The Best Self-Improvement Life Lessons Captured in 30 Short Bullet Points.
Easy to digest, harder to implement.
Photo by Sven Mieke on Unsplash
Self-development doesn’t work for most people.
Why? Most people don’t take action to change.
Self-improvement is useless without action.
Life advice just becomes another form of mental masturbation. And just like most forms of masturbation, it feels good while you’re doing it but leaves you feeling empty in the long term.
If you’re not committed to taking action, don’t bother reading this article.
If you’re willing to try at least one of these lessons read on.
Mood follows action. Action creates movement. Movement creates momentum. Momentum produces motivation. Motivation changes mood. Take some action today and watch your mood improve.
Success follows the 3-year rule. You can have anything you want. You just have to be willing to pay a price for it. Dedicate yourself to anything for 3 years or longer and you’re guaranteed to be successful. Be patient with your results but impatient with your actions.
Focus on your future trajectory, not on your current situation. Improving your trajectory by 1% every day will make you 365x better in one year. These 1% improvements are small daily actions such as exercising and reading. Put your energy into where you want to be, not regretting where you currently are.
Time reveals yourself to yourself. Time is a force multiplier for your decisions. Good daily habits will make time your friend. Bad daily habits will make time your enemy. The choice is yours.
99% of life decisions are reversible. Aside from having kids or committing a crime, any decision you make can be reversed. Even marriage. You can change jobs, careers and even where you live. Focus on the big picture, don’t stress over the small stuff.
Most people don’t care about you. This is a good thing. If you stop yourself from doing something for fear of judgment, chances are that most people won’t notice or even care. Start that blog or YouTube Channel. Most people are too busy in their own lives to judge yours.
Most of our regrets are regrets of inaction. Not starting a business. Not asking out that person. Not leaving a bad relationship. You almost never regret the things you did do, but you will regret the things that you didn’t do. Not taking opportunities can be as bad as not having any at all.
Your mindset determines your level of success long before your skillset. Most people are defeated before they even begin. All they see is negativity and pessimism. If you don’t believe in yourself to succeed who will? Your biggest supporter should be the person in the mirror.
Iteration of practice beats hours of practice. Doing the same thing every day won’t help you improve. Experimenting with new techniques will. You want 10,000 iterations, not 10,000 hours.
Writing online every day will change your life. You are one piece of content from a dream client, new career, or job. Put yourself out there. Create in public. Show your work. You’ll be surprised how your content will become a magnet for opportunities.
When it comes to money, aim to be reasonable, not rational. It’s not rational to keep a lot of cash in the bank but it is reasonable if you’re planning to start a business. The best financial strategy is the one that helps you sleep at night.
Early success is overrated. I used to think if you haven’t achieved success in your 20s you were behind. Wrong. Chasing early success can lead you to optimize your life for the wrong things. The truth is that anyone, at any age and stage of their life, can bloom.
Aiming to be average is harder than aiming to be excellent. The mediocre average is the most competitive. There are more people wanting the same thing. Everyone wants a secure salaried job. Few want to start and build their own business.
Learning to make Wifi money is key to your financial future. Start by creating low-capital, no inventory digital assets (i.e eBooks). Trade those digital assets for financial assets. Keep your lifestyle the same and live off the dividends of those financial assets.
Humans are made to walk uphill. A flat and easy journey is boring. Experiencing a healthy level of challenge and adversity is what makes life meaningful. When life isn’t challenging you, you should probably challenge yourself.
Managing success can be just as hard as managing failure. We aren’t taught the “art of running downhill” writes Matthew McConaughey. Learn to channel your success to create momentum. The minute you sleep on a win is the day you wake with a loss.
Take responsibility for everything in your life. Drop the victim mentality and stop blaming others for your current situation. It’s no one's fault but yours. Your life improves in proportion to how much responsibility you take.
There is no such thing as ‘easy’ improvement. Every improvement requires some level of identity change. And identity change is painful. You can’t become something new without leaving something else behind.
Most people die at 30 but aren’t buried until 70. “The great tragedy of life is not death but what we allow to die inside of us while we live.” — Norman Cousins
There will never be a ‘perfect’ time to start. Stop procrastinating. Take steps to get yourself moving. Action delayed is potential betrayed.
The closer you get to your goals, the bigger the fear. Use the signal to keep going not stop. The life you want is on the other side of fear.
The easiest path is generally the poorest route. Easy choices now create a hard life later. Hard choices now create an easy life later.
Use your weekends to create the life you want, not escape the one you have. Invest in your learning. Invest in your relationships. Invest in your mental health. Invest in your recovery. Investing in your weekends pays enormous dividends.
You are what you think. The thoughts in your mind are the seeds for the harvest you reap. Whether you think you can or can’t do it, you’re right.
People never take the time to date themselves. You spend so much time trying to make someone else happy. But have you ever taken time out to make yourself happy?
Breakthroughs require breakdowns. To become the person I am today, I had to go through numerous heartbreaks, points of failure and stick-or-twist moments. While they were the most challenging time of my life, they gave me valuable lessons I wouldn’t trade for anything.
Creating wealth or achieving success is a formula. “You don’t get rich by doing certain things — you get rich by doing things in a certain way” — Wallace D Wattles.
Being comfortable being alone is a superpower. When you don’t need anyone around you for any particular reason, you can love the person more for who they are, not what they give you.
Evolve or repeat. What doesn’t get resolved from your childhood, gets repeated in adulthood. We all have to work through emotional baggage and varying levels of childhood trauma.
To live like the 1% you must do what the 99% won’t. Do what others won’t so you can live like others can’t.
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