Tag: improving yourself

Sharpening the saw

Just like the analogy of “sharpening the saw,” you need to take time to sharpen your body and mind. Take the time to prepare for the future. When you a sharpening the blade of a saw, you may feel unproductive because you’re not actually “using” the saw to cut something down. But, in reality, you’re being extremely productive. Because of you being proactive in sharpening the saw, it ensures that when you do go to use it, it will be more efficient and cut more effectively with less energy being expended.

This is why it is important to work on “sharpening” your body and your mind. Eating healthy foods, working out, and stretching (which I enjoy the least, but need the most) are a few ways to sharpen your body. Reading, writing, drawing, painting, doing puzzles, building things, and meditating are ways you can sharpen your mind.

By working on yourself today, reducing your weaknesses or improving your strengths, you prepare yourself for the work of tomorrow to be easier. If your training is harder than the actual event, the event will seem easy to you and you’ll be able to perform better than the competition.

Capacities

Be careful not to judge other people’s capacity to do/withstand something. Not only are there different types of capacities/limits, such as mental, physical, or emotional capacities, but everyone is different in what their capacities are for each type. For example, you may be incredibly strong physically, but maybe you’re overburdened at home and your emotional capacity is very low.

Another thing to realize is our capacities are fluid, as they are constantly changing depending on what is going on in our lives. Maybe you just lost your job, your significant other decided to leave you (taking the dog too), and you were diagnosed with cancer. While your emotional capacity may normally be very high, you would probably be at the tipping point where even something very small which would normally not affect you makes you break down and cry.

These are just a couple of reasons why you should not judge others, but especially if you don’t have a good understanding of who they are and what their typical capacities/capabilities are. What you see from others is only a snapshot for where they are at any one particular time in their life.

Instead of judging others before you really get to know them, default to giving people the benefit of the doubt. They can be down one day, or even for a brief period in time, but after you’ve gotten to know them and their story, eventually you will have a better understanding of what their typical capacities are.

Just like anything else, we all have the ability to strengthen and improve each capacity. Are you working on improving yours? If you’re working with someone, or partnering with them, do you know if they are willing to work on improving theirs? You should not focus on where you (or others) are currently, but on where you (and they) are going based on their daily actions.

Do the best you can

All anyone should ever expect of someone else is that they do the best they can based on the knowledge and experience they have. How can you fault someone (including yourself) for making a poor decision when they were only acting based on their past experiences and the information they had at hand? That’s like me judging my 10-year old self for doing something dumb. Should I hold a grudge against 10-year old me? (Hint: the answer is no.)

Hindsight is always 20-20. We have all said or done things that we wish we wouldn’t have said or done, whether it was a minor offense or a major transgression. But you can’t change the past, you can only change how you will act in the future. The best way to make sure you improve your future actions is to continually be evolving. Work on improving yourself everyday – improving your mindset, working towards having an attitude of gratitude, teaching yourself to be more forgiving.

We all make mistakes, but all we can do is continue to try our best. As we watch others or experience something ourselves, we should take note as to how certain actions affect others. How did that make them feel? Was that the best way to handle the situation or would it have been more productive to approach it another way? Lastly, don’t judge others for doing something that you yourself may have done just a few years ago. Everyone is journeying through life together. They may be a little further ahead or behind you on the path, but don’t be so harsh to criticize when that could have been you making the same poor decision.

Pay yourself first

Just like with investing, you need to “pay yourself first” by making time for self-improvement. Everybody has the same amount of time in the day. Most of us fill up that time with work, housework, watching tv, or going on social media. But how many times have you heard people say that they are too busy to exercise or that there aren’t enough hours in the day?

Many people feel that they have a shortage of time. I understand this and feel that way too. But our problems often stem from poor time management and how we can rearrange our schedule to make it work optimally. For me, I like the idea of working on self-improvement first thing in the morning. My thought process is that just as you should automate paying the first 10% of your paycheck to yourself (saving/investing), you should also automate spending the first part of your day improving yourself. I like using the morning for working on myself because it’s quiet, the day hasn’t started (so there are no “fires to put out”), and my motivation is at its highest (I’m not tired from a long day of work). Not only that, but it feels good to start your day off right. It’s easier to keep the momentum going by starting right as opposed to starting and stopping throughout the day.

Although it can be daunting to feel like you have to do a lot in the morning before heading to work, you really don’t. Start with a little at a time. Read one page of a book you’ve been meaning to read. Do ten pushups. Stretch. Plan your day/set your intentions. Think about/write down what you’re grateful for. These are just a few examples. Just remember, every little bit counts. If you can improve yourself even fractionally each day, you’ll amaze yourself at how much that adds up over time. There is no greater return on investment than investing in yourself.

Cutting corners

“How you do one thing is how you do everything.”

If you cut corners in one area of your life, it is much easier to justify cutting corners in other areas as well. Don’t give yourself permission to cheat in anything, no matter how trivial, otherwise it may lead you down a slippery slope to cheat on big things later. Even if you do something that isn’t considered cheating, is it reflecting your best work? Is there a cleaner, better, or more effective way of doing something and you just don’t want to put in the effort to do it correctly?

Practice doing things the “right way.” (Note: there are several correct ways to do things, you have to try to be objective in determining what is the best way to do something.) Don’t give into the temptation of doing what is easy, or if cutting corners when nobody is looking. Because if you do that, eventually it will erode you’re standards in everything you do. Remember, how you do one thing is how you do everything. Choose your actions wisely.