Being a better you through consistent, realistic effort
Here are some ideas for self-improvement; for being a better you.
- First and foremost, start simple. Starting too ambitiously is a guaranteed strategy for becoming a worse you.
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- ...Failure, any failure, does remarkable damage to the self-esteem. It doesn't matter if the failure's understandable; failure's failure, and weakens your resolve to try again in the future. It's much better to fail at growing a flower in a cup than to fail at building your wife a new entertainment center for Mother's Day. With the flower she'll be touched because you grew it yourself; it's your own creation. The entertainment center, should you manage to pull it off, might impress her as well; but if you fail to pull it off, you'll feel like a below-average caveman. Self-improvement is a psychological chess match. To become a better you, you must make the right moves at the right time. Fortunately, it's not quite as complicated as chess; most of the moves will be obvious to the person who just slows down and thinks for a while.
- Don't miss a day; and if you miss a day, don't miss a second day. If becoming a better you means jogging, for example, and you go out and buy some new shoes, and you go out and buy some aerodynamic workout clothing, and an iPod in order to have inspiring music handy, and a sweatband, and sunscreen, and a book about famous runners, and a book on running for dummies, and a DVD about great runners of the past, and a pantry of energy bars and mineral water, and a T-shirt with your favorite athlete's number on it, and an alarm clock set to 6:00 a.m. with the Rocky soundtrack as backup encouragement, and on that first morning you run for a mile and feel great, and on that second morning you slip on your shoes and then kick them off again and roll back into slugabed slumber, you're basically likely to never go jogging again. Forget all the paraphernalia; do the basic research so that you don't hurt yourself unnecessarily, and buy the basic equipment necessary to beginning a workout regimen (if you can afford it); but the main thing is to jog. The main thing is to be a better you, not a worse you. The main thing is self-improvement.
- Perhaps consider not going a full mile the first day. Perhaps consider going a half a mile, or a quarter of a mile. Perhaps consider briskly walking. It doesn't matter. All that matters is that you're out there moving, like you promised yourself you would. All that matters it that, come tomorrow, you're out their moving again, just like you promised. And tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. It takes about three weeks for an exercise habit to actually become a habit, and at that point it'll seem a lot easier and a lot more fun to roll out of bed in the morning. But you've got to last three weeks.
- Now, chances are, if you're anything like me, you'll mess up from time to time. You'll miss a morning from time to time. That's ok; you can run in the evening. And if you can't run in the evening, you can run the next morning, and the next morning, and the next. It's like what they write on the side of pharmaceutical bottles. If you miss a dose, take it as soon as possible, but if it isn't possible, just resume it the next day. DO NOT TRY TO MAKE UP FOR IT BY TAKING AN EXRTA DOSE. You don't want to burn out; in the art of self-improvement, of being a better you, the secret to success is to rid yourself of the knee-jerk reaction of wanting to make up for your slippages. Don't. Just start again tomorrow, and try not to slip tomorrow. Many people have accomplished many great things by keeping these basic principles in mind, and living them. No matter what age you are, no matter what setbacks you've experienced, you can rise and you can shine if you rise everyday.
