Maybe you’ve found yourself reading this because you’ve been unsatisfied with the way your life has been going. Maybe you’re reading this because you’ve been on a self improvement journey and you’re itching for more. Wherever life finds you the question of how to self improve has no doubt crossed your mind and here you are.
Welcome! We’re excited to have you here because we’ve gathered our best self improvement tips that will help you transform your life no matter where you’re at in your personal growth journey. Grab your favorite beverage, get comfy, and lets dive in!
What is self improvement?
Self improvement is all about taking action in an effort to be better in any given area of your life. The point of self improvement is to grow your knowledge, your status, your mental health & wellbeing, and/or your character so that you can lead a life that makes you happy and fulfilled.
Some of the most common self improvement topics are centered around health, confidence, career, and relationships. Our list of self improvement ideas will help you in all if not most of these areas.
Self improvement plan quick start guide
When asking yourself “what should I do for self improvement” a good place to start is with a plan. This will help you get a clear picture of what you want to improve and what direction to move forward in. It will also help you set some self improvement goals.
You’ll want to start your self improvement plan by assessing each area of your life and deciding what goals you’d like to work toward with each. Then list some action steps you can take to make it happen. Lastly, commit to taking action! Even small steps every day will lead you to some massive growth over time. Now let’s jump into the tips!
18 Self Improvement Ideas That Will Change Your Life
The list below contains some easy and practical ways to start working on your self improvement. We hope they help you in some way, shape, or form!
1. Start a daily journal
Your mind is constantly filled with ever changing thoughts that have a direct effect on your reality. To help you sort through the noise we highly recommend starting a journal. This will help you clear your mind, get to know yourself better, and you might even experience some breakthrough moments that might change the way you think forever. Yes journaling can be that powerful!
We love this journal for basic journal writing The Best Is Yet To Come Journal
But if you want to get creative and have more fun, we love this bullet journal kit
2. Practice positive affirmations
Since we’re on the topic of mind chatter, adding some positive affirmations to your day can also be a game changer. Like we mentioned before, your thoughts easily influence your day to day reality and if your thoughts have a tendency to be on the negative side, the life you’re living is reflecting that.
Adding positive affirmations to your daily routine can retrain your brain to think more positively and therefore improve your reality. Check out our list of 30 Morning Affirmations For A Happy & Successful Day to get started!
3. Keep life simple
This simple but profound concept can really up level your self improvement game. Humans need simple lives. The more we complicate things, the more unhappy and stressed we become. It really is as simple as that, no pun intended.
Take a look at your life and see what you can simplify and even minimalize. Anything in your life that has the label “it’s complicated” should be given the heave ho! If it can’t be simple you don’t need it.
Related Reads: How To Take A Social Media Break
4. Remove things that no longer serve you
While you’re simplifying things in your life make sure you also let go of things that are no longer serving you. People, activities, bad habits, all of it! If it isn’t bringing you joy, happiness, or is a necessity in your life, you also don’t need it.
5. Get your finances in check
There’s a common a saying that goes money can’t buy you happiness and while that may be true, having money and your finances in check can sure give you some peace of mind. Here at Girl Unfinished we strongly believe that keeping your money game strong is one of the best ways to self improve and it’s never to late to get started!
We recommend getting started here if you’re interested: The Top 12 Best Finance Books For Beginners
6. Focus on what you can control
Take a second to think about all the things in your life that cause you stress and unhappiness. Now think about how much of it is based off of things you cannot control. Are you shocked? We were too!
It’s highly common for people to stress about things they cannot control, but if they are out of our control and there’s absolutely nothing we can do about them, what is the point?! All this does is bring on unnecessary stress into our lives. A much better route to take is to focus on what you can control so that you can manage your stress levels and make changes to the situation as needed.
7. Surround yourself with people who motivate and inspire you
They say you become just like the people you hang around most, we strongly believe that to be true. If your circle of people don’t inspire you to be better, do better, and pick you back up when you’re down, then it’s time to upgrade your friends list.
