It’s very true, what the Beatles said …. money can’t buy you love or happiness. Self improvement and happiness don’t just ‘happen’ when you’ve saved up enough money to upgrade your car, house or children’s school. Also, much as the feeling seems convincing at the time, happiness is also not a new pair of shoes or a bout of retail therapy. Here are some ten self improvement tips that can help you find lasting happiness.
Mitigate morning madness
Set your alarm so that you have plenty of time to have breakfast, a shower, and tidy up after yourself before you leave the house. Then, tell yourself before you go to sleep that “I am going to wake up when my alarm rings. I will press the snooze button once, and then get out of bed”.
Pencil it in
Create a realistic priority list of tasks that you want to achieve for the day, and make a concerted effort to tick every one of them off. The key to using this self improvement tip is not to overload yourself and to also schedule some relaxation time.
Weekend maximiser
Do you ever find that you’ve spent an entire weekend stressing about work? No wonder we all feel that weekends aren’t long enough! Check tip #2 above, and pencil some ‘fun’ into your weekend schedule so turn off your computer and stop checking your Blackberry.
Generosity killed the ‘sads’
Humans are social creatures, and helping the people in your society is a wonderful personal development strategy to make yourself feel good. You don’t have to become a homeless shelter volunteer … but do take your co-worker’s teacup to the sink on your way, hold out the bag of sweets to your neighbour at the bus stop, and make dinner for an overworked friend.
The serenity to accept the things that you can’t change, the courage to change the things that you can
It’s a little trite nowadays – but if you think about this concept for a while and try to apply it to situations in your own life, you can find plenty of inspiration to either let go, or move forward.
Parlez vous …?
Learn a new language! It takes a while, but when you have the reward of a holiday in a country that has the language you’ve chosen as its native tongue it becomes much easier to motivate yourself.
Mix it up
Deliberately try to do things in a way that you usually don’t. The simple act of walking a different way to the bus stop or going to a new bar for after work drinks can really broaden your experience. Aim to achieve this on a larger level as well – to visit places you’ve never been, to speak to people that you usually wouldn’t or perhaps changing careers.
Face your fears – take a plunge
Deliberately doing things that put you outside your comfort zone are essential to personal development because they force you to look at the world in a new way … from a position of strength, courage and personal power.
Beauty is as beauty does
For many of us, thinking about our appearances takes up a significant portion of the day. Remember when your mother told you that true beauty is on the inside? She was right. Self improvement is about what’s on the inside, and you’ll have more energy for that without the distractions of excessive grooming. Spend your weekends without makeup, and wear clothes that make you feel comfortable.
Bend it, stretch it, just a little bit
Exercise is what our bodies were designed for – work that requires you to spend an entire day sitting down is a very recent social development. You’ll feel better able to deal with problems, more energetic, be less prone to depression and have a higher level of cognitive function if you make the effort to exercise every day.
Happiness has little do with the things you have, and so much to do with how you feel inside and what you do with your life! Try incorporating these self improvement tips and strategies into your life every week, and see how much difference it makes to your personal satisfaction level. Because in the end, who makes the most difference in your life? You do!