How to Be Your Best Self

Rebecca Lewis August 04, 2014

Being your best is all about personal growth. You need not search for the answer anywhere, as everything you need is already within you. Sometimes, all you need to do is to disconnect and refocus your mind so you can figure out the best path to go or the most fitting direction to take.

But the journey towards personal growth isn’t that easy. Like all the good things, it also takes commitment, effort and hard work. It takes time as well. You don’t expect things to get better overnight and be at your best self the next day you wake up. Whatever area of your life you’re trying to improve – whether it’s your career, relationship or spiritual, it is through willingness to grow, learn and develop that we can become our best self.

Sounds a lot? Not really if you break them down into these simple achievable steps:

Determine your values.

This is a very crucial step towards self-improvement. Our values are those that matter to us, in which we base our daily choices and decisions. Not knowing what values you uphold may mean not having a direction in life. So before anything else, determine your core values first. You will find that when your decisions and actions aren’t aligned with your values, you will not feel you’re doing your best.

Know your strengths and weaknesses too.

Even the best people in the world do have weaknesses. Without these limitations, you can never improve. Imagine if you already have it all. Wouldn’t life be boring? Would you learn what hard work and perseverance really means? Whilst you work your way towards strengthening your skills and talents, you should also learn to accept your weaknesses and work on developing them.

Be mindful of your habits.

They may seem insignificant but your daily habits – whether positive or negative – have a huge impact on your life. Like your weaknesses, you must also figure out your negative and unhealthy habits and work on changing them. Remember that your habits are the building blocks of your future. If you’re looking to create a certain lifestyle, start with adopting habits that promote it.

Nurture your inner child.

No matter how old we are, we all have this ‘child’ within us that needs love and nurturing. When its needs aren’t met, we end up feeling disconnected to ourselves. And most of the time, we try to make things better by engaging to habits that offer temporary pleasure like smoking, drinking alcohol or using drugs. All these hinder our ability to be at our best self. Maybe this is the time that you give attention to your inner child. Take good care of it. Feed it with kind words and compassion. Nourish it physically as well. Eat right, exercise and get enough rest.

Go deeper.

Can’t concentrate? Feeling tired and sluggish? Having a hard time keeping up with your daily responsibilities and obligations? Instead of taking pills to relieve undesirable symptoms, going to the pub for a drink or two, or keeping yourself tied to your usual tasks and ignoring what you feel, do take a pause to examine yourself and go deeper into the root causes of your negative experiences.

Smile more, laugh harder.

You must strive to add more humour and laughter in your life. They don’t only energise you. They also motivate you to push harder and overcome challenges towards the better ‘you’. Be mindful of the joy that’s already around you. And try to see opportunities for laughter during difficult moments.

Complain less.

Learn how to deal with life’s disappointments. Life’s not always a bed of roses. Sometimes, tough storms hit us, and when they do, it may feel like they won’t ever end. But that’s the way it is. We can’t prevent bad things from happening. However, you can choose to enjoy your life and not always focus on what is bad, what is wrong and why you can’t or didn’t do something.

Be mindful of your emotions.

You can’t be your best self when you are unable to manage your emotions. Emotional regulation is so important in achieving personal growth because it gives you the ability to cope with difficult challenges and stay focused on your goals.

We should never stop chasing change in our life until we’ve become the best person we can be. Being self-aware gives you a good start towards self-growth and improvement.