Mindfully Recharged with Mariana Thomas

How to Prioritize and Manage Self-Improvement - Part 1-

October 29, 2021 Mariana Thomas
Mindfully Recharged with Mariana Thomas
How to Prioritize and Manage Self-Improvement - Part 1-
Show Notes Transcript

With the year coming to an end, many of us are already planning our next goals and plans for self-improvement. But the question is, where and how do we start?

In this episode, I talk about how to decide which to focus on in self-improvement. This will help us prevent the overwhelm of having too many things to improve on at the same time. I share different factors that affect doing or not doing self-improvement actions.

Take some notes and enjoy this episode.


Episode 42 at a glance…

  • Questions to ask yourself when deciding what to focus on.
  • The factor of community in self-improvement.
  • How do we track our improvement?
  • The proper mindset when it comes to self-improvement.
  • What hinders self-improvement and how to address it.
  • An important process that can help you with self-improvement.
  • How to prevent the overwhelm of self-improvement.


See you for part 2 of this episode!



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Mariana Thomas  0:00  

Hello, hello, hello everyone. Welcome to the Mindfully Recharged Podcast with your host Mariana Thomas, in today's episode, how to prioritize and manage self improvement, super excited about this episode. So without further ado, let's get to it. 


Intro 0:25  

Welcome to mindfully recharged with Mariana Thomas. In this podcast. Mariana brings you mindful conversations in people that will develop and recharge you from the inside out, so that you can increase productivity in your personal and professional life. This is mindfully recharged. 


0:46  

Hello, hello, welcome, guys. Welcome to the podcast again. And let's talk about how to prioritize and manage self improvement. Okay, super excited about this episode. So let's get going. You know, becoming better isn't easy, we know that for sure. There are countless areas in our lives where we could use improvement, don't we? I think you agree with me on that. For many, this can be overwhelming, I know that for sure. And this can result in a grass is greener, you know, that say that the grass is greener on the other side. That type of mindset can come alive or worse. If you are anything like me, you are probably eager to become better at as many things as possible. That has been me for many years. But because of limited time, it is important that we prioritize self-improvement, rather than feeding from one shiny idea, you know, to the next, just kind of flipping from one side to the other.


2:12  

So here are some questions to ask yourself, when deciding what to focus on. Wow, you know, there's many, many times where we are jumping from one thing to the other, it feels like a monkey kind of thing. And so deciding what to focus on is very important. So here are some questions for you. How practical is this as the first question that we should ask ourselves? Second question, Will improving in this area, result in substantial progress towards my goals? Hmm. The third, how enjoyable is this? This one is very important. Because if you are not enjoying what you're doing, even when you are improving yourself, you should stop. You should not continue doing that. You know, if it doesn't make you happy, not a good idea. The next question is, will improvement here bring me happiness or help me have more meaningful relationships? You gotta ask yourself how important relationships are to you. I love this one. And once again, happiness comes to place. So our next question, what are my strengths.


3:52  

Let me touch here a little bit about that. You know, a lot of people say work in your strength work in your strength work from your strengths. And when I do this assessments to my clients, we always work in our strengths. And we work on our areas of improvement are our areas of possibilities why we things can get better. But I believe that we also need to focus a little bit in the things that we are not so good at. Okay, so where is it that you are weak? Where did you feel like a you have no strength? I think we need to ask that question as well as my opinion. Okay, next question. Where did I add the most value with my current skills and knowledge? Yes, super important.


4:53  

Where? Where do I add the most value with my current skills and knowledge. I think it is a question that we need to ask ourselves every single day when it comes to self improvement, because that's when people are expected for us and want from us. If they know our value, right, but also, of course, they get a wonder, you know, it's not just because that's what we are, people are going to receive it. Okay, the next question is, what will be most beneficial for my community? And I think it is one is very important for entrepreneurs. For those that are creating communities, you know, like I just mentioned. Yeah, where did I get the most value with my skills and knowledge and strengths, probably, but what will be the most beneficial for my community? What did they really want? You know, if I am improving myself, it's not just for me, it's for community, as well as for others. So we have to have that question in our list.


