Nobody is perfect. That’s just a known fact and although that may be true, it doesn’t mean that we can’t work hard until we are the best possible versions of ourselves.
Start with Self-Awareness
Self-awareness is essentially being able to understand your personality; what you’re good at, bad at, your likes and dislikes. It’s the foundation for knowing what to focus on in your self-improvement journey. Becoming more self-aware and improving oneself is not an easy feat. It will take hard work and patience, but with the right tips, you’ll have a better understanding of where to start.
Practice Self-Care
Beginning the journey towards self-improvement can’t happen if you aren’t taking care of your most basic needs first. If you aren’t doing simple things to keep your body and mind healthy, then you won’t be able to focus on growth. A few things you need to make sure that you are staying on top of are your sleep, diet, and exercise. A proper night’s rest is essential to healthy living, so if you are someone who tosses and turns at night consider why that may be. Maybe it’s as simple as getting a better mattress or changing the temperature of your room. Aside from sleep, proper nutrition is also crucial to your well-being.
While you don’t necessarily need to make a drastic change like going vegan, you do need to make sure you are incorporating the right amounts of fruits and vegetables into your diet. Eating a piece of fruit with breakfast or having vegetables as a side with dinner can help. Fixing your diet will also help when it’s time to exercise because you’ll have more energy to be more productive.
Initiate Self-Reflection
After making sure your most basic needs are met, you need to figure out what you do and do not like. Understanding your likes and dislikes makes it easier to commit to decisions and deal with others. You can essentially self-reflect anywhere: on the bus, at home, or in the grocery store. The only thing is, you won’t be entirely focused when you’re doing this in these kinds of environments. Trying to figure yourself out while on a busy bus or crowded grocery store isn’t ideal, although it is possible.
Having a quiet and clean space is the best environment for self-reflection, and will make it easier for you to concentrate. Meditation is often the best time to do this as you are already in a calm and relaxed state. Meditation is known to have many therapeutic benefits and helps to ease the mind and body. With your mind at ease, reflecting on your personality will be much more effortless.
Ask Your Peers
It can be hard and time-consuming trying to self-reflect and figure yourself out. It’s like when you go into an interview, and they ask you how would you describe yourself. Even though you should know yourself better than anyone, that question is still hard. If you find it difficult to analyze yourself, then try asking people who are around you on a daily basis. They should be able to give you some insight into your personality.
Your family members, co-workers, and spouse are all good people to ask as they are the ones who are around you for extended periods of time. They will know things about you that even you may not necessarily be aware of. You might be surprised about some of the things they’ll tell you.
Start Change
It’s one thing to learn about yourself, but it’s another thing to actually start changing things if necessary. Switching the way you’ve done something for a long time will be difficult at first because you’ll be used to doing them a certain way. To help yourself break bad habits, try to get to the root of the issue. There’s usually an underlying cause that leads to most habits or behaviors.
Write them down and go through each one trying to analyze what may be causing it. Don’t panic if you don’t immediately fix these negative behaviors. Be patient, because It will take time to form good habits. On the other hand, don’t lose track of your good qualities either. It’s important to remember your good characteristics and have confidence in yourself even though there are things you need to work on.
Build Confidence
No matter how much work you may need to do to become a better version of yourself, remember that you are great. Do not ever get into the headspace of thinking that you are not good enough or where you’re comparing yourself to others. Not everyone’s journey will be the same as yours, but that doesn’t make you any less or better than them.
Being able to recognize that you are wonderful and deserve the best is one of the most important things to remember. Not only will it help you exude confidence, but it will be beneficial to you when beginning to improve yourself. Be certain in yourself and the joy you bring to people’s lives. Becoming more confident in yourself is sometimes easier said than done. If you are someone who struggles with self-confidence look at some helpful self-esteem guides for some tips and suggestions.
