Author: Minun
We’ve all been there. The place where we want to get better at something but when we try to improve, but we aren’t progressing as fast as we’d like. Well fear not fellow self-improver, for I have four tips for you that have helped me on my road to self-improvement.
Hopefully they can help you too! Remember that if you are feeling stuck, or need some encouragement, ConnecTeen is here for you. Contact us by phone, text, chat or email and we’ll do our best to help. 🙂
4 tips and tricks to set you on the road to self-improvement:
1. Set aside negative thinking.
Try to limit how much you think things along the lines of “I’ll never be good at this.” or “I should give up.” This way of thinking will just push you down and you’ll never have the motivation to do better and to learn and grow.
In Macklemore’s song Ten Thousand Hours, there’s a line that says, “The greats weren’t great because at birth they could paint, the greats were great because they paint a lot.” The whole song is about the journey to mastering one’s craft or skills and that one line really sums it up. You can be talented or untalented in a certain skill in the beginning but if you put in the effort to learn and grow then you’re going to get better.
2. There’s always room to improve.
Another form of unhelpful thinking is believing you’re the best and have no room for improvement. Professional athletes, musicians, and artists are always learning and finding new ways to do things. They practice and practice until they excel at it, but they never believe they’ve gotten as good as they possibly can and therefore stop trying to push further. And that’s exactly it; the fact that they don’t get stuck and are willing to try new things is inspiring.
3. Find what inspires you.
Inspiration really helps me learn and stay motivated. Often inspiration comes from another person who is already good at what they do and inspires you to be just as good as them (if not better). These sources of inspiration reveal a goal you can see and set a bar you can touch. You can learn so much from them because they’ve already done so much learning themselves and have developed a system that works best for them. However, be aware that focusing too much of the person who inspires you can be dangerous. If you have only one source of inspiration, it can leave you stagnant or you can run the risk of becoming obsessed with them in an unhealthy way.
Even if you can imitate what they do flawlessly, you’re only just a good imitator.
Instead of this, open yourself up to many sources of inspiration. Soak up knowledge from as many resources as you can, and never stop learning.
4. Practice, practice, practice.
The Macklemore song, Ten Thousand Hours is a reference to Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers where he says that it takes ten thousand hours of practice to master your craft. The more practice you put into something, the more your skills will improve. However, you should practice smart. Realize the many fundamental skills you need, and give each one the attention it deserves.
