About the Author
Lena Ameri is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of LiveIt! Magazine. She dreamed her whole life of starting her own magazine and after obtaining her masters in Psychology with an emphasis in Applied Behavior Analysis, she realized that she could combine her two passions and help others live their best lives. Lena also works as a behavior therapist with children diagnosed with autism
Are you looking to improve yourself? Most likely the answer is yes, as the self-improvement market in the United States is estimated to be worth more than $12 billion! There’s an endless amount of books you can read, audio tapes you can listen to, and workshops you can attend. Every self-improvement “guru” has a different theory on what you should do. However, in the end self-improvement is a journey, it’s not a destination. There are limitless possibilities to the different things you can try, the roads you can take, and the ways you can better yourself. In your quest don’t forget the simple and easy ways to improve yourself. These simple things will be easy to maintain and will add up to big results!
1. Find half an hour each day to do whatever u want
When your days are crazy busy and your to-do list is a mile long, it can be hard to find the time to do whatever you want. More than that, would you even know what you would want to do if you had the time? When your life is consumed by what you should be doing, it can be easy to lose sight what you are passionate about. Wake up half an hour earlier, go bed half an hour later, or cancel some plans. Whatever it takes, find a half hour in which you do absolutely whatever you want. You might be wondering how this works to improve yourself. Some of those times, you might do absolutely nothing, like watch TV. However, you’ll find that many times you’ll spend it actually doing things that are relatively productive, because you want to. You’ll also start to learn what you like, what you want to do, and what you’re passionate about.
2. Learn something every day
According to Henry Ford, “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.” If you aren’t in school, you might feel like all the opportunities for learning have stopped. That’s not true. Every day there are millions of possibilities to learn. Every time you talk to someone, every TV show you watch, try to take a minute afterward to figure out what the take home message was. You can also watch a TED talk, read an article, listen to talk radio, or look up something random on wiki or howstuffworks. Just make sure at the end, you pick out one main point to learn or focus on an insight you had while reading/watching/talking. Eventually you won’t have put so much effort into learning, it will just happen as you get in the habit of learning from everything you do.
3. Have new experiences
Doing new things and having new experiences will benefit all areas of your life. Having those new experiences will lead you to think differently and have new ideas for what you are currently doing. You won’t stay stuck in the same routine, doing the same things, and thinking the same things. You will start to see things with a fresh perspective and with new eyes. You don’t even need to put that much effort into this one. Just aim to new things, this can be as simple as listening to a new radio station or going somewhere different for lunch. You will be exposed to different things which in turn will spark new thoughts and ideas! (Also read: How To Come Up With a Brilliant Idea)
4. Question things
You know that saying curiosity killed the cat? Forget it! Curiosity broadens your horizons and teaches you new things. Most people live their life passively. They go about their day following the same routines and not wondering about why anything is the way it is. Start questioning everything. Why you do things, why things are the way they are, and how things happen. You’ll be surprised to find the things you’ll learn. Such as the way you’ve been doing things is extremely unproductive or something you thought was necessary absolutely isn’t.
5. Pick up a new hobby
Have you ever wanted to learn to paint? Play the drums? Dance the tango? Knit a scarf? Time to pick it up! Learning something new challenges you and takes you out of your comfort zone. It helps expose you to new things, which boosts your creativity. Not only that, but you never know what you could be good at. You might end up having some amazing new skills to add to your repertoire. These skills could translate into new opportunities, both in your work and personal life! If you aren’t already sold on why you should pick up a hobby *right now*, there are more reasons hobbies are good for you. Studies have showed that learning new things keeps your brain healthy. It’s like a workout for your brain. Finally, being passionate about something and engaging in something you enjoy boosts your happiness and lowers your stress levels. This doesn’t need to be a big commitment. If you can’t fit it into your schedule to enroll in a class then take advantage on all the amazing tutorials posted on youtube.
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