How to Make Self-Improvement A Daily Habit

Often, as we age, we mistakenly view self-improvement as something that we don’t need to do anymore. We think, “Improving ourselves was for our younger years. We’re good now … aren’t we?” The short answer is, “No!” We each are a work in progress and should be improving ourselves until the day we die. That is why we need to make self-improvement a daily habit.

You should be doing something every day to improve yourself. You might focus on learning a skill. Or you may devote your time to becoming healthier, or growing in emotional or spiritual maturity. It doesn’t matter what area you focus on. The main goal is not to stagnate.

Think of yourself like the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. What if when painting the chapel, Michelangelo had painted only one scene from the Bible and had left the rest of the ceiling blank? It wouldn’t be the same. It certainly wouldn’t be a work of art that people from all over the world visit each year.

The same idea holds true for all of us. We are all works in progress. And we need to keep improving ourselves until the day that we die so that our final product is everything that it could be.

Of course, committing to daily self-improvement isn’t easy. It is much easier to sit on the couch, eat chips and watch television, than to do the work to improve oneself. That is why you need to make daily self-improvement a daily habit, like brushing your teeth in the morning, or doing the dishes in the evening.

Below are ways to make self-improvement a habit in your life. Adopt them and enjoy the benefits of getting better with each passing year.

Pick One Thing to Do Each Day to Improve Your Health

Many people resign themselves to the idea that as they get older, they’ll naturally become overweight, inflexible and just plain out of shape. As a result, they don’t even try to stay fit. Instead, they allow themselves to become unhealthy.

Admittedly, as we become older, it becomes harder to stay in shape. I find that with each passing year, I my metabolism slows, and I am increasingly inflexible. That is why as we age, it becomes more important than ever to make improving our health a daily habit.

For example, you should be doing some form of exercise each day. Some days, you may do a full-fledged workout. Other days, you may just do some light yard work, or take a short walk. The point is to get in the habit of doing something each day to get your body moving.

The same idea holds true for our diets. It is easy to fall into bad food habits. But you can also, just as easily, establish good food habits.

For example, for breakfast, you can have yogurt, fruit and a cup of coffee, just as easily as you can have a sugary cereal. The effort is the same. The key is to make healthy eating your habit so that you don’t even consider the sugary cereal.

So, don’t accept poor health as a natural consequence of aging. It isn’t! Yes, our bodies look different as we get older. And certainly, we can’t do the same things with ease that we did in our younger years. But that doesn’t mean we can’t be healthy at any age. You simply have to commit to making healthy living a daily habit.

Make Self-Improvement A Daily Habit by Learning A New Skill

An important part of self-improvement is to continually learn new skills. Realize that learning does not end the day that you graduate from school. Instead, that is simply the point at which you finally (!) can take control of your learning.

When it comes to learning new skills, realize that the world is your oyster. For instance, there are lots of sports people take up as adults, such as golf and tennis. I enjoyed taking up yoga as a new skill once running became too hard on my knees.

There are all kinds of other skills that you may desire to learn. Many people devote themselves to learning a second language as adults. I have a friend who is a true Francophile. He has spent years devoting himself to a study of the French language and culture. And he has made the study of French his daily habit through listening to the news in French each morning and listening to French music during the day.

Ask yourself, “If I could develop any new skill, what would it be?” And then make learning that skill a daily habit. For example, if you are learning to play the piano, set aside 30 minutes a day to practice. Consider it to be your “Me” time.

When you give some time each day to developing a skill, you’ll be amazed at the progress you can make. And you’ll be delighted by how your life is enriched once you have that newfound skill.

Make Self-Improvement Your Daily Habit by Becoming A Voracious Reader

An important part of self-improvement is exercising your brain. And the best way to do that is to read. A lot.

The key is to read well-regarded authors who have valuable insights. So, pick a topic that interests you, and then find the best authors in that field. You might even consider becoming an expert in a certain area. For instance, I know many people who are Civil War buffs. They visit battle sites and devour any reading materials about the Civil War that they can get their hands on.

Alternatively, if fiction is your cup of tea, chose an author whose books you particularly like, and read everything that person has written. In my younger years, I was a Toni Morrison fan. So, I ended up reading almost everything that she had written. I truly enjoyed delving into the work of one author.

Realize that if you read good quality writing on a daily basis, it changes you. You not only become a better writer yourself, but it can help you grow as a person. For example, I may not be able to walk in another person’s shoes, but when I read, I can get a glimpse into that person’s thoughts and experiences. And that helps me to better see life from other people’s points of view.

The bottom line is this: We are not meant to stagnate in life. From the moment we are born until the day we die, we are meant to become better with each passing year. And the only way to do that is to make self-improvement a daily habit. So, consider following the approaches above, and see how you can improve yourself and your life with each passing year!