I think it takes a lot of strength and courage for people to focus on themselves. To be able to block out the negativity of the world to strive to be a better person is impactful. Self-improvement is a very difficult thing to do.

Taking energy, time, and effort to revamp is crucial in life since there is so much negativity in the world to drag you down. Some people feel that they need a “big existential crisis” to be able to pull back and focus on themselves, but that necessarily isn’t the case. It can be the grandest of measures to improve oneself, or it can be subtle daily tasks that over time alleviates a situation. Enhancing one’s life allows individuals to improve their mental health, focus on their ambitions, and even work towards healing relationships with others. 

So why is it that people don’t try to work on themselves more often? Well, some people don’t think there’s a point in doing so they tend to ignore their own needs. Another big reason why people don’t want to work on themselves is that they don’t want to start the long process of “self-rejuvenation,” thinking it’ll have to be a big change in their lives. People, even myself at one point, think that by working on yourself you have to cut everyone and everything off. This is not true. What you do need to cut off, however, are the things that don’t work for you. The things that don’t embrace you, serve you, or make you feel good are what need to be removed from your life. It’s hard to recognize these things, and even harder to admit sometimes, but to be able to acknowledge that improvement needs to be made is the first step into becoming a better person. 

There are many ways that a person can start to work towards improvement. One way is to spend time alone. To be comfortable in your own presence with no one else is powerful in the sense that you aren’t dependent on other people to keep you content. Working out, or just doing anything to keep you moving and motivated is crucial too. Improving yourself not just mentally, but physically makes a tremendous impact on how you feel about yourself. 

Discovering yourself through a different lens is also very important. Finding new interests or hobbies can spark an outlet and passion. Speaking of passions, diving into things you truly love is so important to self-improvement. Reading, listening to music, traveling, and many others are great ways to enjoy being with yourself. You can also give to charity or volunteer. Helping others gives us a sense of fulfillment, and that makes us feel better about ourselves. And hopefully, this short fulfillment turns into a calling to do good, not only for others who are in need but for ourselves. 

And lastly, believe in yourself. It’s important to not let your negative thoughts get to you. I’m not saying this is easy, it’s definitely not. It is incredibly challenging to get into the habit of strictly working on yourself. Everyone, including myself, fails. But remember, everyone gets up when they fall. You need to have a positive mindset when working on yourself. And once you achieve this, you can handle anything. From personal experience with this, self-improving in all aspects has changed who I am. I feel elevated, wiser, stronger. I think working on myself made me realize that I am more than I thought, and I have so much more potential for the future to come. There’s a lot that this method has taught me, but the most important was that I can do anything I put my mind to. Self-improvement is not an easy task, but it’s more than worth it in the end.