If your serious about self improvement these are the types of people you’re going to need in your life. Not only will they understand your struggle because they’re most likely on the same path as you are, they’ll also keep you on track with your growth journey and give you that accountability you’re going to need when the going gets tough.
8. Embrace change
Life is constantly shifting and changing but instead of being adaptable to this we often resist it and waste our precious time and energy fighting it. Or even worse we live our lives in fear waiting for the other shoe to drop or for something really bad to happen to us. Instead, we should be embracing change, increasing our flexibility to change, and get busy preparing for change so that when change comes, we are ready.
We have to lose our fear of the changes that come our way and get comfortable being uncomfortable. We must accept the fact that change is inevitable and drop our resistance to it so that when it shows up we embrace it and use it to grow and evolve.
9. Read self improvement books
Reading is one of the easiest ways to expand your knowledge, grow as a person, and jumpstart your self improvement journey. You don’t have to walk this path alone, there are countless others who have already taken that same path and wrote books about it to help others, like you, through it.
| Here’s a list of some of our favorite self improvement books: |
|---|
| You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero Stop Overthinking by Nick Trenton The Self Help Book by Jared Graybeal The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People by Stephen R Covey UnF*ck Yourself by Gary John Bishop Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg Think Like A Monk by Jay Shetty |
10. Take a course to expand your knowledge or skills
Online courses have made it easier than ever the learn at your own pace and in the comfort of your own home. There’s also thousands of options to choose from. We use CreativeLive as our trusted source for online classes of all kinds.
11. Drink more water
Do have you have headache? Feel low energy? How about those dreadful digestion issues? Drinking more water can actually help alleviate all these common issues and more. We had to include this in our list because when you feel better on the inside things tend to go easier on the outside and there’s no easier way to improve your health then drinking more water!
Related: How much water should you drink?
12. Practice mindfulness
Mindfulness is the practice of being present and aware in the given moment while accepting your feelings, thoughts, and emotions, without judgement. It’s commonly used as a therapeutic practice but it can be easily implemented into your life as well. The biggest benefit from mindfulness is that can it help curb anxiety and stress which is much needed in any self improvement journey.
You can learn more about implementing mindfulness into your life here: Introducing Mindfulness Into Your Life In 8 Simple Ways
13. Eat nutritious foods
According to Medical News Today, you can improve in your heart health, gut health, reduce your cancer risk, improve your mood and so much more by simply eating healthier. Feeling good leads to looking good and when you have both of those you are unstoppable!
14. Get your body moving
Energy can become stagnant inside your body causing all kinds of health issues and changes in your mood. This is why we highly recommend keeping your body moving so that you can release any stuck energy inside the body. So get moving! Take walks, exercise, dance, and get that energy flowing again. Your body will thank you for it!
15. Take your vitamins
Adding a vitamin regime to your daily routine can improve your health in many ways and there are a plethora of options to choose from based on your personal needs and goals. As we keep saying, you cannot go wrong with feeling good on the inside! We use Seeking Health as our trusted source for vitamin supply.
16. Practice meditation
There have numerous studies showing the amazing benefits that come with meditation. There have also been countless success stories from people who say that meditation has changed their life. A short 5 to 10 minute meditation added to your daily routine can increase your self awareness, relive stress, reduce memory loss, strengthen your intuition, and so much more.
17. Take action
As we wind down our list we want to highlight the most important part of self improvement which is taking action. Anyone can create a plan and say they are going to make it happen. But its those who actually take action that create change. If you’re serious about personal growth and self development, plan on taking action and lots of it!
18. Keep it consistent
Lastly, keep your action taking consistent! Whatever path you decide to take on your journey, keep at it everyday. Keep showing up for yourself and doing the work. Remember that even baby steps consistently in the right direction can lead to massive success over time. You got this!
Final thoughts on self improvement
The path to self improvement is different for everyone. It can be challenging at times and can take a lot of inner work. But with the right guidance and consistent action it can lead to huge growth and long lasting positive change. Wherever you’re at in your journey, keep moving forward! It will be all worth it in the end!
