Brain Training Online

September is self improvement month. If you’ve been considering self improvement month and have anticipated beginning a new program, exercise, or even mindset, don’t wait ‘til September! Begin in now.

The reason for this is simple. Many people see self improvement month as a marker for beginning something new and wonderful in their lives, but the reality is that every September is just another month to most people once it arrives. It is treated like New Year’s and the resolutions that we make to ourselves, only to abandon them after a few days -or a week, if we’re lucky.

Here are a few suggestions. First, forget about what month it is, just tell yourself that this month will be your own personal self improvement month, and that you’re going to make the changes that you need in your life every month. Next, write your goals down on paper. This might sound silly, even a waste of time, but the most successful people throughout history have done this. Why is it so successful? The fact is that while thoughts are helpful, they’re only half a step towards accomplishment.

Once you write something down –a goal, for instance, you make it “real” in the sense that you can now see it, add more information to it if you like, or even realize that maybe it’s a bit too lofty, unattainable, whatever. Once any idea hits paper, it takes on a feel of something more akin to truth, and this is a full step –your first, towards accomplishment.

Now everyone has different goals in their lives. Many of these are emotional based, whereas others are towards material attainment. There is not enough time or space, for the purposes of this article, to cover every possible problem. For this reason, the problems will be kept to generalities for the most part.

Confidence is one of the great overall problems that people seek to ameliorate. As this is your self improvement month, let’s start with that. Do you feel that others are more fortunate than you, or that they are favored by other people more greatly than you, even though you’ve tried your hardest? If so, you have a definite dissatisfaction.

Are you afraid to be yourself? Do you feel you must say things that really aren’t from your heart, that maybe even make you feel ashamed to say them, though you feel that you’re somehow obliged to say these things? Is this true with your actions? Do you dress to impress yet feel like a “fake” all of the time? Of course it should be realized that we all experience this at some points in our lives, but if this is an almost daily occurrence then it may truly be a problem.

Are you afraid to speak up for yourself, even though you know you’ll be hurt if you don’t say something? Can you “put your finger” on why you are so reticent to speak up for yourself?

The fact is that all of these are very common problems, and all of them are amendable. For some people the answer may come as an epiphany, in a flash of inspiration that helps them to turn their lives around. For others, it may take years. It is suggested that you get to writing down your problems and solutions that you think may work. Then discuss this with some close friends, who often may know you better than you know yourself. Act on these findings and if a viable solution is not attained at this point, start investing in some self improvement books. They need not be new, even, as some of the best books in this field are half a century old (cf. Dale Carnegie).

The point is that you try to make your world better, and this is at the heart of any form of success. The Chinese have a saying that goes, it is not shameful to fall and get up and try again. The only shame is if you fall and then are too afraid to again rise. Rise up, every day, for every day is a day in self improvement month, and every day you get better.