If you’re committed to improving and making something of yourself, then the how of it can be easy. All you need to do is to follow these 5 simple and straightforward steps to improve your life.
Why the need for improvement?
When you are in a bad situation, the thought of improvement can be easier to accept because of the promise of a better life.
However, when you are in a state where things are not THAT bad, the thought of improving yourself may not have crossed your mind. That’s because you may be ensconced so much in your comfort zone that you don’t want to rock the boat. Or that you don’t see the point in stirring things up.
When you’re so entrenched in the life you’ve created for yourself that there is no movement or growth. And when you stopped dreaming, learning, or even wondering, “What if there’s more to this life than I’m experiencing?” then there is nothing left to do but rot or die.
As great philosophers have said, staying in your comfort zone prevents you from growing. And you don’t get to experience the full range of life’s experiences. Now that would be such a waste of so much potential, possibility, and opportunity, wouldn’t it?
Reasons for improving yourself
So take the time and every opportunity to improve yourself. You will surely benefit immensely from having done so. In addition, here are 7 important benefits to improving yourself:
- You grow into a better version of yourself,
- Improve your career, job, or business,
- Improve your personal and social relationships,
- Overcome your weaknesses,
- Improve your strengths,
- Increase your chances of success, and
- You get to optimize your life, and discover and use all your talents for your own good and the good of others.
5 Simple steps to improve your life
There is that common belief that it is difficult to improve yourself and, as a result, your life.
However, if you put your mind to the importance of growth, the steps you need to take to improve your life become quite simple. Doable.
And in the subheadings that follow, we’ll go over the 5 simple steps you can take to improve your life.
Change
The first step you can take to improve your life is to initiate change. Change when you feel the need to because your life is stagnant, in a bad situation, or is neither here nor there.
Another consensus among personal-development practitioners is that, when a situation is bad, you have two options: change the situation or change yourself.
Now both of these options involve change. So no matter which option you take, the need for change still remains.
And the change has to start with you. The spark of change must begin within you. Otherwise, you will simply reject the change and go on living your sad and miserable life.
In the words of Andy Warhol-
“They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.”
How do you initiate change?
One is to identify the things that are bugging you.
In terms of your career or job, is it your salary, your officemates, or your boss? What exactly are they doing that’s causing the problem?
If at home, is it the clutter, the people in your home, or your pets?
In yourself, are you bothered by your weight, lack of energy, lack of self-confidence, or no self-worth?
Your change starts with self-awareness. Once you have identified your concerns, you can then identify what needs to be done.
Just get started
This brings us to the second step in improving your life. That is, start with whatever steps you have identified as needing to be changed.
It may appear to be an impossible task at first, especially if all you have is one massive boulder of change.
However, by taking that one small step, you will have accomplished 80% of your goal. This should boost your self-esteem because you were able to overcome your fear.
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex, overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.”
– Mark Twain
This Mark Twain quote will lead us to the third step in your life improvement journey. And that is to…
Start small
It is important to remember that anything and everything starts small. Therefore, your best chance of succeeding in your endeavor to change is to then begin with small attainable action steps.
Why start small?
To avoid overwhelm
Starting small will help you avoid becoming overwhelmed.
We’ve all experienced the feeling of being unable to decide. And act on the things we need to do when we’re overwhelmed.
This paralyzing effect of overwhelm can also lead to procrastination for a few days, weeks, or even months. Until you never get to do it at all.
So, in order to remove the mountain, begin with small stones, as mentioned in the following proverb.
“The man who removes the mountain begins by carrying away small stones.”
– Chinese proverb
To build momentum
Another reason to start small is that it allows you to gain momentum. Your success with small changes will give you the motivation to keep going. Which will snowball into the big change you want to implement.
So you can do it
Finally, if you start small, you will be able to complete the task. Because it is a small, straightforward, and manageable action.
Having said that, it is important that you begin your tasks in the smallest increment possible.
Keep learning
Learning makes up a person. It becomes part of the totality of an individual.
If you don’t seek new knowledge, your personality can be likened to the color grey. Lifeless and dull.
So, in addition to maintaining your small habits or actions toward change, your next step toward a better life is to prioritize learning.
Because education is an essential component of your personality. As motivational speaker Jim Rohn puts it, your personal philosophy.
Also, without new knowledge, you will become indistinguishable.
“If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.”
– Haruki Murakami
So keep learning. Gather as much information as you can, to further quote Jim Rohn. And then have the ability to sort through all your learnings for the wisdom that will be valuable to you.
The availability of learning materials is astounding and amazing in this day and age.
You can choose from all of the available ebooks, audiobooks, online courses, podcasts, blogs, and so many others on various platforms; all you really need to do is take the time to take them all in and sort them later.
Stay consistent
Finally, you’re on the last step of your life improvement journey. And that is to stay consistent.
Having managed the first 4 critical steps in your journey to improve your life, and find that they work out for you, the final step then is to continue doing them.
Continue with the good you started. Commit to doing them over and over. Get better each time at doing them and pretty soon you will be well on your way to success.
The following quote defines consistency succinctly:
“Do it again and again. Consistency makes the raindrops to create holes in the rock. Whatever is difficult can be done easily with regular attendance, attention and action.”
– Israelmore Ayivor
Summary
To summarize, it is critical to continue to grow in life. Not only when things are bad, but also when things are going well.
Because when things are great, you become so accustomed to the life you created that you no longer dream, seek new information, or even stop to wonder, “What if there’s more to this life than I’m experiencing?”
When you are content in your comfort zone, you might as well be dead. Because there is no growth or movement in staying within your comfort zone.
Although it is common to believe that it is difficult to improve yourself and thus your life, all you really need to do is focus on the importance of growth. And taking the necessary steps to improve your life will become quite simple. With only 5 steps to follow, it’s doable.
These are the 5 simple steps:
- Change,
- Get started,
- Start small,
- Keep learning, and
- Stay consistent.
That’s all there is to it. Rinse, repeat the process with all of the changes you want to make, and you should be good to go.
Reference/s:
Please share your thoughts or ideas about 5 Simple Steps You Can Do To Improve Your Life in the comments below. And if you liked this article, you might be interested as well in these articles:
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10 Habits For A Simple Life
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Outside reference/s:
The Importance of Self-Improvement No Matter How Old You Are
