When things are going good for us there's more of an inclination to keep doing what's always been done, those habits that were formed to continuously be on that path same path. It allows us to be on autopilot where we don't have to use as much energy and just rely on what's always been done. But when things start to deteriorate, and things are going wrong, that's usually when we notice that we need to make a change, we need to do something to improve ourselves or the situation that we're in.
Like when you get sick, that's when your attention is grabbed knowing that you need to get yourself better. This usually comes from that reactive side where if it is not broke then don't fix it because what was done has worked up until this point. But this is the easy thing to do where that laziness wants to take over.
Instead of waiting for things to get bad, be on the offensive by staying proactive, seeing how you can get ahead. You don't have to be sick to get better and in doing so it's not that something's wrong with you, it's just improvements that can be made that will enhance you. It's knowing that you want to be your best and that you can get better because each time you become better you become more confident and self-assured.
You’re more likely to prevent certain problems from happening and handling the ones that you do come across a whole lot better than if you just wait for things to happen. It's knowing that even though you might be at your best today you know that you can get better so that makes the future be seen with a lot more optimism saying that I might be at my heights right now, but I know I can get further if I just continuously push myself, looking for ways to enhance who I am and my abilities.
Getting better is seen as something is wrong
Now maybe one of the questions or hesitancies that you might have is why do I really want to improve myself, it's a lot of hard work. I enjoy who I am and what I'm doing right now, and that's fine, there's nothing wrong with that but when you give up the chance to improve yourself in whatever way you can it means missed opportunities that can be so rewarding and fulfilling that it makes the entire process a lot more enjoyable.
But in staying the same it means that when change does occur it becomes so much harder to adapt because things staying consistently the same can keep you in the comfort zone that when any little resistance is felt or something going different than what's expected it becomes much more frustrating. So really it keeps you ahead of things.
If you look at many species that go on to survive and thrive in changes to their environment it's not the strongest that survive but it's the ones that are most adaptable that can change according to what happens. Improving yourself allows you to better adapt to change to really thrive as opposed to struggle and be left behind.
If you look back to the iconic basketball star Michael Jordan early on when he played at university of North Carolina he told his coaches that he wanted to be the best basketball player that came through the program. And one day one of his coaches pulled him aside and challenged Michael to practice longer than his teammates, get more practice time when nobody else is around.
Michael Jordan's response was he's just as good as all the other players there and the coach stopped him and said I thought you said you wanted it to be the best that's come through here. That's all Michael Jordan needed to further instill that tremendous work ethic that he had. He by no means was a bad basketball player, he was a really good one when he first started there but he only further developed his skills that allowed him to be the player that he became.
Gradually change that leads to improvements
A great way to prevent or minimize wanting to sit still is just tweak things here and there. Change up your routine from time to time and this gets you from being stuck. Some new tweaks will work, and some won’t, but it gets you to be actively looking for an advantage. This gets you to continuously be better in incremental amounts and you commit to your better self, leaving behind the worse version of you. At first that lazy worst version of you is going to say why are you doing this, we're good just the way we are, we're feeling great, we're enjoying ourselves why are you going to mess with the program.
This comes from resisting wanting to work hard at something and the initial thoughts could be not feeling adequate. But then there's going to be that other side of you that better you that says I know I'm capable of more but for me to reach that point I got to do more for myself. This includes learning new things, developing new skills or just improving the skills that you do have. When you find yourself in a place of, I already know this or I'm good where I'm at it can be a very dangerous spot to be in because that's when you let your guard down when you become blindsided by the things that you don't see coming.
Think about if you sit on the couch and watch TV the majority of your free time, it can make both your mind and body a lot less fit. It's not stressing it enough to at least maintain yourself and if you allow this to happen over extended period things are going to start to deteriorate. Things such as critical thinking, problem solving, it's going to make your muscles and your bones a bit weaker. In the short term this is probably not going to be noticed but over an extended period of time you may notice it.
