Do you look for ways to be a better person everyday? Does life get a little mundane but you know you could be doing more? Do you value self improvement?
If you answered yes, I am the same as you.
Self improvement is like an update of your personal software. Revising or fixing an older version of yourself, keeping the most up to date YOU. It is a never ending, always improving process that has no finish line.
In my current state, I constantly look for ways to challenge myself, I’ll probably never be done with improving. There was a time in my life when I remained stagnant wanting good things to come but they never did.
But it wasn’t because there was no good left for me. I didn’t receive the good because I wasn’t ready to receive it.
I had an older version of me that needed to be updated.
As I am constantly looking for ways for self improvement, I’ve listed a few tips you might find helpful in your personal journey.
Table Of Contents
- Health Before Wealth
- Surround Yourself With Greatness
- Be An Apprentice
- Use A Planner
- Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable
What does self improvement have to do with personal finance? Literally everything. The ability to improve oneself can open doors to what could be. In this case, the door to financial independence.
If you value self improvement in your life, you will need to update your personal software. Here are some tips you can use.
1. Health Before Wealth
Long gone are the days of drinking a Jamba Juice smoothie a few minutes before track and field practice. Yes, I was that guy.
I’d show up just in time to train. Even ran my fastest timed miles after a downing those sugar-filled smoothies.
I felt invincible back then like nothing could stop me. That is, until I hit my late 20’s, started a family and realized my true priorities, health and family.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with putting your family first but if your body gives out from neglect, then how will you be able to take care of them?
Create a health routine you can actually stick with. With access to millions of exercise programs, social media influencers, and gimmicks, it can be easy to fall into the next health fad only to realize how much you hate it and end up back at square one.
Figuring out a healthy routine for you is personal. It will take time to test out different methods but don’t make it harder on you. If you do ten different plans at once, how will you know what worked and what didn’t? Take one or two concepts and test them out.
Trial and error will give you the feedback you desire. Each test is particular to you like ingredients to a recipe. Your recipe is special and intimate to you. Should there come a day when you no longer benefit from a certain exercise or meal, remove that ingredient and modify your routine.
Need a place to start, try drinking 8 cups of water a day. Sounds easy right? 43% of Americans aren’t drinking enough water so challenge yourself to down more water and build on that.
From there, look at the food you digest. Audit your feelings after eating certain foods. For me, eating high-carb meals daily gives me a lethargic feeling. I am limited on drive and don’t feel the need to hit the gym. This lack of motivation dips into other areas of my life as well.
Moderate your intake of certain macros (carbs, fats, and proteins) and see how you feel. It is possible to increase your energy through the foods you eat.
Next, add exercise to your schedule. Even if you only walk a block every other day, that’s better than walking nothing. Start with walking a block or whatever is equivalent for you and add to it weekly. From walking the block, add jogging to your regimen until you’re able to jog a mile non-stop.
Sign up for a 5k run or a half-marathon or, if you feel up to it, a full marathon. Remember, these are your goals and yours only. Get into a routine and stick with it.
Almost every single time I workout, I feel reenergized to tackle my next task. Whether it be tending to my family, reading a book, or blogging, I am ready for it.
2. Surround Yourself With Greatness
Remember when your parents warned you to avoid certain neighborhood kids because they were a bad influence? I know my mom would harp on me for that constantly. Maybe she was onto something with that idea.
I imagine how different my life could have been if I hung out with the better crowd earlier in life.
Applying the same concept to our adult life is just as crucial to becoming a better person. Here are a few areas I’ve changed in my life:
- Avoid watching the news. It’s normally geared toward negativity anyway.
- Stay away from pessimists. Misery loves company.
- Listen to podcasts tailored to my personal goals. Able to add or remove them as I see fit.
- Increase my network. I admire goal-oriented, driven, motivated people, especially when I can call them friends.
- Read and apply scripture to reality. Far from perfect but I’m trying.
- Learn more about people doing what you admire. Read their story. Follow their life. Subscribe to their channel.
What do you need to get rid of in your life? There are many areas you can alter to add more “greatness” to your life. I listed a few above that really helped me personally. But you might not feel the same impact as I did.
What I hope is that you can figure out what will work for you and start making those changes today.
