Self-improvement, self-care, self-love; these buzzwords are omnipresent at the moment, but what do they truly mean, and more importantly, how do you achieve them? Put simply; these are all body, mind and spirit positive ambitions, centered on treating yourself with care and having respect for your long-term wellbeing. From how you eat, sleep, plan your day and speak to yourself and others, and everything in between, there are opportunities for self-improvement and self-care every hour, should you choose to take them.
How do you improve yourself, though? Below are just a few top tips and tricks for starting your self-improvement journey today.
Feed your Body and Mind
Your top self-improvement priority should be to look at how, what and when you eat and drink. The fuel we feed ourselves with has a monumental impact on our physical and mental health; if you eat well, you’ll feel well.
But establishing a balanced diet that’s abundant with all the right foodstuff shouldn’t be a burden. If you follow the rule of clean eating, that is “real food” that hasn’t been processed, altered, or refined from its original, natural form, you’ll be making great, positive steps in the right direction.
Strive for a Healthy, Positive Relationship with Food
Furthermore, a healthy and positive relationship with food is essential for self-improvement. Research has shown that dieting, and other restrictive food behaviors, can be very detrimental to mental and physical health. Instead, try to think of adding good meals to your weekly intake, rather than taking away the bad. This small shift in mindset can take you a long way.
Go Natural
We surround ourselves with a worrying amount of chemicals, from the products we use to clean ourselves and our homes to the food we consume. Indeed, everyone could benefit from assessing where they could reduce their exposure to potentially harmful chemicals, by replacing artificial products with natural ones. In many cases, products with natural bases work just as well as their chemical counterpart. Hemp boasts powerful medicinal qualities; many pet owners are also seeing the benefit of hemp oil for dogs.
Set yourself Goals and have a Plan
You should look to set goals in your self-improvement, which will help to keep you on track and know where and how you’re progressing. Have you always wanted to run a half marathon? Do you drag yourself out of bed every day to go to work, and have been speaking about finding a new job for months? Whatever your ambition, commit to your vision with pen and paper. Writing it down, and having your plan on display, will incentivize you to work towards it.
Push yourself out of your Comfort Zone
No one truly self-improves without challenging themselves, which is why you should look to push yourself out of your comfort zone in the near future. Stepping from your comfort to your stretch zone, you’ll develop new skills, increased confidence and, probably, find you have a lot of fun in doing something new! There’s no need to stress yourself unnecessarily, but take small steps towards bigger challenges.