There’s a big gap between knowing that you should work on some things for self-improvement and actually doing that work. One of the reasons for the gap is that too often, the advice that you may find on the topic doesn’t really offer concrete tips you can put into practice right away. Each of the suggestions below is a specific step that you can do now to start your self-improvement journey.
Assessment
The first step is to take a good look at your life as it is now. Make a list of all the things that are important to you, and then make a list of the things that you do regularly. The idea is to figure out whether there is a gap between what matters to you and what you are actually doing with your time. For many people, there is. You probably can’t eliminate everything from your list that you don’t love. Most people can’t quit going to a job they don’t like, for example. But you may find that you are spending time with people you don’t need to or engaging in habits that aren’t doing anything to make your life better, like spending too much time watching streaming media or scrolling online.
Goals
The next step is to take a look at the big picture. What are some of your short, medium, and long-term goals? Write them down, and look at them critically. Which ones really reflect the things that are important to you, as you identified in the previous exercise, and which ones are things that you’ve taken on because you feel like you should? Maybe you don’t want to keep climbing the promotion ladder at work, or perhaps you don’t actually want to be a homeowner. With a revised list of goals that are more reflective of your true nature, you can find inspiration for your creative mind and move on to the next step.
Achievement
Now you need to look at your remaining goals and start figuring out how to accomplish them. You shouldn’t try to do them all at once. Choose just one or two to get started. Then, list the steps that you need to take in order to achieve them. If you want to get a college degree, one of those steps might be figuring out how to pay for it. One way to do this is by finding college scholarships. An easy and efficient way to do this is with Going Merry college scholarships, a free search and application platform. You can use one that allow you to build your profile, get personalized matches to relevant scholarships and grants, and apply. Breaking down each of your goals into a series of concrete steps makes them more attainable.
Acceptance
Although you have created a great blueprint with the above steps, it’s important to also accept that not everything will go exactly to plan. Accepting that some days, weeks, months or even years may not match your carefully planned steps can make it easier for you to regroup and get back on track when you need to.
