5 Self-Improvement Questions To Ask Yourself.

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Self-improvement is a wide topic, and it could be explored through many interesting avenues. After all, what improves you may not be what improves someone else. We’re all naturally skilled and naturally weak in certain areas, and no person alive is 100% perfect at everything they do, even if they seem like they’re blessed with great fortune from birth.

For example, you might be a great team builder, a hard worker, and a great negotiator, but struggle to hold your temper at work. That needs to be focused on. Self-improvement might also mean lessening your great habits, which can seem a little odd at first glance. For example, it’s quite possible for someone to be a workaholic, which while rewarded by the system we all have to aside by in the professional sense, could rob you of precious time with family members, or even erode your health.

So, this begs the question – what does self-improvement actually mean to you? In this post, we hope to explore that, and hopefully provide some food for thought. Note that nothing in this article is intended to dictate your own free path and thought, only to inspire creative thinking and nudge you in a more self-affirming direction:

What Scares You?

Feeling scared in life is rarely enjoyable (unless watching a horror movie or about to try the biggest rollercoaster in the theme park), but it can be a great motivator and serves as the “stick”  in any carrot and stick approach. 

Our deeper fears can offer a window into personal insecurities or weaknesses, and that can show area you may want to improve. For example, for many, the thought of public speaking triggers sweaty palms and heart palpitations to say the least. Others struggle with conflict avoidance, preventing them from resolving difficult issues head-on. These fears don’t need to linger indefinitely. Facing them provides an opportunity to build courage, confidence, and self-improvement. It allows you to explore how to improve and round off your weakest areas. 

For example, you might find that taking a cpr certification online allows you to feel capable and of value if someone suffers a medical emergency. Not only is this inspiring and interesting, but it helps you feel more capable in a situation most people are fearful of. You could do worse than self-improving through this perspective.

What Regrets Do You Have?

Everyone has at least one or two regrets, though remember that if you’re a good person today, being grateful for every experience that shaped you, good or bad, can be part of maturity (though of course, not all situations apply).

Sometimes, these echoes from the past have an impressive power to motivate positive change and personal growth when properly examined. Taking time to reflect on decisions we wish could be altered or missed opportunities that still bother us serves an important purpose. Those regrets can provide fuel, driving us to make better choices moving forward. That might involve working on our temper, getting our bad habits under control, never wanting to repeat a financial mistake, or perhaps being taken advantage of in our naivety. It all counts.

Where Does Your Passion Shine?

So far, this article has been focused on relatively negative motivators, and while that’s a great place to start (we have to address the bad in life sooner or later), it’s far from the full picture. The real secret is that self-improvement can be a great deal of fun if you do it right.

Moreover, those immense passions you have (or that you’ve left on the back burner) often reveal hidden potential for self-improvement. When activities that spur your enthusiasm and focus connect with you, it unlocks newfound energy to channel productively. For example, do you really need to focus on “getting in shape” when you realize you absolutely adore the sport of rowing, and your town has a local club?

Sometimes, pinpointing what excites you inspires you to invest wholeheartedly into it/ If you haven’t found that thing yet, try another. Why feel tired and bored learning the guitar or piano when you actively seek out saxophone online lessons and it doesn’t feel like work? Sometimes, self-improvement comes naturally as part of passion, and you deserve to invest in it.

What Do You Care About?

We all care about certain topics, be that a political subject, or perhaps an art form like poetry. This can be considered a passion for sure, but it also directly translates to outcomes you’d like to see. There are many who feel that modern-day poetry for the Instagram era is relatively vapid, and are doing all they can to change it. 

For some, advocating for social justice, protecting the environment or supporting underprivileged communities resonates with their own story or just the people they care for.. As such, self-improvement extends beyond just personal development; it provides an opportunity to positively impact causes outside of yourself. After all, self-improvement is more than just investing in yourself as some kind of abstract asset, because you’re a person living in the world and you deserve to influence what you can while here.

What Lessons Have You Learned from Self-Improvement?

The hidden truth about life is that no matter what, in so many ways, it’s going to teach you a number of lessons. Your ability to see those lessons and learn from them can keep you adaptable. That might involve learning from the mistakes of others (for example, those exposed to alcoholics in their home will sometimes avoid drinking altogether in their lifetime for fear of turning out that way). 

It might be that you tried to place too much of yourself in a past relationship, and now you know that a healthy connection is a two way street. Sometimes, these lessons are hard-won, and you can claim a sense of pride if you learn a lesson and move forward from them with care. After all, life is unpredictable, and the best any of us can do is try to be grateful and learn from it. If you practice those two things, well, self-improvement is a worthy effort.

With this advice, we hope you can consider not only what self-improvement is, but what it means to you.