As humans, we make a lot of mistakes especially if we don’t have anyone to guide us for Personal Development. This may lead a few people to face difficulties in their lives more than others.
These kinds of people can fall into either of the two categories. Either they can fall into bad influences of drugs, alcohol, sex etc or learn the life lessons and grow to become a better version of themselves. In this blog, I am talking about the 2nd category of people.
l had incorporated a few habits in 2019 like creating a bucket list and a yearly goal at the beginning of the year. This practice helped me to learn a lot of new things and discover myself.
I continued this practice in 2020 and I am looking forward to an amazing year. Building any habit needs the discipline but after some time, it becomes second nature.
Eventually, it makes you mentally stronger and helps to improve yourself.
Personal Development Tips to Grow & Become a Better Person
Improve your mental and physical health
You may have hundreds of dreams. You may want to achieve a lot of things but to achieve that, keeping your body and mind in top shape is pivotal.
Your attitude and actions play a major role in achieving your dreams for which you need a healthy body and mind.
Although, there has been an increase in people moving towards a healthy lifestyle. Majority of people still prefer to sit every day as a couch potato in front of the TV with a bowl of chips and drinks in their hands.
The people suffering from mental illnesses like depression, anxiety, panic attacks, OCD is on the rise now.
There is still a lot of stigmas attached to these terms and many people can be heard saying “This is all in your mind, don’t think so much” or “These words like stress, anxiety are just modern terminologies and there is nothing like this in reality”.
But the truth is- we live in a very different world than our parents or grandparents used to. Thanks to the social media evolution, hatred, jealousy, envy, comparison etc have increased 10 folds.
So, if you feel frequent episodes of fear, overthinking, extreme negative thoughts, anger, feel like crying for no reason, suicidal thoughts. Please do not ignore them thinking that this is just due to stress. Talk to someone who might understand you or take psychiatric help.
In the initial stage, to reduce the stress levels, try meditation, regular moderate or vigorous exercise and mindfulness (staying in the present moment).
Start journaling
I started this practice in 2019 and it has been a life-changer for me.
This is a best practice that you should start today as this is a great self-reflector. You can make your versions of the journal, what you want to write in it.
I write my thoughts, goals, things have learnt in the day, my weaknesses and strengths daily and review them weekly. This further allows me to analyse how I can become a better person.
Identify toxic people
As I said in my video, we are surrounded by toxic and negative people. It’s imperative to identify them.
Once my mom’s sister (perima in Tamil) told me, more than the people who show their real face, we have to be careful of those people who portray as the most helpful or a heroic figure.
The best sentence (which I read recently) which can work in this is “I don’t know”. I don’t know the other person completely (many people are two-faced) so I won’t trust him/her blindly.
Identifying the toxic people would help you to deal with them. They can play the victim card very well. They are very good people readers and can use your vulnerability for their benefits.
Also Read: Why I Hate Social Media?
Follow a 5-sec rule
One of the biggest hindrances in achieving our goals is procrastination. This is a Japanese technique to beat laziness.
If you have to do any work, start doing it within the 5 sec from when you thought of it.
Once we start doing any work, we automatically get motivated to do it for a longer time.
So, next time your mind gives you a reason to postpone something, remind yourself of the 5-sec rule.
Also Learn: Importance of Time Management: Definition, Advantages & Disadvantages
Develop mini habits
Daily habits shape our lives but our current lifestyle gives us many reasons to postpone the things for the next day.
Sparing 5-10 minutes a day to do the tasks like exercising, reading a book, dusting the house would give you the confidence of “something is better than nothing”.
But this comes with a caution- do them sometimes, don’t make it a habit to use short cut every time.
Recommended to You: 7 Things You Should Do Before You Go To Sleep
Stop overthinking
This is one of the biggest culprits of uninvited stress. To stop getting stressed or anxious, it is extremely important to stop overthinking train in the beginning.
To put those thoughts to rest, the best tip is mindfulness, bring your mind to the present moment (focus completely on the task you are doing at that moment).
Another technique that works for me- setting a time /appointment with myself (say- sun 12 PM) to think about the problem. If you start thinking about that problem, remind yourself of the appointment.
Don’t be a doormat
Since childhood, I had a bad habit of keeping quiet when I had to speak up. The result- people thought “I am very naïve and timid and treated me as a doormat.”
You should definitely respect others but first, respect yourself. If you don’t respect yourself, others won’t. Thus next time, learn to stand up for yourself, especially when it is not your fault and you know you are right.
Learn digital marketing
We live in an online world. The digitalization has opened many new avenues for us like Youtube, blogs, online businesses and many more.
Knowing digital marketing can be a big plus for you.
Knowledge of SEO, Content Writing, Google Ads, SMM etc can help you make a great career as well as help you to grow your business faster than your competitors.
Hone your skills
Let’s accept the fact, in today’s time, most of us are easily replaceable. The companies are in constant lookout for people who can do the same or a better job than us at a lower salary.
The solution- Keep working on yourself. Learn new skills. Work on improving your current skills.
Constant learning might also help you to understand your capabilities and discover new avenues that might interest you.
Look at the bigger picture
Often, we are so tied to our present situation that we forget to look at the bigger picture.
But at the time of any unforeseen circumstances, looking at the big picture might help you get a new perspective. You may see many doors with new opportunity opening which you never thought of.
Develop this habit as it may give you the strength to fight life’s bigger battles.
Get your finances in place
We don’t understand the value of saving till the time we get a tight slap by our finances.
Saving and having an investment plan in place is vital. You should always have a backup fund for emergencies like sudden medical expenses, job loss (having a minimum of six-month salary backup) etc. is a must.
Financial lack can put a lot of strain and you can easily fall into depression.
Also Read: Top 5 Money-Saving Tips For Better Financial Planning & Analysis
Learn to live solo
The last point is to be independent.
I am not just talking financial here. I am also talking physical, mental and emotional state.
I know, most of us are social beings and we need someone with us. But the truth of life is- its very unpredictable.
So, make yourself so strong that you don’t fret on being alone. Start taking yourself out for shopping, movies, dates. Time to build a relationship with yourself and get to know yourself better.
These habits have helped me to improve and re-live my life. I hope it does the same for you. May 2021 be a transformational year for you.