-improvement, but it does have a big impact
I think that surrounding yourself with positivity is a great way of starting to improve yourself and your life. I have recently started to avoid any conflicts, simply walk away from them. And it feels so much better!
I know, doesn’t it? Positivity or negativity are like the inaudible musical notes used for suspense music in movies that make us feel so on edge and we don’t know why.
I’m definitely going for a big self improvement plan in September. A little bit more frech air, a bit more exercise and a physical declutter of house and garden….
Way to go Debbie, all the best! By the way, did you know September is self-improvement month?
I love all of these tips and this post! Self improvement is so important but also so hard because it requires you to admit there are areas you could be better š
Thanks Shar…and you see, just because there is space for improvement, it doesn’t mean we aren’t doing good as how we are…instead, it shows we have potential for reaching higher levels. But, I do agree it does require motivation to get started.
I think your tips are useful in that I need to detox and plan some goals ahead.
Yes Juli, detox in any sense does help our life get better
This is so very encouraging! A big part of my own journey of self-improvement, has been to remove negativity from my life. I feel it’s best for me, and my family
So very true Jasmine…negativity is one of the biggest things that sort of spreads a soot over everything else we do.
self improvement is definitely the way to a happier life as well. we live and we learn and we adapt š thanks for sharing!
Yup, learning and adapting are 2 of the most important factors in self-improvement