Self-improvement is an integral part of human life

Coming to the Truth!
Don't get stuck on the Path. Do not turn the Spiritual Gift into a frozen paradise Rumi

Self-improvement and self-knowledge are similar in their goals. They guide a person along the path of spiritual development. When we want to change, improve the quality of our lives, diversify the daily series of events, increase our professional and personal effectiveness, we think about how to change ourselves and our environment. How to use our best qualities with the greatest benefit and at the same time neutralize the weaknesses of nature or correct them, work to ensure that they do not introduce an imbalance into the even course of life.

How to maximize your strong qualities and improve less developed ones is one of the main questions, with the solution of which you can turn your life for the better. But in order to answer it, you need to dive inside yourself. To get started you need:

• understand yourself;
• identify the strongest and weakest sides of nature;
• analyze professional qualities;
• formulate a detailed plan for developing skills or personal characteristics that need improvement;
• start implementing the plan.

Everything is quite clear and understandable. The main thing is to take the first step on the path of self-improvement, and it needs to be taken today.

Personal and professional growth

First of all, let’s choose what kind of self-improvement we are interested in—professional or personal. As for professional skills, their correction and development is in many ways easier to implement, and here’s why. They are more specific and visible, while personal qualities are so deeply rooted in your very nature that it can be quite difficult to identify their origins (and the work on correction and improvement begins precisely with identifying the root of the problem).

Many personal qualities are fixed by habit, since it is from it that character is formed, so the work ahead will not be easy, not only in terms of time expenditure (here you will need to be patient), but also energy-consuming: you will need to collect all your spiritual energy, desire and will in order to achieve goal and be able to change yourself.

Attempts to change oneself with the help of self-development and self-realization programs

It is easier to try to change the situation than to change yourself. Working on yourself is both interesting and difficult. This is the challenge for you. You are the observer or researcher who looks from the outside at yourself being studied and will work on yourself as if you were your own instructor and guru.

The task is high, but the goal is worth it. By working to create an improved version of yourself, you reconstruct the image of your “I”, give it a new desired form, correct and remove the shortcomings of the previous version - in a word, create the “Self 2.0” model.

This is exactly what courses do to provide personal growth programs aimed at improving your efficiency and productivity; personal coaching; seminars on building business relationships; various kinds of business courses, the purpose of which is to make you a more effective participant in the system, be it in the areas of business, marketing, and the like.

Modeling instead of self-improvement

The tactics used in such courses are always the same - to turn a person into a more highly effective element of the game so that this element brings more benefit to the owner. If you yourself are the owner, that is, you own a business or you are an individual entrepreneur, then you will be taught how to more effectively manipulate others to achieve your goals.

At the same time, you will receive the status of a more worthy player who fits well into the system called “mass production and consumption”, and with even greater dedication you will continue to invest your energy in the common cause of building a deeply materialistic society, where everyone is forced to serve mammon.

So much for increasing personal effectiveness, learning time management techniques, business planning, increasing motivation, a new approach to developing business ideas and other quite useful things.

However, what is the use of all this if a person still does not know himself. He is asked to consider himself as a mechanism, as a function that can be updated, increase the productivity of this mechanism, and replace old programs with new ones. But in the end, any mechanism comes to an end; it has an expiration date. A permanent upgrade is impossible, and if the organizers of such business trainings and personal growth programs offer it, it is only for the purpose of their own benefit.

The importance of working on yourself

To build a happy reality in your environment, it is important to develop the following qualities in yourself:

• harmony;
• confidence;
• the ability to act, to work on oneself;
• love for yourself and others.

Self-development is the natural state of people. However, any growth is accompanied by a lot of difficulties that come not only from the outside world. But also from myself. Therefore, the desire to be safe without changing oneself often leads to neuroses, since what is desired does not always correspond to reality.

As a result of self-development, a person acquires an asset for life:

• psychological, physical, spiritual forces;
• a source of increasing knowledge and skills;
• desire to move forward.

Apathy, lack of health, depression, and doubts about life guidelines can slow down the process of self-improvement. The process is also slowed down by the absence of:

• motivation;
• self-development plan;
• intermediate results on the way to the goal;
• correct perception of information and analysis of acquired knowledge.

When working on yourself, positive thoughts are especially important. A positive charge and self-praise contributes to success. In an unexpected situation, a smile often saves you, this has been proven by time.