That moment that you reflect what's going on there could be the thinking of nothing is wrong and I'm just going to continuously do what have always done. But that better side of you is also going to remind you that maybe I should be a little bit more active and watch a little less TV because it is going to serve me well. I should exercise and read a lot more that expands my thinking. Both sides are going to be pulling you in opposite directions and the easy thing to do is nothing to just do what you have always done and that's the unmotivated side it's going to want to reject hard work to stay comfortable.
Pay a little more now to get paid a lot more latter
Think of wanting to be better as interest payments that you make on a loan or a credit card while yes you can make the minimum payments monthly to get by but overtime that adds up to a lot of money that you're paying because more was not paid when you could. The cost is much greater because of the little amount of money put up front.
The things that you do today consistently going forward will have a tremendous impact where you're putting more resources into your development so you're not having to pay for it in a big way later on. What you get from this is bigger rewards that compounds over time instead of a big bill you owe.
If you just look at how Amazon first started out it was originally an online bookstore but the founder of Amazon Jeff Bezos, he asked his customers what other things they wanted to buy online and the response was just about everything you can imagine from shampoo to clothes to tires to toys to the tools, electronics and even food. He could have been content with the level of success that the books provided him alone, but he saw that there was an opportunity to better the company and better the experiences for his customers.
While at the time when he first started the business it might have been unimaginable where they've gotten to but now they're more than just an online retailer but they’re technology company that provides software services for many other companies, for many entrepreneurs where they can market their products. Along the way he and his team we're always looking for ways to better the company. While yes there were disappointments and failures they learned along the way.
We all got better at some point
We all had a starting point somewhere along the line and for many of us we were probably not that good and maybe even terrible at the things that we're good at today but over time the skill set was developed. Don't just let the natural talent be a dictator of what you decide to pursue. If you really enjoy certain activities that you're not good at that doesn't mean you should give up on it, in fact that's a great opportunity to strengthen yourself.
See them as an enticing challenge where you’re proving that you can overcome the difficult parts of what you're dealing with. For some this is going to be a natural thing where they're just looking to defy the odds where they just really embrace what's hard because it's almost like conquering the beast when no one expects it to be done. This could be that they're the daredevil or just somebody who's so resilient and tenacious.
But for others it is going to be difficult to want to take on challenges, but it will do you so well to take it on any way. For those that don’t come natural for them to rise up to it yet do it anyways the growth that experienced is so explosive because of breaking through the natural tendencies to avoid what you're not good at.
It's about not coddling your ego and being able to develop your confidence through experiencing a good level of resistance where it pushes you to want to get better but not too much resistance where it stifles your pursuit. Just like the Goldilocks effect where the three bowls of oatmeal that she had where one was too hot one was too cold, but one was just warm enough and that warm enough was the right amount that she needed.
Aim to better yourself in the same way where you're not experiencing something that's so extremely difficult that it crushes your confidence but something that's not so easy that you're not pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone or outside of your current limits. While this is the ideal state of what you're trying to get after, know that at times it is going to feel extremely difficult to better.
When you find yourself in that type of state that's the time to really be patient and compassionate to yourself to avoid beating yourself up for not being better or performing better. Maybe you take on more than you can chew where you're juggling a full-time job to support yourself and going to school at the same time and it feels just so overwhelming. This could lead to leaving school completely, but the alternative is taking less course material if possible or finding ways to lighten the workload to have more time for school. Finding ways to make things work for you.
Final thoughts
Things don't have to be wrong for you to better yourself it's not that you're not good enough right now it's just it means that you're proactive being ahead of change before change really blindsides you. This makes you more adaptable and able to embrace the challenges that you face. Avoid waiting to get sick or for things to fall apart before you start to make those self-improvements. It's preventative care that's going to send you to new heights. To push past what seems like current limits and breakthrough to a whole new level of energy.
What comes with improving yourself is unlocking many of the possibilities that once might have been seen so out of reach where when you start off small you gain momentum. Then you can move on to other things that compounds into massive improvements that you've made. Yes, when you're looking to become better it requires a certain level of initiative, accountability, discipline, which can be hard, especially in the beginning. But when you can do this consistently enough, they become habits where you don't even think twice about them that it's just part of your routine to continuously find ways to develop and grow.
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