That's one of my favorite adages. I also like to say that 365 days in a year are 365 opportunities I have.
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So every day we have an opportunity to get worse, to stay the same or... to get better.
Personally, I would always choose an opportunity to get better. To get better every day. In order to do that you always need to do something for self-improvement, right?
Now, just imagine your day. You start at 8 or 9 in the morning and finish your work around 5 or 6 pm.
You're usually going to bed around midnight (let's say 12-1 am).
So that's 6, 7 or even 8 hours to spend. And let me ask you - what are you doing within these hours?
You just cannot imagine how important these hours are to any of you.
In fact, they are way more important than the hours you put in at your day job.
Many think that putting your hardest effort at work during this 8-hour or so working day is the key to the progression of your career as a professional.
Also, that A LOT depends on your boss and the company itself, timing, etc.
Must say this but... almost every person on this earth is dead wrong about that. Your boss, company itself, timing? Seriously? That sounds like f---ing excuses to me.
Well, maybe there's some piece of truth in that putting all this hard work during your working day might lead to a raise or a better position after some time.
But are you really improving by performing your everyday usual and often repetitive tasks at work?
Another question to be asked, how many of these 8 working hours are you really productive and 100% into what you're doing?
Now you need to get back to the real life and to understand once and for all, that you're all alone on this one.
IMPROVEMENT.
You can get a raise or be promoted. But did you really improve?
As a person, as an individual, as a professional?
Self-improvement always depends on just one person. YOU.
Can't you see any progress in your life? Lack of luck? Asking where is your success? Nah, you can't blame others (your boss/company, etc.) for what you're not achieving.
It's just one and very simple answer for that.Lack of effort, lack of self-discipline and lack of real self-improvement.
You see, I've learned it while working at one of the leading law firm in the Baltic States region. There were constant weeks when I spent 60+ hours per week. I was performing my tasks, doing my daily duties but not really getting better as a person or individual. I was just getting better at these daily tasks, repetition repetition repetition. Well, okay I agree - that is an improvement at some kind of level.
But at that time I was not getting anywhere close to becoming a better person. I was lacking empathy (for myself and others), totally lacking self-awareness. Because of this, I was just blind to myself and people around me, about my goals and true passions.
What led me to this? Well, I can clearly remember the first days at the law school I started. One professor told us straight away - time you are here, you can forget all kind of other (non-law) reading. And he was absolutely right. In order to be good at law studies and later to be a total baller at the law firm, you must give up all kind of other reading in order to be able to concentrate on performing daily duties and random tasks at work.
However, during my internship in New York (NY, USA), I found out the true pleasure of reading (first of all, thanks to the panic attacks I had -- reading was a great distraction of my mind back then). Started with some fiction books after a year I've moved back to reality and now trying to read only non-fiction books.
Why? Fiction books usually don't give you any sense of becoming better at something. It's the same as watching a movie or a freaking tv-show just in a different format.
Also, I can't get this thought of my head that I heard quite a long time ago...
When you're reading a book, you're reliving someone else's life!!
And you have an insane opportunity to get the knowledge of a person who had experienced stuff and was writing a book for 3, 10 years, or maybe a whole lifetime. And you can get it for pennies and by spending a couple of days/weeks/months to read. That's crazy.
Okay, I agree - books cost money. And quite a lot if you're reading a lot. €20 here and £17 there. That all adds up.
But then there's a question for you - why do you have a monthly budget for entertainment & partying but don't have any budget for self-improvement?
Starting day one when you can call yourself conscious and self-aware about all this stuff, you should set up a monthly budget for how much you can spend on self-improvement.And that's not only for books. It might be for all kinds of paid online (or not online) courses, language lessons, etc. Around 10-15% of your monthly income is more than enough.
Good thing I've mentioned other forms of learning. I'm not only attached to books and reading, you don't have to be too.
There are some really great online courses in practically any subject you want. From learning chess with Kasparov (MasterClass), learning acting with Kevin Spacey (MasterClass), to great marketing lessons from Seth Godin (SkillShare). Learn how to sketch, learn how to be Instagram famous (SkillShare). Just go for it.Anything you want. I passed some digital marketing and user-experience design courses in uDemy. When you're ready - take Coursera classes if you want some academic ratification (who the hell cares?) and get your diploma.
Also, don't forget other video and audio formats. Audio is really popping right now and it's pretty clear for me why. While listening to a podcast, you can multitask.
Some of my favorites are BrandBeats, GaryVee Audio Experience, Perpetual Traffic by Digital Marketer, CreativeMornings Podcast.
I usually listen to podcasts while I'm driving (who spends a great amount of time in traffic too?) or while doing sports. That's the best time - you're getting at least two things done at the same time. Keep this in mind.
Got tired of reading or online courses? Want to relax a bit?
Don't go for another episode of any f--king tv-show. Just open up YouTube. You can find pretty amazing stuff there too - from most famous speakers to great TED x Talks, all kind of inspirations and how-to lessons. You can start by Tim Ferris or Alan Watts.
Motivate yourself and learn about the Law of Attraction from celebrities like Will Smith(watching this at least couple of times per month).
You can even learn how to use photoshop or play an instrument.
Right now I could even call my strive for improvement obsessive. Sounds workaholic? Maybe a little but the value I'm getting is enormous and I'm very happy with it.
Don't you want to push yourself to the limits at the earliest age you can?
To sum up, real quickly, there are only 3 reasons why people don't read/listen/improve:
1. They don't know the value of it;
2. They do know the value but don't know where or how to start;
3. They do know everything but are lazy as f--k.
Well, if you still are not quite self-aware and don't feel the value of it... well, I can't help you.
If you don't know where or how to start - there are plenty of great reading lists.
If you're lazy, can't help you either but can at least try. You should develop a strong habit both for reading/improving or any other skill. Try an app called Coach.me, be consistent with it and don't lie to yourself. In around 40 days you'll develop some of the average-strong habits if you follow your daily plan.
Back to me, at the moment I'm building two new businesses while trying to get some knowledge for both of them.
I'm kinda new to the both industries as such but have quite a lot of vision how to build everything up. That's why I'm reading two kinds of books now - for my mind and for my soul. For my mind are those related to my professional career and the fields I'm in. For my soul - learning about emotions, reactions, psychology and educating children.
Variating these two categories helps to not get tired too quickly, also, because of its different purpose, it's easier for your mind to concentrate on every category when it's not all about the same thing.
And hey... I don't really have time to watch this 4-minute funny video you sent me... I have no time to watch someone dunks on someone during a basketball game. It's just one of many distractions we are all getting.
Concentrate on the real stuff - yourself (self-love), self-improvement, and people you love (and who can also care about you, and can help you to become better).
Thanks for reading,
V.
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