Personal self-improvement

And this world does not exist without you, so know yourself

Rumi

We must look at the problem of personal growth more deeply, from the philosophical side, and here we cannot do without considering the issue from the point of view of existentialism, that is, the beingness of man. Man and the eternal problems of his existence are questions of the meaning of life, the desire to realize all the potential that lies within him. First of all, we are talking about personal self-realization.

Our desire for self-development, and with it self-improvement, always comes from the depths of our soul, from our inner world. The desire to know and learn are qualities inherent only to a human being. Only he, not prompted by external factors and motives, is capable of in-depth study of a subject that interests him. An internal stimulus to reveal the spiritual principle leads a person to self-knowledge.

From self-knowledge to self-development

“Know yourself, and you will understand the whole world” - this is what ancient wisdom tells us. Having gone through the secrets of self-knowledge, we come to the idea of ​​self-development and self-improvement. There is no final stop on the path of self-knowledge, it is limitless, and therefore beautiful. This is a process, and the one who decides to follow the path of self-knowledge will discover an unprecedented world of inner life, take the first step into the vast expanses of the unknown - where no traveler has gone before; because for every person his own inner world is a unique country, always open to study. But there can only be one researcher - yourself.

Comparison of self-development and self-improvement

The two processes differ in their goals. Self-development is aimed at spiritual personal development, the formation of positive thinking. The results of achieving such goals are bright, but immeasurable in numbers, actual results and deadlines (great mood, change in lifestyle, environment, etc.)

Self-improvement is measurable in numbers and limited in time (specific improvement of skills, scaling, offering innovative business models). Example: weight loss by 9 kg over 3 months. Here a specific result is assessed.

Self-development and self-improvement are closely related to each other. Efficiency and acceleration are important factors for them.

Personal improvement is impossible without the exercise of will. She is slowed down by:

• blindly following the leader;
• submission to the only universally recognized methodology.

As part of the word SELF-development, the first part indicates precisely one’s own choice. Other people's opinions matter. But you can't rely on it completely.

Stages of self-development

There are no universal stages for any development. They are individual for everyone.

Realizing your own mistakes

They come through their own experience, which is much more important than the advice of others. What is important is not so much the mistakes themselves as the ways to overcome them, the conclusions drawn and further decisions. No wonder they say that you need to bend down before jumping.

Considering your own mistakes, it is important to “get out of the spiral” in time, without making them again and again. Awareness of the importance of change makes a breakthrough. The desire to realize it is the basic building block in self-improvement. The correctness of the first step determines the effectiveness of the entire path.

Setting a specific goal

It should be as defined as possible. For clarity it is important:

• record the task in writing;
• connect it with personal beliefs, and not with the opinions of other people and accepted attitudes.

Is the goal really that important? How can you be sure of this? The signal is the irresistibility of desire. If even strong obstacles cannot break the will to achieve a result, but, on the contrary, strengthen it, therefore, the fidelity of the goal is beyond doubt. If motivation dies down, the desire to achieve a goal weakens, perhaps it is formulated incorrectly.

Developing a plan

Having decided on a goal, you should develop a plan for moving towards it. This allows the overall goal to be broken down into smaller tasks, the implementation of which can be easily monitored at individual stages. For example, the set goal of improving one’s physical fitness is divided into tasks:

• do morning exercises every day;
• walk a n number of steps per day;
• follow the chosen diet;
• quit smoking;
• take daily walks before bed;
• sign up for the athletics section, etc.

The goal should not be comprehensive, covering different aspects of life. It is better to narrow it down to visible dimensions, defining a time frame so that achieving the result is real and not a fantastic ending.

Movement towards the goal

It must be done daily. Even a few small steps forward give confidence. For example, if you set yourself the goal of improving your physical fitness, you should study publications in this area and watch videos. Study modern techniques, practical recommendations from experts, reviews from friends and colleagues.

Advice from psychologists:

• start small;
• take into account the mistakes you make;
• enhance the positives;
• move towards your goal progressively.

Every step should be accompanied by joy from what has already been achieved.

Systematization of efforts is important. Scattering, swinging in different directions, not being able to concentrate - all this interferes with movement in the chosen direction. As they say, chasing two birds with one stone makes it difficult to achieve what you want. And the temptation to turn away from the path, to disperse efforts, the fear of the impossibility of achieving what is planned will always be present. You need to be able to cope with these emotions.

Having acquired knowledge and skills, it is important to apply and consolidate them. Over time, difficulties will be overcome more easily, the goal will become clearer, and confidence will grow stronger. The main thing is not to take breaks in the forward movement.

The path of self-improvement. Development and self-improvement

Truth is a country without roads, therefore the road to your inner world is a journey without fellow travelers.

