10 practical ways to improve yourself

When it comes to improving yourself, everything you do should be for yourself. Whether you want to face your fears and go travelling alone or you want to improve your social life, it should all be to make yourself feel better in yourself. There are plenty of ways to go about self-improvement, so here are 10 practical ways to improve yourself this year.

Read more books

Reading is fundamental because it helps you become more eloquent in both your language and how you write, as well as building your social skills. Books, whatever genre they fall into, are good for building knowledge and there’s something calming about opening up a book and doing nothing else for the rest of the afternoon.

By giving yourself the opportunity to read more, you’re going to help yourself in so many ways. If you’re not someone who enjoys reading, then perhaps the mistake is you have been picking up the wrong types of books – aka ones that don’t interest you. Perhaps you like shorter stories or maybe self-help books are more inspiring to you than works of fiction.

Not all of us like the same things and that goes for books too. Try to set yourself a target when it comes to how many books you want to read in the space of a year or a month even. The more books you read, the more your language will start to develop and grow.

It’s always important to read, no matter what your age. It’s something to enjoy, so find books that are going to hold your interest in them.

Tell yourself something positive every morning

Positive affirmations or mantras are great for self-improvement. Why? Because we don’t always have someone telling us the good we’re doing in life. It can be important to give yourself a few words of encouragement because no one else is going to necessarily do it for you.

That phrase or sentence that you tell yourself each morning, preferably in a mirror, is going to change the way you feel about the day ahead. It might inspire you to get more work done or to do something that you might not have thought to do before.

Saying something to yourself in front of the mirror might seem weird at first, so if it helps, say it in your head. Eventually, you can build up the courage to say it out loud, and hearing those words can be powerful.

Think of something to say to yourself each morning. It could be the same thing every day or it could be something that you switch up every day or week.

Look at your skillset when thinking about how to improve yourself

We all have different skills and talents, not just the one thing. With that being said, there is always an opportunity to learn and grow. Finding things in life that you are passionate about or want to expand your knowledge on is important.

There are always opportunities in life where you can try something new or challenge yourself to something you’ve always been interested in overcoming but haven’t had the courage to do yet. So, whether it’s learning a new language, for example, or taking a course that your employer offers you, it’s important to grab it with both hands.

Improving yourself from an educational point of view can be helpful in many areas of your life, including your career. For some people, moving up the career ladder is important and so putting yourself out there to learn more is necessary to fulfill that goal.

Have a weekly exercise routine

Exercise is an element of your life that you need on a regular basis to be at your best health-wise. Even if it’s doing just twenty minutes of activity, three times a week, it can be helpful to you in many ways.

Your health is important and, therefore, fitting exercise into your routine can be helpful in keeping your body fit. It can be good for your mental well-being too.

Life can definitely be stressful and having these outlets where you can enjoy yourself or push out the negativity can be good. Find an exercise that you like doing, rather than simply doing something out of necessity.

Look at what brings you the most joy and excitement, and then work on building it up slowly but surely. Trying to do too much too soon is going to lead to you burning out or not wanting to commit to it. Exercise is important to get into a routine but it’s not going to be something that just happens overnight if you haven’t done it for a while, so be patient with yourself.

Consider a 5 year plan

What do you want to do in life? Are there specific things you’d like to achieve in the future and within a certain timeline?

These questions are important to ask yourself and ones that you should answer so that you can find that direction in life. A five year plan is something that many people will create when they want to gain some sort of success in life.

That’s true whether it’s getting certain promotions in your career or a typical place in your life personally. It could be milestones like getting your driving license, ticking off a travel bucket list, buying a home, or having a child.

The more goals you have, the more you can then tick off. Fulfilment in life makes it all the better, and you want to achieve those things that you’ve set out to do. And for that, it’s important to have an action plan.

More ways to improve yourself: Ask for feedback

Feedback is something we can all benefit from, and it’s that constructive feedback that we should receive in life. If you feel like you’re doing something wrong or you have questions about what you should be doing in life, ask for that advice from others who you trust.

Consult your close friends and family because they will only want what’s best for you in life. We can all get stuck in a rut sometimes and getting yourself out of it has its challenges. Find guidance from those who inspire you, and surround yourself with people who are going to help spur you on when you need that motivation.

Don’t be afraid to dream

It’s important to dream and to chase those dreams in life. Holding yourself back from achieving them isn’t going to improve your life quality or self-satisfaction, so begin to dream and dream big.

Even if that dream seems like an impossibility to you, it might not be in a few years’ time. When you’re trying to improve yourself in where you want to be in life, having a dream can get you there. It provides you with the motivation you need, just like that five year plan discussed earlier.

Set what you want to achieve and go for it! You’re in control, and it’s time to own your opportunities, as Juliet Hall says.

So you want to improve yourself? Quit a bad habit

Bad habits are certainly most of us either have or used to have; it’s a part of the journey for many people. Whether it’s biting your nails, smoking or drinking more than you should, we all have the ability to quit something. Sober living is a way of helping to cut out alcohol and when it comes to smoking, it’s best done gradually instead of going “cold turkey.”

A bad habit can also be something you do in your daily life, whether it’s procrastinating too much or perhaps working too hard and not taking time out. Bad habits can come in all shapes and sizes ,so work on your own bad habits and turn them into good habits where possible.

Cut out negative people from your life

Negativity is one thing no one needs in their life. Whether it came into your life by choice or you had no control of it, it can bring you down. When you’re trying to self-improve, you also have to take scope on the people around you too.

If there are people in your life that speak or act negatively in another way about your goals, it might be good to cut them out of your life. That is also true if they don’t bring out the best in you.

Friendships come and go, as do relationships, and it’s not something you should hold onto out of loyalty. If someone is making you feel bad, maybe they don’t deserve to be in your life anymore.

Start a journal

We all have different ways of noting our achievements. One way to do it is through a journal. It can be great to have as something to look back on when you need reminding of all the things that have gone on in your life.

A journal can be in the form of a physical diary or you could start a blog to record it all online. Find something that you can outpour your emotions into when you need it, and make it something that is either a public thing for you online or a private thing that you keep to yourself for self-satisfaction. A journal can be a great way of giving yourself some self-care.

Final words on the ways to improve yourself

Improving yourself is something that is a life-long journey. We all can have more awareness or areas that we can improve on in life. At the end of the day, it’s something you do for yourself to gain more happiness and fulfilment. The tips above can help you to achieve that.