Learning to work on self-improvement during this intense time in our lives can really pay off in the long run. We all have so much going on in our lives currently, and it can be easy to neglect paying attention to ourselves when we’re stuck in a rut. However, focusing on self-growth can really push ourselves forward at this time. Just because you aren’t around others doesn’t mean you shouldn’t care! In fact, being away from others gives you time to get clarity. 

Focus on creating lifestyles and habits- exercising daily creates good habits. From there, you can create goals such as weight loss and etcetera, but creating a healthy habit is the first step to setting effective long-term goals. The same goes with self-love – loving yourself fully based on how you look will never be a path to real long-term acceptance of yourself. The good thing is that self-improvement is an ongoing process. Don’t put pressure on yourself to meet deadlines. Accomplishments are not what lead to our happiness.  The process of making changes can be very overwhelming, especially if you are being too hard on yourself or expecting it to happen extremely fast.Oftentimes, we are so focused on our lives and others that we forget to work on ourselves. A goal-oriented mind-set can create an intense up and down effect. For example, a runner can train for weeks, but once they win their marathon, they stop training as hard. There is no longer a race to motivate them. If all you focus on in life is your goals, then what pushes you to move forward once you achieve that? That’s why it can be hard to break old habits – you tend to revert to those habits once you accomplish a goal. The purpose of a goal is to win, but the purpose of building a self motivated improvement lifestyle is to endlessly refine yourself and create a commitment to progress as a person. 

That’s not to say that goals are useless. However, goals are good for planning for progress, and creating a system to improve in the long term. Goals can push you forward in the short term. It’s important to commit to goals to change them to motivational improvement steps. Self-improvement isn’t always about reaching goals. Learn how to do more of what you enjoy, and focus more on yourself. Learning more about yourself can be a truly life changing experience.