We all have aspects of ourselves that we’d like to improve. This could include anything from losing weight to becoming more financially organized. Whilst acknowledging these weaknesses is the first golden step, it’s possible to make mistakes whilst trying to improve that cause a negative impact. Here are five mistakes to avoid when working on yourself.
Focusing wholly on weakness and not strengths
Don’t focus all your energy on your weaknesses. Whilst stomping out your weaknesses could help you to be a better all-rounder, it’s your strengths that will make you stand out and lead to success. Taking time to hone your strengths could be essential for carving a successful career or for helping you to succeed at a hobby. Your strengths could even help you develop relationships. It’s these assets that people will look up to you for and its these assets that you ought to be proud of the most.
Quitting bad habits without a replacement
If your goal is to break a bad habit in order to improve, make sure that you’re taking up a healthier habit in its place. This could include vaping as a way of breaking a smoking habit, walking around the block instead of driving there or chewing on gum instead of biting your nails. Getting rid of a bad habit leaves a feeling of emptiness and having a replacement strategy can help to fill this void and make it easier to keep your bad habit under control. This guide on How To Break Bad Habits can offer more advice on this matter.
Improving yourself for someone else
There are times when you should improve yourself to benefit other people. As this guide shows, How To Win Your Ex Back – 5 Steps, improving yourself can be necessary for relationships sometimes. That said, you should be making the change because ultimately it makes you feel proud. If you’re doing out of peer pressure and don’t want to make that change yourself, this isn’t a positive improvement.
Trying to take on too many changes at once
It’s possible to follow multiple goals at once, but you should be careful of taking on too many big changes at once. We all need some familiarity in our lives to stay happy and if you’re making too many changes at once you may start to grow unsettled as it becomes harder to adjust to your new life. Taking big changes in individual steps allows to adjust to each one. For example, you don’t want to be moving house, having a kid and getting married in the space of a few months.
Not being patient enough with progress
Many forms of self-improvement take time – it could take several years to finally overcome a fear of public speaking or master a new language or lose the weight you want. Stay motivated by constantly setting small goals rather than just having one big goal. Reward each of these small goals along the way. If you’re trying to lose weight, this could include treating yourself to some new clothes every time you succeed at dropping a size. If you’re trying to break a drinking habit, this could include enjoying a day out with the money you’ve saved on booze every time you go a month without alcohol.
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