Love Yourself First
I believe the path to self-development starts off with loving yourself first. Once you begin to love yourself only then you can love others. You will no longer be satisfied with mediocrity because you will believe that you only deserve the best. A person who doesn’t appreciate themselves begins to focus on negativity rather focusing on opportunities that can help them. Accepting yourself for who you are and letting go of all negative feelings is the first step towards self-improvement.
Be Grateful
The second useful principle for self-improvement is to be grateful and value what you have today. If you are not grateful then you will never value what you have tomorrow. Your current situation may be something negative to you but imagine how many other people would die to be in your situation. Let that sink in for a moment. People have it worse off then you so value your circumstances. Once you begin to be grateful even in a bad situation it will help you to become a better person.
Have A Vision
Successful people have a vision. They believe having a vision of their future is the finish line and they strive, work with dedication and motivation to reach it. Things may get tough at times but they are so focused on their vision that they never give up. Always visualize how you want your future to be like and improve yourself to get there.
Be Consistent
If you want to be the master at something you got to practice it daily. Continuous practice and dedication every single day will make you better than 99% of people.
Look at famous athletes for example. They are consistently working on their craft every single day. Not once a month or once a week but every single day. They did not become professionals or masters overnight. They took small steps every single day for years to reach the peak. If you are not doing it everyday then you might as well not do it at all.
Make It Happen
“Some people want it to happen, some wish It would happen, others make it happen”
Michael Jordan
Most people sit and talk and only wish for things to magically change for them. They hope they win the lottery, or someone gives them a big break that will change their life.
Only few people these days actually go out, put the effort and make things happen.
You can have anything you want in life, you just have to act on it. Period. You already know what to do, but for some reason, mostly fear, you tend to hide from it because it is difficult. You should understand that only when you act on that fear and those difficult and uncomfortable things will your life change.
Start Reading
Self-education is the key to self-improvement. Read books. Start reading a lot of books. Be it fictional, biographies, or whatever fancies your interest. Reading will open your mind to new things, give you answers to whatever questions that tickle your brain, provide you with insight into new teachings, wisdom, and experiences that you can use in your own life. Reading will take your imagination to places not seen and heard of.