How do you even begin to better yourself? Is there a 12-step program? Does it require a near death experience? Is there a standardized test you have to take and pass?
Making the decision to better yourself is the first step – no special programs or tests required. People think that it just happens to them – like greatness will pick them out of the ‘be great’ lottery crowd. Your life is a series of choices and decisions.
Only you can control your choices and decisions.
Therefore, you should make the best choices and decisions.
We all know the difference between right and wrong, what you want, and what you don’t want. Reading the Goalden Lady is an awesome first step to becoming a better you!
Before you begin anything, you need a foundation. There aren’t many things that can hold up against the test of time without a foundation. Your work will need a foundation, or a plan. This will help you see the big picture and it allows you to break it down into weekly/monthly goal-size pieces, so that you can begin your journey. You don’t put on a space helmet and become an astronaut – you first have to go to school and study science, and so on. It’s not easy, but it will take time and patience.
Say for instance, a little girl wants to learn how to ride a bike. To a little girl, that’s a huge goal! So, she has the equipment – a bike, a helmet, and elbow and knee pads (preparation). Everyday, she performs the same, consistent actions that will lead her to riding her bike successfully. She practices the following:
-putting on her equipment
-getting on the bike
-pushing off with one foot, while the other foot is on the pedal
-balancing as she tries to ride with training wheels
Now, she practices this, with great intent, everyday (consistency). There are some days where she falls off, and it hurts (disappointment). She goes inside the house to clean up and then tries again (persistence). After working on her goal for a week, she can now ride her bike without training wheels (success)! Every now and then, she still falls, but that’s going to happen occasionally. She always gets back on to continue riding. Eventually, she begins to try new tricks on her bike, and again, it takes practice. She starts all over with the foundation that she built in the beginning, so she can learn new tricks. This foundation will take her through the rest of her life, successfully.
It may seem like the ‘small’ tasks you’re doing on a daily basis (the foundation) is not helping anything, but it is. Everything you do contributes to your work. It’s like a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle. You know what the picture is supposed to look like in the end, but now, you need to put together the smaller pieces to make the big picture. We all have our own special puzzle pieces, but only a few of us will take the time and energy to focus and put it all together. It may take months, it may take years, it may take a decade, but it’s your work and your success. I would rather take a lifetime building up myself, than to take up my life building up someone else.
Build your foundation. Create the magnificent person you were meant to be!