6:09  

Okay, next, how can I help others by improving in this area? Yes. So do you see how this one comes? What will be the most beneficial for my community? But yes, how can I others, how can I help others by improving in the area that they need. In the area that will be beneficial for them? Yeah, maybe there's something that they're looking for from you, but you, that's not your strength. So you may want to improve yourself in that area, right? And discover how you will be able to help your community or yourself first of all, 


6:54  

Okay, the next question is, this one is very interesting, because this is no one tracking this metrics for your life yet, do you have anyone or something, you know, it can be digital, tracking your metrics, or your progress, right. And this is when a coach is so valuable, because you have someone there that is guiding you and is also seeing your progress. And it will be able to tell you, if you are actually progressing, or if you are not, if you you may be procrastinating and you self improvement. Okay, so one of the reasons that we are, we are often unsure about what to work on, is because we don't have easy access to metrics, you know, data points, like, we don't really know if we are progressing. Right? So for just to kind of measure how successful we are, okay, and whatever success means to you, that's another topic.


8:12  

Okay. So, okay, a little sound there. I know, you don't mind that. We don't know precisely where we need improvement, you know, and worse, it is difficult to measure your progress when you attend self improvement in areas without a specific goals. That's why it's so important to know, your why and your what, and your how, you know, what are you goals? See, if you don't know, then it's going to be very hard to improve in the areas that you need, and the others may be looking from you. Okay, so this lack of feedback, when we don't have a coach, or we don't have somebody this mentoring guys. Amazing. Difficult, it makes it frustrating sometimes, you know, because we become a little bit worried that if it's not, we're not seeing results, then something is wrong with us. And nothing is wrong. We just need to plan better. We just need to have a goal. We just need to have a sense of direction, where are we going with this? And can someone they can hold us accountable and can also guide us through the process. So we become our own worst critic, when things are not happening right away. And when we don't see self development or self improvement happening, you know, quickly enough. 


9:57  

So it is at this time that we need to remember a valuable lesson. You know, it's like, don't be a critic, but be a researcher. Right? And I believe this was a quote by Martin Solomon, who says that don't criticize yourself for research, what? What is it I need to do? Who do I need to find? Who do I need to go, maybe hire to help me with it, right? So the key is to go out and find out your data, you know, so new data needs to come either from you, or from technology, or from a coach. So you can begin forming hypotheses about where you might have room for improvement, right? Because sometimes, we don't see it. You know, we need that Master Mind, part of the process, in order to discover these things, sometimes, we can't have an idea, if you're really aware of yourself, then sometimes we need a little help. I will say most of the time, you know, if you don't have a coach, I will recommend you to get one.


11:18  

So the simple as a gathering information, you know, will give you the confidence boost that comes from having evidence rather than just assuming, you know, you just got it and so many, if you ask yourself, what would I do if my goal was this or that, right? And instead of assuming things, you know, so this mindset will encourage you to seek opportunities that will provide the lesson you most need. So having the mindset of really gathering information. And when I say the word mastermind, you can mastermind on your own, but you must you can mastermind with your coach, you know, what are the things that I'm working on? And usually, you know, when I'm coaching someone, the client brings the topic, the topic that they want to talk about, and then we'll gather information by the questions that I ask, right? That's how we're going to gather information. And that's how you are going to have that, by me asking, by any coach that you may have asking, you're going to get the data so you can make that decision. And change your mindset when it comes to self improvement. Okay, if not immediately, and then over time, you know, you can just do, it's more steps to get there. So it can become more meaningful for you. Beautiful.


