Self-development is an interesting concept that takes time and dedication to master once you’ve decided you want to improve yourself. There are a few things you can do daily to work on your own personal development – here are the best suggestions.
1. Read more.
If you want to learn a particular skill or improve one you already have, the best solution is to read about it. If you want to be better at meditation, read more about the subject, or if you want to work on your self-confidence, read and study about it. There are so many books about every topic imaginable and reading about something is sure to make you improve your knowledge and mastery of that topic and will also keep it in the forefront of your mind.
2. Find yourself a mentor.
A mentor is someone in your business or personal life that has more experience than you on a subject you’re interested in and you want to learn from them. They can also be someone that is as knowledgeable as a master in the subject and ask them if they would be interested in taking you under their wing. This is a quick and worthy path to personal development. Make sure you’re clear about what they’ll gain in exchange for mentoring you, whether you’re working with or for them on a project, or they simply want to impart their knowledge of a topic to someone else before they retire.
3. Have a daily reflection period.
This suggestion comes from Nelly Fernandez, a blogger at Australia2Write and Next Coursework, who says that “self-development is a process that you need to be constantly aware of – what you’re learning and what you can continue to work on. If you’re serious about it, you need to regularly reflect on where you are and how you can continue to improve. Making this a daily habit will solidify your commitment to self-improvement.”
4. Surround yourself with similarly motivated individuals.
Self-development doesn’t need to be something you do by yourself. One great and effective way to improve yourself is by doing it alongside others. Surround yourself with people who are working on the same skills as you and you’ll see that your development will proceed at a much quicker rate than if you were alone as you can all motivate and engage each other.
5. Reward yourself.
Robert Morris, a lifestyle writer at Brit Student and Write My X, shares that “you need to be able to break bad habits and the best way to do that is by having a reward system for yourself. This makes all the difference between talking about changing and actually making strides to change. If necessary, you should also have a punishment system for this purpose.”
6. Practice self-honesty.
To enact real change within yourself, you need to be honest with yourself, and this may be the most difficult thing on this list. If you just talk about it and read about self-development but you’re never taking steps to actually improve, you need to realize and accept that. In self-development, you are the judge of your progress.
7. Find a role model.
A role model is different than a mentor because they don’t need to be a physical presence in your life. This is simply a person, living or dead, that you can look up to and be inspired by. Role models provide motivation that allow you to keep moving forward on the path of self-improvement.
8. Track your progress.
No matter how tangible your goal is that you’re working on, you need a way to measure your progress along the way. That’s the only method for knowing if you’re progressing, and how to adjust your path as you go. If you can’t measure it, it’s not worth starting it.
9. Be consistent.
You need to be realistic and consistent. You can’t expect self-development to occur from one day to the next; it’s a long and deliberate process. The way to remain true to that process is by being consistent, and that can be difficult. This is a daily life choice that you need to commit to to see any real change occur.
Michael Dehoyos, a lifestyle blogger at PhD Kingdom and Academic Brits, enjoys helping others reach their full potential and explore opportunities outside of their comfort zone. You can find his inspirational articles at Origin Writings.