Empowering Habits for a Better You

Empowering Habits For A Better You

All of us want to be a better person whether it’s to make us better leaders or better friends and family members. We know that by improving ourselves, we can be stronger for those who need us. But figuring out how to do that consistently can be challenging. Here’s some habits that can help you on your quest for continual self improvement.  

Stop Comparing Yourself to Others

One of the biggest stumbling blocks on our road to self-improvement is measuring ourselves- our accomplishments, our lives, our relationships- against someone else. In an article on Harvard Business Review, it shares that there’s a difference between drawing inspiration from someone and comparing. One is empowering and the other can be debilitating. It’s okay to have people who inspire you, but becoming a better version of yourself means becoming improving the actions you take and how you react to situations, not becoming a totally different person. If you base your progress on someone else, you’ll either never achieve your goals or achieving your goals will mean going against who you imagine yourself to be.

Read A lot

Warren Buffet was once asked about the key to success. He said, “Read 500 pages like this every day. That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest. All of you can do it, but I guarantee not many of you will do it.” As one of the richest and most successful people in the world, it makes sense to take his advice.

In fact, there are many, many other successful people who read a lot and who have busy lives on top of it. For specific tips on how to find the time to read, check out this article on Inc.com.

Many successful people read self-help, instruction manuals or business books. If that’s what you enjoy reading, so be it, but know that there are other options for learning.

Non-fiction books can inform you about the world in general, these books can help you gain a deeper knowledge about your own interests. Say for example you like to travel. By reading various travel books, it can help you make decisions based on recommendations of those who’ve gone to the places you wish to travel to.

But what if you don’t like non-fiction? Well, studies have shown that fiction books help us to develop our sense of empathy. Empathy, as I’ve discussed in other articles, helps you become a better leader and person because it helps you to relate to the experiences of others. Becoming intimately interested in the experiences of another person, even if that person is fictional, can be good practice for developing our emotional skills when we interact with people in the real world.

For understanding how Empathy helps you become a better leader,  check out my article here.

Find an Accountability Partner

For anyone, change can be challenging. That’s why finding someone who can help you stay on course and keep you “accountable” is key. Work out a schedule for a meeting to discuss your personal or professional goals. Discuss where you are struggling and seek advice on how to get back on track, if necessary. This person may not be a close friend or someone you work with. It can be someone you meet through LinkedIn, a professional association, or a life coach. It can also be a friend, but make sure the rules are clear. You don’t need a cheerleader when trying to make serious changes. You need someone who will hold to your commitments and task due dates. You’ll see much more consistent and accelerated progress by having someone who won’t let you off the hook.

Quit Bad Habits

Habits are a pattern of behavior that is basically automatic. The behaviors you form can be either good or bad. Some you can clearly tell are good. Brushing your teeth every day, eating a healthy diet including veggies, being kind to others without expectation of gain. Others aren’t good for either you or the world. Smoking cigarettes (or vaping), not recycling, wasting water, etc. Looking at our habits and determining which ones aren’t serving us and which ones are, is key to becoming a better person. If you can transform those habits that keep you from being your best with others (or for yourself), you will be on your way to creating the person you envision to be.

Ask for Feedback

How can we know what to improve if we don’t ask for and accept feedback? It can feel painful. Who really wants to hear about their shortcomings or failures? But the reality is, you don’t know what you don’t know. You don’t know our blind spots unless they are shown to you by others. This doesn’t mean you randomly accept everyone’s opinion. But if you aren’t meeting a goal, connecting with certain people who are important, or you just feel stuck, getting insight from others can be truly helpful.

In our quest to become our best selves, one that is connected with our own deep spirit, we have to keep striving and growing. We have to be willing to accept that self-improvement is never-ending.

What tips or habits do you use to continually improve yourself? What challenges do you find yourself in which keep you from making the changes you long for?