• Be intentional:

Seeing as the advancements of technology and entertainment affords us convenience and distraction, most people tend to live a sedentary lifestyle. This in turn has caused the habits of laziness, tardiness, and procrastination to worsen in society, hence the need to be intentional with every decision that requires us to create new positive habits. 

• Use food for nourishment:

We have all heard this saying, “You are what you eat”. While this has become repetitive in society, it is in fact the truth. Eating well and staying hydrated not only help with our physical appearance, they help with our minds. A clear mind allows creativity. We need our creative sides to blossom in order to set goals and attain those heights. On the other hand, constantly eating unhealthy food typically leads to fatigue, ill health, mood swings, hormonal imbalances, e.t.c. which in turn lead to losing quality time that should have been invested towards bettering oneself. 

• Find time to Meditate:

When a meditator takes some time to calm their mind, say affirmative words and express gratitude, their soul is enriched. Meditating gives us a chance to gently process our thoughts or worries and possibly uncover pathways to our next phase. A meditator quickly finds that there is no benefit to holding onto an unfortunate past, they realize that the only way to create a better outcome tomorrow is by focusing on today. This leads to being kinder to oneself and focusing on enjoying the now.

• Observe Good Time Management:

As mentioned earlier, almost everyone has entertainment at their fingertips so it is easy to lose track of time if one is not careful. Planning out and noting down schedules is one way to ensure proper time management. In order to be able to live a well rounded life, we need to be able to fit in different kinds of activities within our schedules. 

Let’s set an example.

Rose is a corporate executive who wakes up daily at 5am. She jogs to and from a park near her home for 30 minutes, listens to her favorite podcast while she showers, drinks a cup of tea with her breakfast, gets dressed and  heads to work. She takes a varying number of meetings from day to day. Once her workday ends, she goes home to freshen up and change clothes. Depending on the day, she either goes on to enjoy a couple of rounds of tennis at her favorite tennis club, goes for a swim, goes to early dinner with friends, spends time getting to know a love interest better, picks up a new book, , goes fishing with her favorite uncle, e.tc.

While Rose has no permanently set time to enjoy the activities she incorporates into her days, her daily routines are set to specific times. On any given day, Rose has succeeded in managing her time well, enriching her social life, exercising her physical body and cognitive senses. Her chosen lifestyle prepares her for chances at further prosperity.

• Try something new daily:

Get in the habit of doing something new everyday that is either geared towards amplifying your joy, achieving one of your bigger goals, or both. By forming new good habits, you gradually become a better version of yourself. You can start in really tiny doses; Smile at a stranger, pay for another’s meal, take a walk, take notes of every little win… 

It will surprise you how much better your mood gets by incorporating the tiniest little new good acts into your life.

• Keep Good Company:

It is common advice that we make sure we are surrounded by more intelligent people. It is important that we befriend better versed, kinder, more articulate, funnier, and generously teaching people. We will be able to learn something from these kinds at any given time.

In the cases where we are the embodiment of the aforementioned roles, we should still make sure to surround ourselves with people who cause an extra smile just by saying a kind word to us or to another. Overall, our associations should add color to our lives one way or another.

• Wish others well and celebrate their wins:

This needs little to no further discussion. Anyone who seeks to live a more fulfilled life should be happy for others when they win just as much as we hope to have others rejoice with us when we win. It’s easier to be more fulfilled if you constantly find an excuse to rejoice. Celebrating with others gives you longer lasting moments of joy. Joy attracts even more joy.

• Keep your space organized:

This should include your physical and mental spaces. Keeping both of these spaces organized is a form of self care that allows you to focus on being productive in many areas. On the other hand, allowing unnecessary chaos in the form of persons or situations only disrupts and distracts one from focusing on bettering oneself.

•  Avoid choosing instant gratifications over long time fulfillment:

A goal oriented, purpose driven person is focused on creating real and lasting solutions. I stumbled on this saying sometime back: “Work for a cause, not for applause.”. The message is clear. In today’s world, many of us long for validation as constantly displayed on social media platforms. Take a look at your Instagram feed or TikTok and you will notice the unabashed attempts at getting any lurker’s attention. 

Someone who is interested in long term fulfillment cannot afford to settle for quick commendations before real goals are achieved.

• Don’t Overextend Yourself:

Remember how cluelessly happy you were when you were a child and debt-free? Try to cut back on unnecessary purchases as they only give temporary joy and offer huge buyers remorse. If you can live without it, leave it on the shelf. 

Overextending oneself doesn’t end at swiping credit cards, it also happens when you say “Yes” to more situations than you can afford to be engaged in. Realize that doing favors you aren’t equipped to do causes more stress than solution and takes a toll on the “Yes” person over time. Avoid overextending yourself as much as you can, you can’t solve everything anyway.

• Grow Into Yourself And Transcend Every Judgment That Has Been Placed Upon You:

Following some or all of the suggestions listed above will certainly lead you to establishing a better relationship with yourself as well as others. 

Once you have established a good relationship with yourself, it is easier to see that the most important voice of judgment to rely on is your own. Strive to reconnect with your inner child. Reconcile with who you are at your core; before the world burdened you with mere distractions and exaggerated irrelevances.

Hopefully, the steps above have led you to being kinder to yourself and being more considerate of your value/self worth.