How To Become Ridiculously Self-Aware In 20 Minutes

How To Become Ridiculously Self-Aware In 20 Minutes

Four years ago my sister got me something that would dramatically alter the direction of my life.

In fact, it was probably the most influential gift I’ve ever received.

It would help me find my true calling, become a writer at the Huffington Post, and go on a 5-month road trip across America by myself.

You know what it was?

One of these…

A journal.

A freaking journal.

Here are 4 Life-Changing Benefits Of Daily Journaling

You’d think that sitting down and putting pen to paper wouldn’t be that life-changing of a practice.

In this article you’ll learn four things..

  1. Why journaling’s the secret to not getting angry/upset much anymore.
  2. How it can show you why certain strategies work and don’t work.
  3. How writing can teach you to be more “present” in your everyday life.
  4. How journaling will help you become incredibly self-aware (the MOST IMPORTANT benefit by a long-shot).

Original Article

What’s the Point of Self-Improvement Anyway?

What’s the Point of Self-Improvement Anyway?

There’s a paradox with self-improvement and it is this: the ultimate goal of all self-improvement is to reach the point where you no longer feel the need to improve yourself.

Think about it: The whole goal of improving your productivity is to reach the point where you never have to think about how to be more productive. The whole point of pursuing happiness is to reach the point where one no longer has to think about being happy. The whole point of improving your relationships is so that you can enjoy some drama-free cunnilingus in the McDonald’s drive-thru without almost crashing the car.

(Still working on that last one.)

Self-improvement is therefore, in a weird way, ultimately self-defeating.

The only way to truly achieve one’s potential, to become fully fulfilled, or to become “self-actualized” (whatever the fuck that means), is to, at some point, stop trying to be all of those things.

Original Article

Self-love is the basis for self-improvement

Self-love is the basis for self-improvement

There’s a quandary I hear people talk about a lot in the self-improvement world which goes something like this: “Should I keep trying to change, or should I just learn to love myself?”

The people posing this question almost invariably feel terrible about themselves, and further, they assume that’s par for the course. It isn’t. In fact this whole “self-love vs self-improvement” thing is a false dilemma, one that badly misunderstands the role of self-love.

This equates loving yourself with thinking you’re just fine the way you are. It treats self-love as a reward for being the person you want to be. It assumes that your self-regard should be based, in some sense, on you being objectively “good.” And conversely, it equates wanting to change with disliking yourself. But ask yourself- is this true of your love for other people?

If you love someone else, surely that means you want the best for them? You want them to be healthy, happy and successful. If you have children, you want them to do well in school. If a friend is unhappy with their life, you want their life to change so they’ll be happy.

Apply the same standards to yourself that you do to others- love yourself the way you love your friends and family. Decide to be better because you deserve better; because you love yourself and want to enable yourself to live your ideal life.

Original Article