If you clicked on this “Self-Improvement” article from anywhere, congratulations! You have taken the first step towards becoming a better person. The very first step in fixing or improving anything is to identify it.
So, you have already begun this process. However, walking this path can be a bit difficult and challenging. But I want to assure you that by immersing yourself in this process, you will join the top 2% of people in the world who have achieved something great in their lives or are rapidly progressing towards it.
In this article, you won’t find anything sugarcoated that only gives you temporary motivation. No, there’s nothing like that here. Here, you’ll get to know the bitter truth and the process, with the sole purpose of making you the best version of yourself. So let’s learn about those 9 essential ways that are quite crucial for you.
Self-Improvement: 9 Ways to Transform Your Life
1. Learn to be Alone
Yes, this is the first and most important thing you can teach yourself. Many times, we set aside our important tasks to do for the things suggested by family members or friends, which have no positive impact on our betterment. We start thinking that if we do not spend our time on such unnecessary things at their behest, they will get upset and we will be left alone.
Actually, it’s not your fault; the wiring of our brains has been shaped in such a way for thousands of years that staying in groups makes us feel secure. This way of thinking has been carried forward since the time of early humans, and there is a need to change it.
- In today’s time, if we live alone, we do not fear becoming prey to animals.
- Living alone does not pose a threat of hunger to us.
- Enemies cannot attack and seize our territory.
Therefore, you can save a lot of time by avoiding unnecessary activities or hanging out with people and use that time to improve yourself.
2. Developing the habit of listening to audiobooks and podcasts
Listening to music is something we all enjoy, and there is no doubt that it makes us feel good. It can give us an adrenaline rush or excite us for a while. However, it cannot teach us anything or aid in our growth. This doesn’t mean we should stop listening to music altogether; it means that we should drastically reduce the time we spend on it.
Audiobooks and podcasts are an excellent replacement for you. Through them, you can learn about a variety of topics and contribute to your self-improvement. The best feature of these is that you don’t have to specifically stop what you’re doing to engage with them.
You can consume it while doing your other tasks like –
- While cooking
- Doing household chores
- Traveling if you’re not driving
- While exercising at the gym or going for a morning walk.
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3. Read Books
One of the best things you can do for yourself is to read books. Almost every successful person in the world has this quality in common: they read a lot, regardless of their field.
There’s also a psychological factor behind this – when you read about something, whatever characters or things you read about, your mind gets focused on that thing for that time. This enables you to feel that thing with deep emotions, leading to rewiring of the brain.
You might be wondering where to start with self-improvement books. Here are the top five recommendations to get you started:
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
- Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
- Good Vibes, Good Life by Vex King
- The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle
- How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Also Read – Self Improvement Books: 30+ Self-help Books to Transform Yourself
4. Strive to improve your proficiency in the English language
I understand that mother tongue is very important for everyone, and you may take pride in it, and I completely agree with that. However, the point here is that most of the resources for self-improvement are available in English on the internet, books, and podcasts, which might be less accessible in your language. Therefore, you need to strengthen your grip on English so that you can enjoy a wide variety of content.
There are many ways to improve yourself in English, such as:
- Watch movies with captions in this language.
- Listen to English podcasts with captions.
- Read books, etc.
5. Improve your communications skill
The art of communication is perhaps the most essential and somewhat challenging aspect of your self-improvement journey. You can’t even imagine how magical it can be. With just this one skill, you can achieve many things, such as-
You will start to be remembered by people you have interacted with.
You will receive new opportunities from people.
Will be able to accurately convey your own feelings and thoughts to others, etc.
You will become better at it as you talk to more people. But many people are introverted or simply don’t like talking to others. Despite the dislike, mastering this crucial skill is essential. There are several ways to achieve this, such as-
- Watching debates.
- Learning about philosophical concepts.
- Observing people during conversations.
- Watching group podcast videos.
- Paying attention to conversational styles in public places.
6. Develop a routine
Every achievement has a process, which becomes a habit in the making, and embedding that habit within oneself turns it into a routine. Therefore, we must make small changes in our lives to turn good things into habits.
It’s very easy to improve oneself for a few days, and this is something every average person can achieve. But the real challenge arises when you turn this short-term behavior into a routine. Waking up in the morning and brushing your teeth, watching podcasts, reading books – when we start doing these things every day, they become part of our habits, which eventually forms our routine.
The best way to create a routine is to understand the underlying reasons that will benefit you in the future. Break down those things into small habits and practice them daily. By doing so, you will definitely succeed in this endeavor.
7. Learn to eat with podcasts, interviews and informational videos.
In ultra-successful individuals, a significant trait is that they take good care of their time. This point is closely linked to the concept of self-improvement, meaning that even the time for eating is utilized correctly and effectively.
Let’s do a simple math with this –
People often consume meals three to four times a day, with an average meal time of 25 minutes. So, every day, we spend 1 hour and 40 minutes eating, during which we waste our time looking at unnecessary things on our screens.
Now you can understand how much time is wasted every day, which could have been used to become a better version of yourself. Therefore, it is essential to utilize this time in listening to podcasts, interviews, learning lessons, or watching necessary videos.
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8. Appreciate criticism
Listening to one’s own faults is a great strength that you will never find in an average person. Instead, they have a different hunger to hear praise from others, even if it may be wrong.
Appreciation and kind words may make you feel good, but criticism is the magical key that can unlock your potential for improvement.
But that doesn’t mean you take everyone’s words to heart and keep indulging yourself in trivial matters. Recognizing and embracing constructive criticism is an art that comes with being aware of yourself and your goals.
9. Make your mind growth-oriented
If you’ve read this article this far, you already have a hunger within you to better yourself. But there’s always room for improvement in everything. You need to train your mind in such a way that it grasps the things that will contribute to your growth in every aspect.
A simple solution to do this is to consume more of those things that help in becoming a better person. By doing so, your brain will rewire and a growth mindset will be built.
All the things mentioned above will help you build a growth mindset. There are also some books that will accelerate this process for you, such as…
- Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
- Mindset by Carol S. Dweck
- Think Like a Monk by Jay Shetty
While you’ll come across numerous things that will aid in your self-growth, the foundational principles discussed in this article will remain because they are the core elements of this journey.