Self Improvement series, 10 minutes to a better you (1st installment)
Self improvement series, 10 minutes to a better you
Today I have decided to dedicate 10 minutes a day to improving myself. I know it is not easy to commit to 10 minutes of anything every single day, but think of how much time you spend on social media every day. I am guilty of this exact crime myself (writing this blog right now). This number is a minimum and when my busy schedule permits, I will commit more of my free time to self-improvement.
When it comes to a game plan, you need to determine what exactly self-improvement means. Self-improvement comes in a variety of forms and can include anything that involves personal growth. Committing to this blog, in and of itself is a step towards self-improvement, and like a recovering alcoholic, (I've been sober 1.5 years) will progress one day at a time.
Self improvement Ideas
- Read something meaningful
- Learn a new career skill
- Work out and eat healthier
- Create a set of processes (goals are self-defeating) and work on them
- Improve existing skills (writing, computer skills, etc.)
- Start a new challenge (self improvement blog)
- Get some feedback
- Reduce social media time
- Meditate
- Practice kindness
The list is practically endless, and I am going to do my best to improve myself, and hopefully inspire others to do the same. I have been focusing too much of my time on cryptocurrency and Steemit, so I am going to take at least 10 minutes today to do something that can help me improve myself.
First step for self-improvement
Create a list of processes that can help you improve
Here is an excerpt from James Clear's Website (jamesclear.com/goals-systems)
- Goals reduce your current happiness.
When you're working toward a goal, you are essentially saying, “I’m not good enough yet, but I will be when I reach my goal.”
- Goals reduce your current happiness.
The problem with this mindset is that you’re teaching yourself to always put happiness and success off until the next milestone is achieved. “Once I reach my goal, then I’ll be happy. Once I achieve my goal, then I’ll be successful.”
SOLUTION: Commit to a process, not a goal.
Choosing a goal puts a huge burden on your shoulders. Can you imagine if I had made it my goal to write two books this year? Just writing that sentence stresses me out.
But we do this to ourselves all the time. We place unnecessary stress on ourselves to lose weight or to succeed in business or to write a best-selling novel. Instead, you can keep things simple and reduce stress by focusing on the daily process and sticking to your schedule, rather than worrying about the big, life-changing goals.
When you focus on the practice instead of the performance, you can enjoy the present moment and improve at the same time.
- Goals are strangely at odds with long-term progress.
You might think your goal will keep you motivated over the long-term, but that's not always true.
- Goals are strangely at odds with long-term progress.
Consider someone training for a half-marathon. Many people will work hard for months, but as soon as they finish the race, they stop training. Their goal was to finish the half-marathon and now that they have completed it, that goal is no longer there to motivate them. When all of your hard work is focused on a particular goal, what is left to push you forward after you achieve it?
This can create a type of “yo-yo effect” where people go back and forth from working on a goal to not working on one. This type of cycle makes it difficult to build upon your progress for the long-term.
SOLUTION: Release the need for immediate results.
Today I am going to create spreadsheet that will help me delegate some of my free time to tasks that will help me in my career development. This will bring some accountability to the table, and require me to focus on self-improvement. I have also read about creating a path in lieu of setting a goal.
Feel free to join my journey, and leave a comment about what you plan to do to improve yourself today!
*Sources: Forget About Setting Goals. Focus on This Instead,
Pixabay
FREE SCARF GIVEAWAY, I made beautiful scarfs (IMO) and am trying to give one away
FREE scarf giveaway, enter today for your chance to win a handcrafted gem!
Joining the PALnet minnowsupport group
Minnows get a Fighting chance, help each other grow
Check out my previous posts on Crypto Mining
Setting up a crypto mining rig to make $300 a month while you are away
Adventures in Crypto Mining, journey to stack future moneys
Watching paint dry, synching the Ethereum Blockchain. Adventures in crypto mining
As well as this one which asks "why are we here on Steemit"
"Goals are strangely at odds with long-term progress.
You might think your goal will keep you motivated over the long-term, but that's not always true."
I need to really internalize this truth. I'm terrible at any kind of long term motivation. This was a great post, thank you for bringing it to the community. There are a lot of people who don't take the time to write thoughtful posts like this; they become discouraged when a meme makes $200 and they throw in the towel. Just know that from one minnow to another, I genuinely appreciate your dedication to creating quality content.
I also upvoted your free scarf giveaway but I didn't enter because I also crochet, lol. But I did send a small token of my gratitude. My up vote's worth a penny or less, but 1 SBD headed your way!
Thank you for the validation and the SBD, your post and others like it keep me going. Crocheting actually is a great stress reliever as you know and it has been too long since I've handled a hook :)
I keep telling myself to do that instead of smoke, but these days my hands get stiff and fingers go numb after awhile lol.
Thats too bad, unfortunately I smoke (vape) too
Hubby vapes. I switched to it for over a year then went back to cigarettes when a friend was staying here who smoked. Ugh.
great post. It really resonates.. I can relate to the half marathon :) That was sooo me. Once I was done.. zero motivation to run anymore
We all fall into traps, and once we achieve our goals, we move on. That's why setting up ongoing processes is a more effective system :)