Day 23: 5 Ways to Constantly Improve.

I am no stranger to change as I have made it abundantly clear in several posts here. In fact, I have huge respect for the entire concept of ‘change’. Sure, it seems like a scary thing at the beginning. But when the right kind of change comes your way and you know how to welcome it with open arms, that change starts to feel like an upgrade from who you are to who you could be!

Change doesn’t seem scary to me anymore. In the world we live in today, where updates and upgrades are thrown in our faces, whether they are for software, hardware or our personalities, change has become an important part of our lives. And the only way you can make this better is by constantly evolving with these changes instead of resisting them because you are too scared to step out of the comfort zone of your old ways.

There are things in life that let us constantly improve as we do them. Here are the 5 things I do every day to constantly improve myself and why they are important:

1. Reading.
You’d be surprised at how much you can learn by just reading, even if what you’re reading is just fiction. I began reading at a very early age and I enjoy classics just as much as I enjoy contemporary works. Non-fiction is even better. If I use any big words in my everyday vocabulary, there’s a good chance that it has been imprinted in my head by reading.

Encyclopaedias, random articles on conspiracy theories, crazy and unreliable tabloids, crappy books, great books— anything and everything I could get my hands on. There aren’t enough words in the world to describe how much of an impact reading has had on who I am as a person today.

2. Journaling. 
I’m pretty sure that you’re all sick of me writing about journaling every other day, but it is what it is. Journaling is a beautiful way to jot down your thoughts and let your emotions in a safe place. It’s not the best method for everybody, but it works for me because I’ve been doing it for a long, long time now. A journal lets you let out whatever emotions you have been bottling up, giving you that much-needed catharsis.

I’ve always liked letting out my thoughts with a pen to paper. Over time, I started maintaining different kinds of journals. Now I have a diary, a poetry journal, a work-related journal, one for random thoughts, and multiple art journals. It might sound like a lot of work, but it isn’t. The best part is that when it comes to a journal, there are no rules to be followed, so it’s perfectly acceptable to let out every crazy thought that is bothering you.

3. Not caring what people think. 
Kind of a big one, kind of an important one. For way too long I let what people said about me behind my back get to me and it took a major toll on my emotional health as my self-esteem dipped. It has taken me a while to unlearn that and listen to nobody but my inner voice because she knows best when it comes to my truth. It’s definitely not easy because it’s a crazy world we live in and no matter what you do, people are going to nitpick at the one thing you didn’t do.

Remember that you cannot please everybody, and even if you do, it’s never 100%. As long as you know that you’ve given it your best shot, the world’s opinions of you shouldn’t matter. I’m not lying when I say that you’ll feel incredibly liberated once you stop caring about what everyone else thinks of you. People who like you for you will always exist.

4. Practicing my art. 
Whether it’s writing, sketching or painting, I’ve slowly begun to dabble in everything a little bit every day because I don’t want to go back to it after ages and be unable to feel the same kind of connection with the paintbrush or paper. The more I do these things, the more honed my skills are going to be when I actually need to use them for something important someday.

It doesn’t just apply to ‘art’, though. You could be good at something, but there is a chance that you may have gone a little rusty because you haven’t had any kind of practice lately. Practicing your art every day will also bring a sense of consistency in your life, no matter how crazy everything else is right now.

5. Being Grateful. 
I cannot stress this enough! Showing your gratitude for something that holds a very special meaning in your life can be your strength during really hard times. It may not seem like it, but the more grateful that you are for the things and people in your life, the more you are likely to see things in a more positive light.

Even if you don’t always say it out loud to the people you are grateful for in your life, say it by doing something nice for them, or simply by making them feel cherished for the place they hold in your life. It’s as easy as that! The world could always use more of that kind of positivity.

Life is all about changes and improvements. When it’s not the devices you use, it’s the vehicle you own, and when it’s not the vehicles, it’s your wardrobe or furniture. But the most important thing that you can improve in life is yourself. It’s really not as hard as everyone says.

Baby steps, my friend. You’ll get there! You have nowhere to go but up.

Cheerio! Xx

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Yours truly,
The Shubhster.

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Featured Image by Ryan Tasto on Unsplash