How to change yourself and your life: five steps towards the ideal

There are many tips on how to improveyourself, your life, how to change your destiny, after all. But you won’t find many explanations of what exactly you should do to change your life for the better. Even if we are quite happy, usually something still bothers us: the plight of one of our relatives or friends, a feeling of incomplete personal fulfillment, changes in life that are beyond our control, dissatisfaction with the past or regret about this or that choice we had to make in the present, anxiety about the possibility of getting sick or even fear of death. The list is long; everyone has their own reasons for worrying, which ultimately make us feel dissatisfied with ourselves and our lives. Sometimes we simply do not know what to do to find a way out of the difficulty, or we simply begin to ignore the problem, thereby simply “preserving” it. And an unresolved problem makes us feel unhappy or unfulfilled, even if we are not aware of the real reason for dissatisfaction with ourselves. We would like to offer a way to create your own personal growth plan. In developing this plan, you will think about what exactly you are unhappy with in your life and what you would like to change. It is quite possible that you will not be able to bring yourself to implement the entire plan; most likely, you will have to address one point at a time, because each of them will give you food for thought.

Know yourself

Each of us has two "I's":The “I” that we believe I really am, and the “ideal me” that we would like to be. Everything we will talk about further is aimed at helping you to get as close as possible to your ideal on your own – either by changing your real self, or by revising your ideals, or by trying to change both. And your life will change along with it. Assess yourself on the questions below, and then begin working on the specific issues that you have identified that are of greatest concern to you. Here is what you should do when you begin working on yourself:

First, know yourself.Consider your strengths and weaknesses. What motivates you? What gets you down? Are there any reasons why you want to change yourself or your life? Why do you behave in certain situations in certain ways? Good self-analysis is a great way to begin making changes on your personal development journey. You will begin to understand where you are not living up to your full potential and where you may need to learn to rein yourself in. It is very difficult to change anything until you understand the problem you are facing. It is like going on a trip without a map and a plan. How do you know where you are going and what is in front of you if you do not have a full understanding of the area you are in? So it is here: before you are going to make serious changes in your life, first find out who you are now and who you see yourself in the future.
Second: believe in yourself.The main condition under which you can change something in yourself is good self-esteem. If you do not believe in your abilities, do not believe that you can change your life, then this will not happen. Develop self-confidence, otherwise you simply will not give yourself the opportunity to succeed, and your life will remain the same.
Third: you will want change.Believing that you can change something is, of course, extremely important. But it is not enough. It is equally important to really want it. Personal motivation is vital to provide you with the necessary will, without which you simply will not be able to take the necessary steps for the sake of the intended changes.

Five Steps to a New Life

Once you have purposefullyanalyze your life and your own personality, and start working on yourself. How can you move towards the intended changes? You can act like an artist who works with the materials that he has at hand. For example, a potter saw a piece of clay, figured that this would be enough for a good cup, took it and molded it. You, like an artist, can be guided by inspiration, momentary insight, intuition. But such work, based on intuition and feelings, has very high risks - its result depends on the skill of the artist, on his talent and the quality of the material that fell into his hands. He can get a masterpiece, or a completely useless thing that no one needs. If you compare working on yourself with the work of an artist, then it is better to adopt the working methods of a real master. He is not guided by momentary inspiration and does not create from what is at hand. A true master thinks over his future creation, makes sketches, then carefully selects materials, and only then does he begin to implement the idea into life. Only in this case can you be sure that in the end the product will not fly into the trash bin. The second option, although more down-to-earth and certainly not as romantic as the first method, but it has a much greater chance of success. So, start your first steps towards your new “I”:

Step one: decide when and what you will change.Sometimes it is necessary to check whether there are any unresolved issues or problems that could prevent you from focusing on your new plans. Ask yourself: could anything prevent you from fulfilling your plans? Is now the right time for change? Are you ready for these changes and the efforts that need to be made to implement them?
Step two: Be specific about your goals.What are your priorities? What would you like to get in the end? What do you want to achieve? Formulate specific goals. But never forget that your goals are not carved in stone: when you begin to change and grow as a person, you can change or even “break” them and build new goals for yourself that will become more obvious as you grow as a person. On one condition: goals should lead you forward, and not make you mark time.
Step three: plan, plan, plan!Now you have a list of goals, and to make them achievable, you must plan your actions to change your personality traits, and with them, your life. Develop a clear plan. Think about the end result and outline for yourself: “In order to…, I need to do…” This will help you increase your self-confidence, and will serve as that very map on the way that we have already talked about.
Step Four: Take Action. Work with your plan, take the necessary actions to change the status quo.
Step five: don't give up.Do at least a little of what you set out to do, but do it regularly. Check in with your plans, re-prioritize, and adjust your priorities to match your plans as you begin to feel like you're growing.

What can stop you?

You have already started working on yourself, even ifjust reading this article now. You will make a big step if you only analyze yourself, your life, your possible goals. But always, when any changes begin, obstacles begin to appear. Some of them will be eliminated by you on your own, and some may be out of your control. In any case, you should not be afraid and give up. Just be prepared for the fact that it will not be very easy to change. And if forewarned, then, as they say, forearmed. So, what can hinder you:

Stress.If your life is already too stressful, then with the onset of change, stress can only increase. Therefore, take all measures to relieve unnecessary stress. Pay special attention to a healthy lifestyle.

Lack of self-confidence.We have already talked about the importance of believing in yourself. Perhaps this is the very first thing you should change about yourself. Do everything necessary to increase your self-esteem and start seeing yourself in a new light. Believe that you can change your life. You may have to work hard; but what you do for yourself, no one else can do better than you!

The next aspect that slows down orstops the process of change in your life - it is the lack of motivation. Without motivation, it is very difficult to overcome the obstacles that you will have to face. Find convincing arguments for yourself why you need to move on. And reward yourself for every achievement, even the smallest one.

Chaos in life. Are not too many messy events include your days? Do not you set yourself a lot of tasks, clutching at doing one or the other? To get rid of chaos and focus on true priorities, planning will help you.

Working on yourself has never been easy for anyoneeasy. But the realization that your successful life is built with your own hands inspires and opens up new horizons. So gather your courage and patience, and start taking the first steps towards your ideal! We recommend reading: