The Rat Race of Self improvement

The Rat Race Self-Improvement

There’re so many self-improvement classes and offers. It makes one wonder if we are not good enough the way we are.

People often go to self-improvement programmes not because of wanting to know what's inside them but because of what's around them.

For example, if the intent of going to the gym is all about being muscled rather than being a flabby overweight individual then, perhaps, that intent is not right. It may work for some and it may not. Many don't get to that end goal, of being muscled, simply because the intent is not real. And when the intent is not real, the improvement activity is not sustainable.

In the workplace executives, often, want to be a better leader to gain that extra bonus or the promotion. That's the wrong reason to undertake a leadership self-improvement programme. This occurs partly due to the conditioning we have in our minds where the 'better leader' bit is associated with a tangible gain. Reality is that to be a better leader it comes through behaviour and developing other people. And this behaviour comes from purpose and what comes from purpose drives you and sustains you.

Such conditioning also leads us to be continuously on the go and not be satisfied with where we are, at the present moment, in our lives. We don't pause and reflect that to get to the point where one is at there has been some positives which have gotten us there. Instead, we pick up on the negatives or the missing areas and start looking at them.

Yet discomfort does not occur in isolation. There are triggers, like our self-beliefs, that create that sense of discomfort. It comes from somewhere. We need to take the time to explore that discomfort. Or else we may miss out a great learning about ourselves. On the other hand, if we get too stuck in this self-exploration then we miss out seeing what the positives about oneself are.

The key in self-improvement is to build from the basics of what is good in your life as that will give you the strength to sustain the improvement efforts. The positives create the foundation you need and keep you grounded in undertaking the improvements you've identified.

It’s about taking a measured and balanced view on what works right and identifying what is holding one back. This way it doesn't create an association with the negative only and gives one a balanced view of the positives and negatives.

Focussing on a required self-improvement that is viewed as a negative, when one starts working on it, can actually not work out. As when one reaches the desired milestone the negative association that has been there from the start can affect the development of the improvement resulting in ending up in the same space of discomfort that one was in earlier.

Therefore realising the positives that exist is extremely helpful, as having a foundation to build from aids in have desired results in self-improvement.