Changing ourselves is often the most difficult task we can face in life. How to become a better you?
Believe it or not, everyone has gone through that phase where nothing made sense anymore and they forced themselves to become different, to become better. Change from within doesn’t come overnight, and it takes a lot of self-discipline to make it happen. Even though that may be the case, it’s still something that’s worth the struggle. Let’s take a look at some of the ways you can become a better you.
1. Realize why change is good
Most people assume that different is bad. Differently isn’t bad, it’s just different. Changing everything that you know about yourself is a scary thought, but one that’s worth exploring. Before taking any steps into making a personal change, think about how that would reflect on your everyday life.
Would you be able to reunite with your family, make new friends or get that dream job you’ve always wanted? The possibilities are endless when you seek to become a better you, and once you figure out why you should change, then you will be able to go through with it.
2. Don’t make excuses
Once you figure out all the things you want to change about yourself, you will need to go through with it. It’s easy to come up with a simple excuse such as “I’ll do it tomorrow”, but the fact of the matter is that “tomorrow” might be ten years away.
As long as you keep making excuses about why you shouldn’t start, the longer you will spend wondering about how nice it would be if you were a better person. Take control of today and make the most of it.
3. Volunteer
It doesn’t matter how and what you do as long as you do something because you want to help someone other than yourself. Inner change comes from outer actions, and by doing volunteer work, you will realize a lot of things about yourself.
Not only will you put a smile on someone else’s face, but you might also develop crucial new skills such as teamwork with other volunteers such as yourself. Every city out there has a need for people who want to help out, so seek out your local offices and look for ways to contribute to society.
4. Practice positivity
Positivity goes far beyond thinking the best in a bad situation. It’s being polite to strangers, helping someone who asks for your help and overall, surrounding yourself with positivity.
It doesn’t take a lot of effort to smile and think about why something is happening to you in a rational way, without turning to anger or hate.
There is a saying that “everything is happening for a reason”, and in some cases, it might be the truth. Try to let go of negative thoughts and look for ways to overcome difficult situations without resorting to bad emotions.
5. Travel
One of the key steps in your personal change is seeing how people think in different parts of the world. You don’t even have to travel abroad in order to do this.
However, it’s important to note that traveling anywhere outside of your city will give you a much-needed perspective into how others behave and live their lives. In turn, you will have a clear picture for your own inner change.
There’s no better way to know yourself than to be exposed to new environments and cultures. Travel as far as your budget allows you and take the time to reflect on everything you’ve experienced so far.
It’s better to travel alone when wanting to become a better you, but you may want to take a significant other or a best friend along the way. Someone who knows you well will do wonders for your personal change and help you discover who you really are.
6. Change your job
It may not always be the case, but one of the main reasons for stress and anxiety is usually a bad working environment. You might not even realize how much your work is affecting your everyday life. Talk to your family and think about changing your job if it would make you feel better about yourself.
Just make sure to take all factors into consideration before taking such a bold move. It may be beneficial and helpful to you, but it may also cause some financial issues if your job is well paid.
However, your mental health and family are worth far more than that and both play a significant role in helping you become a better you in the process.
7. Find a personal coach
A personal coach or a mentor doesn’t necessarily have to be a psychiatrist. It can be an old friend or a friendly neighbor. Just keep in mind that over-expensive reality TV personal coaches are not what you are looking for.
Try to think of a person that would be willing to follow you through your personal change. It’s one thing to take steps toward change, but another thing entirely to track that progress.
Your personal coach will guide you through the process of becoming better than you were yesterday like no one else around you. This will be their primary purpose around you for a couple of weeks or months, depending on how far you are willing to go.
8. Be honest
Honesty is a virtue that many people struggle with. It doesn’t mean that you are a bad person for keeping things close to the chest, but letting things go is just as important. Try to become more honest with people who surround you, be it at your workplace or dinner table.
People will trust you much more if you simply tell them how you feel and who you really are instead of putting up walls in order to protect yourself. The same rule applies for personal honesty.
You might not be in a top physical condition or you may have had a series of bad events happen to you recently, but you need to understand that this is okay.
If you want to become a better you, the deciding factor in your self-improvement journey is accepting who you really are. Don’t think about that waistline or a balding head as a sign of weakness.
Every part of you is just the way it’s supposed to be, and once you accept that, you will be far closer to personal change than you ever were.
9. Challenge yourself
This might be the most difficult step of all. Try doing one new scary thing every day. This might seem silly, but doing things that you don’t want to do is a great way of realizing why you don’t like it in the first place.
You’ll realize that you actually like doing some of those things and in turn, you will realize what are the things that you want to develop in order to become a better you. Don’t say no to the unknown and accept challenges as they come to you.
10. Be patient
You won’t become a better you tomorrow, or the day after that, or a week after that. Changing yourself from within will take a lot of time and effort. This is why you can’t give up as soon as you come across the first barrier.
Whatever that barrier might be, you need to remind yourself of why you started down this path in the first place. Clench your teeth and keep moving forward no matter how hard it may seem right now.
When all is said and done, the most important thing you should do is surround yourself with people who genuinely want to help you and do you good. It’s good to be independent, but it’s even better to have an occasional shoulder to cry on or someone to pat you on the back.
Your personal journey of change will be hard, but the results are quite frankly endless. Keep that in mind next time you decide to give up and go back to being your old self.