13:04  

Okay, so we live in a culture of destruction. And I think you agree with you, they're my friends, because the world is changing at an increasingly fast pace. And we can all agree with that. There's so many things, just going so fast that sometimes we kind of get behind. Right? So there are very few good reasons for not pursuing self improvement. Really, if we are not, we are getting behind. So the most frequent excuse that I hear, you know, is, huh, I'm too busy. I don't have the time. This used to be a reasonable explanation. But now, it is not now, really. Because there's, there's so many ways of learning now. So I don't want to use the word lazy, but it could be procrastination, I will say because we can not only do it in person, but this days, with technology, you can do so much self improvement online. So there is no excuse this days. Okay. So if you are listening to this podcast right now you're listening to my voice. I want you to find the time to build out one or two habits, which will contribute to your success to your happiness or to whatever goal that you have a new list that you want to accomplish. 


14:52  

Okay, so let's go. I heard that you already wrote that down and you're ready to go. Okay. So let's take, for example, working out. Yeah, most of us would like to look better and feel better about our bodies. Yeah. So why do so many of us fail to go to the gym? You know, I tell you, for me, I don't go to the gym at the moment because this situation with a pandemic and everything that's happening, but I do my workouts at home. But let's say that none of that was happening. What is the excuse for not going to the gym? Okay, so here's what I hear. Oh, and it's very inconvenient, it's too far, it's not really comfortable. It doesn't fit in my daily routine, you know, I can't find the motivation to work out, I don't know, and so on, and so on, and so on. So there are all reasons, they can be faced with a little investment of time and energy. Right? So if it's not convenient, right, like right now what I do, you get some dumbbells, you get your yoga mat, you know, temporarily, I created a yoga room and my house. And I have all my little tools in here, where I had no excuse, but to move my body and to do something. So and there's like, really, really close to my office. So no excuse because I can see it. So it's kind of like I did it on purpose. So I have no excuse.


16:43  

So the first step is to acknowledge, right? That you are not too busy. You just have to, you're never too busy to improve yourself. And here it is, you're just too lazy. Or you're procrastinating. Which is kinda like the same thing. So boy, once you had accepted that is most true is becoming much easier to prioritize improvement of self improvement. Because you will stop blaming external factors for your lack of effort. Okay, but you have to recognize this first, and really be truthful to yourself and say, Okay, I'm making an excuse. So you're not going to blame like that weather, or it's too far, oh, my God, it doesn't fit in my schedule, and blah, blah, blah.



17:42  

You will also see low hanging fruit everywhere, because now you have permission to approach every situation as an opportunity for improvement. I use this mindset when I write maybe my journal right? It really helps me to stay focused on topics and things that I want to write in my journal, because this is the things that are true. But focus on a memory on my why, you know, what did I want to write today once was coming out from me. So when I read my journal back, I'm like, oh, okay, I can kind of meditate on those things. And sometimes I even remember other things, because right at the moment, and may have forgotten something, so which is normal.


18:46  

So, and I also use this same mindset when developing a course, you know, they can be very productive and flourishing for my clients and my students. You know, we knew that showing people that to build habits, you know, this is something that's really important, when we show people that to build habits and routines will be helpful for most people. And for most of them, you know, that's a really good thing, because the idea was born out of asking, myself, really, you know, what if my goal was aka so, you know, Z, whatever the goal is, what could I do now to get closer to my destination? So when I asked myself this questions, I understood that creating small steps, and really getting out of my way with excuses from the external world was the way to go and that's how I teach it to my clients is like, one step at a time. 


20:05  

That's why I created few years ago, the challenge one healthy habit day, because I believe the smallest steps is what is going to take us to the bigger goal. And you don't have to rush to get there can take your time, but you just got to start. So the process is simple, simple, but requires lots of patience, and persistence, because you are looking for opportunities where your effort will pay off with visible progress towards your goals. You know, asking yourself, what would I do if my goal with s or z, helps you shift from a mindset of work to one of research, which means taking small steps, like I just mentioned, rather than trying to run before you can walk?


21:06  

So what areas can you improve the most with this mindset? You know, maybe that's a question you need to ask yourself. And I found that generally speaking, any area of life can be improved by adopting this mindset, you know, so it's really up to you, really, really, really up to you.


