Posts tagged Mistake
Work on Your Weaknesses First
Oct 23rd
We all know somebody who’s excellent in some parts of their lives, but performs poorly at others. You might be such a person yourself.
They are also the lowest-hanging fruit on the self-improvement tree. To develop basic skills in some area usually has a much bigger payoff than to improve in an area where we are already skilled. It’s often the first few lessons in any endeavor where we learn and improve the most.
The advice is simple – step out of what you’re most comfortable with and concentrate on improving those things that directly affect you and that you’re really bad at.
Perhaps you have poor social skills, or maybe your financial literacy isn’t that good. Maybe your fitness level needs some work, or your self-discipline is poor. Have you always been terrible at managing money, or is your numeracy not as good as it could be? Perhaps your personal appearance and hygiene could do with some work, or your education level is much below what you’d like it to be.
Whatever your greatest weakness is, you probably already know all about it. But instead of fixing what’s clearly broken, you may instead prefer to tinker with what you’ve got that works.
Don’t make the mistake of only working on what you’re good at.
Decide today what the greatest weakness you have that needs improving is. And make a plan to improve yourself in that area. You may want to write your plan down, or merely work it out in your head. It doesn’t matter so long as you take active steps to address it.
Your ultimate goal should be to turn your weakness into a strength. Surprise those who know you by filling in the gaps in your character and excelling in something that they always thought you were terrible at.
And surprise yourself by improving the area of your character you have always secretly been ashamed of.
Build Your Self-Esteem Through Self-Awareness
Oct 12th
If you want to work your way towards gaining a healthy amount of self-esteem, start building self-awareness. Self-awareness means having the courage to come to terms with every single aspect of your self – physical, intellectual, emotional, social, and spiritual – including both your strengths and weaknesses in each area.
If you’re unhappy with yourself for any reason, deal with what’s troubling you immediately before it can cause permanent damage to your self-esteem. The only things that we can change about ourselves are those that we are willing to acknowledge. When we deny that someone, or something, is robbing us of our self-esteem, we become passive and refuse to take action.
The first thing to do is to ask yourself, “What triggered my low self-esteem?” Was it an unkind remark, a poor body image, rejection, a major setback in your life, etc.? Try to be as honest as possible and pinpoint the exact cause.
The next step would be to find solutions to eradicate the cause. I don’t suggest that you start plotting revenge to every person who’s been mean to you. And certainly, you can’t turn back the hands of time and wish that you’ve done something different. The feasible way has more to do with your thinking. Change the way you think about the people or things or situations that gave you low self-esteem.
It’s a normal reaction to retreat further into your shell if you’ve been hurt or rejected in the past. But how long are you going to allow people or circumstances to keep you from achieving your fullest potential and live a satisfying life?
Redeem the hours you’ve spent feeling sorry for yourself. Get a new perspective about life. Immerse yourself in books, music, and movies that inspire you. Cut out anything in your life that makes you feel bad about yourself.
Another way to build self-awareness is to watch the way you talk to yourself. Do you tend to put yourself down whenever you make a mistake? If so, stop. Treat yourself kindly and say, “Next time, I resolve to do better.”
Learn to validate yourself. Sure, you may have weaknesses, but you have capabilities, too. One of the best ways to build your self-esteem is to identify those areas where you’re good at and capitalize on them.
Also, be aware that from this point you and you alone are responsible for your self-esteem. So like yourself. Like yourself enough that even when you’re not in the company of others, you can be at peace.
Now that you know yourself better, get a clearer idea of what you want most out of life. With a higher level of self-esteem, you can afford to risk more, achieve more, and reach out more to people.