On the path of self-improvement, you are left to your own devices. No one can tell you how and what you need to do, how to understand yourself correctly, or from what place, starting point, to start. This is the beauty of self-development through self-knowledge. It is impossible to impose someone else’s point of view here, just as it is impossible to accept it, otherwise self-knowledge will cease to be self-knowledge and will not lead to any self-development.

But by being your own guide and explorer of the unknown, you will learn to hear the inner voice that is in each of us, and you need to learn to listen to it. This inner knowing connects us with something higher, an ideal, a higher essence. Yogis called it Ishvara.

Spiritual practices on the path of self-development, their influence and goals

When we apply meditation techniques, new knowledge becomes available to us, directly coming from the Source. Meditation allows you to stop the conversation of the mind, calm it, so the connection with inner knowledge is restored. It is finally possible to hear him. You just need to immerse yourself in silence - the real silence of the mind. Often we seem to be left alone with ourselves, and begin to think and reflect, which in itself is already a great achievement in our society of ultra-high speeds and advanced technologies.

Silence internal and external

Being alone in silence is already a good start. Simply being silent and thinking is the first step in the practice of mouna, or silence, used by yogis. But the essence of this silence is to stop the verbal noise, not only external, but also internal, to stop the flow of thoughts. If you have never thought about this, then stop yourself right now at any thought. You see, it worked. Perhaps you were having an internal dialogue with the author of the article about what was written or thinking about your own affairs. All this is just an illustration of the fact that the brain never stops, it talks all the time, draws conclusions, evaluates, compares and generalizes.

Everything would be fine if this internal process of dialogue did not separate us from true knowledge, direct perception of information: not with the help of the mind, but through receiving direct knowledge. This is exactly what happens during the process of meditation.

Meditation goals:

• merger with the Absolute;
• stopping the thought process;
• complete disidentification with one’s “I”, and even with consciousness;
• self-knowledge;
• knowledge of the world.

It helps to clear the mind of unnecessary things, calm it down, and, if possible, even stop the “conversation” of the mind. When you come out of meditation, you will notice how your thinking has cleared up and thoughts are no longer swarming in your head. On the contrary, you can now more easily control them, as well as your emotions.

All these are so-called “side” effects of meditation practice.

Features of self-development

Personal self-development is one of the important areas of modern psychology. This is an activity aimed at developing independence and mental activity in categories such as:

• judgments;
• actions;
• assessments;
• relationship.

This is a continuous process of change and improvement according to self-determined guidelines and resources inherent in the personality itself. Needs are significant factors on the path of self-development. They contribute to the development of human activity on the path to achieving a goal.

Principles of self-improvement

It is important to understand that information overload does not always produce positive results. You should correctly understand the basic principles of self-improvement:

1. Ability to correctly formulate final goals.
2. Providing an optimal environment for successful growth.
3. Step-by-step development of necessary skills.
4. Practical reinforcement of each theoretically based step.

Practical confirmation of everything planned plays a vital role in personal development.

Self-development through self-destruction

Some believe that the process of forming individuality through self-destruction is effective and fruitful. Some researchers argue that suffering stimulates personal development. However, this concept should not be confused with sliding down the social ladder, namely with the desire:

• abandon studies;
• get involved in bad habits;
• careless at work, etc.

No, development is incompatible with such concepts. Self-destruction in this context is considered:

• struggle with one’s own ego, false attitudes;
• getting rid of fear;
• leaving the zone of excessive comfort.

To give a start to something new, it is useful to get rid of established habits that slow down progress. There are many facts in history when people who in the past had negative life experiences and even dark areas in their biography reached heights. It was especially difficult to rise to heights from this bottom. This is where the inclusion of will, the destruction of previously established principles, and protest in the good sense of the word helped.

It happens that development in accordance with generally accepted norms of society inhibits the manifestation of the individual outstanding qualities of an individual and his self-actualization.

Sometimes for true self-improvement it’s worth:

• go against all odds;
• break stereotypes;
• weed out the unnecessary
• rationally extract hidden resources;
• refuse someone else's script;
• subordinate self-development to personal goals.

That is, what is generally accepted is not always good for an individual. A simple example. The young man entered college not because he himself aspired to it, but because his parents encouraged him to do so, and the surrounding majority believed that it would be better this way. Most, but not himself.

The young man destroys stereotypes, discards the “black sheep” complex and leaves the walls of the educational institution. After all, he doesn’t feel needed there. For him, more important priorities are: work, playing sports and lack of fear of the real world, independence. And this, with an effort of will, will bear fruit.