3. Be An Apprentice
Level up and learn something new. Being stuck in life was my specialty. I say “was” because since having goals of yearning to learn something new, I’ve been able to keep myself busy.
Being an apprentice in life means you have an opportunity to learn something you never knew before. For example, I didn’t grow up saying “I want to be a blogger someday” but here I am giving it a legit shot.
Will this fall short like many other things I tried before? Not if I continue to pick up new concepts every week and apply it to this website.
With so much knowledge floating around the web, forums, libraries, and local groups, I’ll probably never run out of ideas to try.
Aside from learning blogging, I’m highly interested in
- Personal finance
- Personal development
- Personal goal setting
- Personal health
- Basically anything personal
If improving a personal area in my life benefits my family too, I’m all for it. Bettering my personal finance means my family can afford the lifestyle we earned.
Personal development helps us live better, happier, and healthier lives. Personal goal setting gives a sense of personal satisfaction, clarity, and a sense of purpose in life.
I see my family benefiting from me being an apprentice and staying in constant learning mode.
4. Use A Planner
It’s been a little over 2 years since I gave in to using a planner. The market is saturated with so many planners that I actually had a tough time picking one out.
After much research, I settled on the “Passion Planner”.
Here’s what they have to say about it “Passion Planner is the one place for all your thoughts. It’s more than just a planner—it’s a tool that helps you break down your short and long-term goals and incorporate them into your daily life. It has been designed to encourage you to plan for the future, reflect on the past, but most importantly, act on the present. Think of it as a paper life coach — ready 24/7 to challenge you to focus on what is most important, accept your thoughts and ideas without judgment, and prompt you to reflect on your everyday life.”
I was sold on “break down your short and long-term goals”. Goals were the main area I wanted to emphasize on so having a planner to help was the main selling point.
This planner helped break down my goals into the following steps:
- Make a wishlist for certain times (3 month, 1 year, 3 year, lifetime)
- Prioritize – circle one goal from each time that would have the most positive impact on your life
- Create your Passion Plan – map out how to get there. Break down your goals into steps that are specific, actionable, measurable, and time sensitive.
- Assign due dates for each task
- Create a timeline – number all the tasks in the order they must be completed
- Make a date – write these tasks in corresponding due dates in your weekly layout. Use these as checkpoints to keep you on track.
- Work at it! – strive to do at least one productive thing at the beginning of your day to get you closer to your goal. Consistency is key.
- Repeat – repeat this process for as many goals as you’d like
It dawned on me, “how am I supposed to achieve all the goals I have?” It boiled down to forming good habits.
Having a planner isn’t the cure-all but when you break down your goals into smaller, more achievable steps, you see that there will be habits you need to form.
In order for me to maintain my dad-bod (and not have more dad than bod), I set a goal to workout 3 times per week. For each month, I add this as a monthly goal and I track how many times I workout.
If I’m falling short as the end of the week approaches, then I will add an extra workout at home or go jogging to hit my goal.
But after tracking goals like this for the past year, the habits have come naturally. With proper time management, rarely will I fall short of a goal that I’m tracking.
5. Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable
Having big dreams can cause anxiety depending how large those dreams are. For instance, I have a lofty dream of turning this blog into an outlet for parent’s seeking inspiration whether it be financial, fellowship, faith-based, foundational thinking or just plain fun.
The life of busy parents’ can be daunting. And sometimes they just need a place where someone understands what they’re going through.
Putting this site out there is an uncomfortable thought for me but I know that with the right audience, it could be the game changer they’ve been waiting for.
I’m excited for what this site could become knowing how many people it could reach. Best to get comfortable with that idea now before it happens right?
Start something today that makes you feel uncomfortable. Give that something 100% effort. Attend a Toastmasters meeting or approach a potential business partner about your new idea or maybe start building your brand.
Teaching yourself to enjoy the craziness of striving for your dreams will improve your personal well-being.
In return, you build your “personal resume” which you can apply in other areas of your life.
Conclusion
Seeking ways to improve yourself doesn’t have to be difficult. It can be as simple as the ideas talked about in this post. Some require a little more effort but if the reward gained is worth it, then why not?
I hope this helps you identify some areas in your life that you can practice with for self improvement. Improving your life could help improve your finances as well.
Which areas of your life do you wish to improve? What new habits do you need to form? What habits do you need to change?