Keys to Self-Improvement

"Failure is an event, not a person" - William Brown

Self-improvement is specifically about the Self. Not other people's impressions based on the image you project, but the Real You. Very few people this lifetime will know that person, for much of the Real You is hidden. 

Becoming a carbon copy of thousands of other clones, wannabes who emulate famous people, is not self-improvement, it's just monkey-see, monkey-do.

The starting point is your own uniqueness. You may integrate certain aspects of other people's dynamics that you find admirable, but you're always integrating them into You in a manner that is unique, preserving your own identity.

People become admirable not because they are good copycats - they become so because they bring something special to the world, something from within themselves that both stimulates and enhances the lives of others. The trick is to find what it is that makes you unique - to delve into the depths of you own experience of life and see how life has shaped you in ways that have made your personal viewpoint different from the majority. 

Society constantly makes the mistake of inferring that different is inferior - people tend to ignore or even persecute those who have a different perspective. Yet when we look at history, progress has always been derived because of the efforts of the few, the minority who had their own viewpoint.

One could almost say that 'not fitting in' is a blessing, because it means you're isolated from the mediocre majority!

Recognising your own uniqueness, then, is the starting point. Knowing how to utilise it is the next step. What advantages do you have because you have your own world view? By specifically not 'going with the flow', how do you benefit, and what are the downsides? In what situations is it useful to be different, and when is it destructive to yourself? It may be necessary at times to be 'wise as serpents, tame as doves' and keep our 'difference' to ourselves...

'Improvement' by your own criteria and not those of others becomes important - one of the critical turning points in my own life was the day I no longer needed anyone's approval. Of course, people for whom we have respect can have some input and we listen to them, but in the final analysis, only you know what is going on inside, and that's all that matters.

At the same time, introspection is a necessary component of growth. Constant self-evaluation, questioning of one's own motives and values, and examination of one's beliefs are core elements of self=development.

We learn best from our own mistakes; very few people have the capacity to learn from the mistakes of others. So mistakes are valuable, because they are growth opportunities. All of the discoverers and inventors made multiple mistakes along the path to their moment of glory; the difference between them and the rest has always been perseverance.

Determination to be the best You you can be may be the Critical Success Factor - your improved Future Self depends on your willingness to persevere today...

D (just call me D)

justd@justd.ws

© Uncommon Sense Communication - Enabling Independent Thought