Personal development and self-improvement through meditation practice

You can begin your own internal spiritual development by studying Vipassana, since this course represents the basis of the method of any meditation. It can also be used at more advanced levels of practice, it’s just that the practitioner will have slightly different goals when performing the techniques.

First, the ability to consciously concentrate attention on one thing—an object or image—is trained. Then, when the mind is calm and can easily hold any object or idea in focus for a long time, the main stage of the meditation process begins - turning off the flow of one’s own thoughts and emotions and penetrating into the object of meditation - merging with it.

The Vipassana course also discusses other techniques that facilitate the first acquaintance with meditation and immerse the practitioner in a completely different atmosphere than the one that surrounds him in ordinary reality. What makes this course remarkable is that at the retreat a person is offered to plunge into a new world, where nothing bothers him, the effect of external stimuli is reduced to zero, there is silence not only inside, but also outside. In this way, all conditions favorable for learning and mastering new practices have been created. In turn, they lead to the expansion of the horizons of the knower and fill his life with new content.

Constant self-improvement

The road to self-improvement is limitless, there is no time frame. Once having taken this path, the seeker will not return back; he will always strive to find something new; his desire for development cannot be stopped.

Are there any goals for self-improvement? There are too many of them to even begin to list, and the reader himself is perfectly aware of them, because for everyone they are individual, sometimes they are difficult to express in words, since many of them can be in the emotional-figurative sphere, but inside each of us knows them and feels.

What is the meaning of self-improvement?

Why are you trying to improve yourself, what do you want to achieve? “I like the process itself” - this may be a short answer to the question posed. A creative path is always hidden in self-improvement, because the essence of any creativity is the creation of something new, probably based on what is already known, but no one has canceled the use of the accumulated knowledge of centuries in order to create new unique works.

Rethinking the experience of the past, a new approach to it - all this is an expression of the creative beginning of every person.

Much depends on what we understand by creativity. It is not limited to masterpieces of literature, music and theater or the creation of new technologies and designs. Creativity is also present in everyday life. A new approach to doing any task is already a manifestation of creativity.

Thus, practicing yoga and performing asanas from hatha yoga allows the practitioner to connect to the creative energy flow expressed by a certain asana.

A creative approach to the practice of hatha yoga

Each pose is a physical exercise and at the same time, through its execution, you connect to a source of energy that stimulates creativity in the practitioner. The asana is static, unshakable, but the energy passing through you in the process of performing it is the key to everything.

Your body becomes a conductor of vital energies, which also affects consciousness. Many practitioners note that with the beginning of yoga practice, something elusive appeared in their lives, that element of novelty that makes every moment of life unique, when every detail is filled with meaning.

It was your view that changed, you began to notice what you had not paid attention to before. Looking inward, into the depths of your consciousness, through spiritual practices, has opened up a new world outside for you. First of all, your perception has changed.

Human self-improvement through the practice of hatha yoga

By choosing hatha yoga for yourself as a way for self-knowledge and self-improvement, you are also immersed in the traditions of ancient teachings. Yoga is a spiritual practice where through body awareness, cleansing and breathing practices you can master your mind and body.

The enormous benefits of performing physical exercises in yoga are obvious. Like no other practice, it will help to cope with many problems of the musculoskeletal system, correct posture, and tighten the muscle corset. The therapeutic effect of performing yoga asanas is also well known; it is only important to choose the right complex in order to evenly distribute the load on those areas that you would like to work with first of all.

Personal transformation through yogic practices

In psycho-emotional terms, yoga is indispensable in our age of stress. By practicing mindfulness, self-absorption and concentration in each lesson, you thereby help yourself break out of the circle of daily bustle, look at yourself and the situations in your life with an unbiased, detached mind. This will help you find a new approach to seemingly unsolvable oppressive problems, or you will simply appreciate the present differently. What seemed significant will no longer occupy the forefront of your consciousness. Other goals and objectives will come to the fore.

Your life attitudes will change, transforming you and the space around you. Yoga classes are a constant source of inspiration that opens the door to the world of self-knowledge. By improving yourself through yoga and meditation practices, you create a new image of yourself and change from the inside. These changes are profound because you are working with all layers of your psyche that are not accessible in your normal state of consciousness.

Yoga gradually changes your inner world and consciousness. Once you get acquainted with the ancient tradition, you will never be the same. The knowledge acquired through practice will help your individuality to reveal itself, and you will finally find yourself.