21:32  

So when it comes to personal growth, and career and success, you know, social skills, your health, and well being should always be your number one priority. So our rank those lower than the three listed above, that we spoke about, you know, the first step is just kind of stop focusing only on the content of what you want to accomplish. Because where matters, what really matters is just as much of the work. So the where matters as much as the what, I think I mentioned that before. That's why it's important to find your why you what and where and how, right, all those things. So we can get to the right place. These are all important things, but they are very different from one another, and it will be a change to get them out of order. So you just get it put thing in order that is important to you. Okay. Beautiful. 


22:50  

So if is your goal is just to become fit, and you know, we will talk about working out, then you might notice that no steps have been taking any direction because it is hard to know where exactly to start, when we haven't defined our destination in enough detail. So if I say I'm going to go to the gym, but I'm not getting there. But the final goal is and my mind is, I want to lose 10 pounds, or I want to lose a certain way. But I haven't really write that down. I haven't really put that into my goal, or the only thing that I had say is that I want to get to the gym. Yeah, did you got to change this mindset, and really put things down. Because it's this mindset that you're going to have by being a little more detail is going to push you towards the starting with a smaller steps. Once again, as long as that's right, and until you get there. So if you know the final destination without attaching yourself to, to how you're going to look when you get there, but just enjoying the process of getting there, then you're going to take the little steps to get there. If that makes sense. I'm kind of repeating myself, but I just kind of want to make sure that I know I kind of want to make sure that you know what I'm talking about. Okay.


24:33  

Yeah, so here. So where might be nice to imagine, you know, already there or leaving it happily ever after. And our own dream world isn't going to happen without its own effort on your part. You know, and we talked about taking this steps But you have to take it. So what I'm saying is put a day on the calendar. This means treating each day, like an experiment, where you're trying different strategies until you find one that works well enough for you, okay? That will keep you going, that will keep you doing the thing. So you can get there you can self improve, the smaller the better. Okay, because it is how you prevent yourself from becoming overwhelmed. Because if you don't have the habit of doing it is very easy to become overwhelmed. And by big change, which feels like a huge and management decision, right? So if you become overwhelmed, you probably are going to stop. And that's not what we want, because we want to get to the final destination, okay, with our touching ourselves in how are we going to look like, uh, what's gonna happen, when we get there, we just got to get there. Okay, okay. And really, you don't need to make a complete 180 and overhaul your lifestyle over night. But in this stage, you just got to be compassionate with yourself as you take those small steps to yourself improvement, day by day, until you reach your goal. 


26:50  

Okay, I'm going to stop right there, I'm going to leave it at part one, we will continue and on this episode, we will do part two of self improvement. Okay, and how to prioritize it, and how to manage it. This is very important topic. Because as a personal growth junkie, I'm always trying to stay focused on the things that I want to do and I want to improve and that I want to study and that I the seminars that I want to attend and the next certification that I want to do, and in every aspect of my life, physical, you know, mental, every area. So this is not just towards one thing, but it's self improvement overall, from the inside out as a human being. Okay, I hope you guys enjoyed it. Part one, hope there's not so much rambling there. But it was a lot that was coming out for me today. So let's leave it there. Once again. Thank you for listening. If you're enjoying the episode, take that step. Take a small step today. Okay, start making those habits. And we talked about habits in life last episode, but this is a completely different way of getting to improve yourself. So I want you to listen to the last episode, listen to this one, and how you can combine those two to get yourself to improve in the areas that you need to. Okay, so we will do part two on the next episode. So thank you for listening friends, and I will see you on the next episode. Bye bye. 


Outro 28:49  

Thank you for listening, everyone. And don't forget to go to the show notes and click to download your FREE mindful and energetic living guide. Also, don't forget to share this podcast with your friends, your families, and everyone out there. I want to get this up there to everyone. So thank you for your support. And I'll see you next week.


Transcribed by https://otter.ai