Many people desire change. It could be with their physical appearance, their lifestyles, or their way of thinking. But, they do not know where to start. Longing for a transformation is not enough. There are no magic formulas for it. One must take definite actions to foster growth and change.
A positive, proactive, and progressive mindset is one of your greatest tools. Whatever transpires in your mind materializes in the physical world. Engaging in a quest for psychological development should not be complex. You only have to know some practical strategies to get you started. Here are some techniques you could try.
Have a Raised Awareness of Your Flaws
The first thing to self-improvement is to bring into light what you need and want to change. Some of them have straightforward solutions. For example, you feel embarrassed because of your chipped teeth. You should be unapologetic about doing something about it. Availing of cosmetic dentistry procedures does not make you superficial. Your self-esteem is on the line with how proactive you are in your decisions.
Some flaws are more complex. But, you should expose these weaknesses as well. For example, you may observe yourself to identify your blind spots. What triggers you to get angry? Frustrated? Mad? Get the answers to these questions. Then, it would be easier to find solutions to overcome them.
Practice the Kaizen Approach
There is one principle that you need to remember as you take your journey to personal growth. It is the truth that perfection is overrated. Those who aim for perfection set themselves up for failure. The Kaizen approach teaches the concept of continuous improvement. It is the idea of adding something of value to what you do every day.
For example, you want to learn how to cook. Do not expect yourself to turn into a celebrated chef overnight. You have to learn how to pick the freshest ingredients and play with flavor, aroma, and texture. There would be days when you would create mediocre dishes.
Another example is when you want to quit a bad habit like smoking. You would not go cold turkey and throw all packs of cigarettes away. Give yourself time to decrease your dependence on cigarettes one stick at a time.
Celebrating little progress would motivate you to continue. When you make perfection your goal, you would only get frustrated. You are more likely to abandon your quest for growth.
Develop or Break a Habit
To know that you are on the right track to growth, you need to learn productive habits or shed some bad ones. The best way for you to track how you spend your day is to journal them. For example, how many glasses of water do you drink in a day? How many minutes do you allot for exercise? What time do you sleep, and what things do you do before you hit the bed? By seeing things in black and white, you would see where you lack. Then, you could develop a plan to improve and turn this plan into a healthy habit.
You could also track your work productivity. This way, you may catch silent habits of procrastination. You can see what periods of the day or week you most feel prone to set work aside. You can also identify the reasons behind such a habit. When you do, you could develop a game plan to unlearn it.
Focus on Happiness and General Well-being
If there are words that you could add to your vocabulary, it would be the words serotonin and dopamine. These are chemical substances that your body releases to give you good feelings. Serotonin improves your mood, and dopamine motivates you to achieve goals.
There are simple ways for you to boost your happy hormones. It is important to focus on happiness. You would not get inspired to improve yourself if you are unhappy.
You can also rethink the meaning of self-care. These are not superficial routines of pampering or splurging. Rather, they are conscious efforts to nourish your mind and body regularly. When you have a healthy body and sound mind, you will achieve more goals for your personal growth.
Invest in Soft Skills
Self-improvement means striving to be a better version of yourself. For most people, this translates to learning a hard skill. They study a new language or enroll in a course in coding or web development. These are excellent measures to improve oneself.
But, an aspect that sometimes goes unnoticed is the improvement of one’s soft skills. Some examples are the ability to handle stress, manage conflict, and show empathy. These things are beneficial in a person’s professional and personal life. As such, one must strive to work on such skills. Experience and practice are the best ways to grow these soft skills.
Self-improvement or personal growth is a lifelong process. Anybody could not claim that they have reached the pinnacle of growth. Also, it is not linear. There are days that you seem to be hitting all your goals. There are also days that all you seem to do is miss them. Thus, one must have a strong mindset and the right strategies to carry on.
