essay for self improvement

gift technique When thinking about things you’re grateful for, look for instances of: G rowth: personal growth, like learning a new skill I nspiration: moments or things that inspired you F riends/family: people who enrich your life T ranquility: the small, in-between moments, such as enjoying a cup of coffee or a good book S urprise: the unexpected or a nice favor

When listing things you’re grateful for, notes Hennings, make sure to also note why that thing makes you grateful.

2. Greet everyone you meet

Whether you nod or smile to strangers passing by or say “good morning” to everyone who enters the office, make an effort to acknowledge those around you when you see them, says psychologist Madeleine Mason Roantree .

In doing so, you’ll notice might find yourself feeling more present and connected to those around you, even if you don’t have a close relationship with them.

3. Try a digital detox

Unplugging for even a small amount of time can be beneficial to your well-being. The next time you find yourself with nothing to do, step away from your phone for a few hours.

Instead, try going for a walk and connecting with your thoughts.

Step away from your phone either for a few hours or even take the entire day off of devices. Instead, try getting outside and connecting with nature, or meeting up with friends IRL. Remember: Even a short break from your phone can help you unwind and focus on what brings you joy.

4. Use positive self-talk

It’s easy to get caught up in being overly harsh and critical of your perceived failings. This negative, unproductive self-talk can lower our overall motivation, explains Hennings.

If you’re constantly telling yourself you aren’t a good person, for example, it’s hard to find motivation to take steps toward self-improvement.

Practice positive self-talk by stating a fact and following up with some optimism.

facts + optimism = positivity The next time you find yourself feeling incompetent or overwhelmed, try telling yourself: “I know this change is going to be challenging, but I’ve put a lot of meaningful thought into it and have considered all the options open to me [ fact ], so I feel confident I am doing the best I can in this moment [ optimism ].”

The hard part is catching yourself in the act of negative thinking and intentionally deciding to think differently. But with a bit of practice, this will get easier.

5. Practice random acts of kindness

Being kind to others can help give you a sense of purpose and make you feel less isolated.

Try doing something nice for someone at random:

“You’ll notice your mood lift a little when you do good for the sheer joy of it,” says Roantree. Studies show that simply counting acts of kindness for one week can boost happiness and gratitude.

6. Eat at least one meal mindfully

When you’re caught up in the middle of a hectic day, it’s tempting to rush through your meal without listening to your body.

Mindful eating gives you a chance to check in with both your physical feelings and your emotions.

Pick a meal, even if it’s just a sandwich, and take your time eating it. Notice the different tastes and textures. “It’s a type of mini meditation that can act as a simple ‘de-stressor,’” says Roantree.

Not sure where to start? Our guide to mindful eating can help.

7. Get enough sleep

Not feeling fully rested can make you feel grumpy and unproductive throughout the day. Try to get seven to eight hours of sleep each night.

Find ways to improve the quality of your sleep by reducing your caffeine consumption late in the day, taking a melatonin supplement, or relaxing in a warm bath or shower before bedtime.

Check out these other tips for getting a better night’s rest.

8. Breathe consciously

Take a moment at the bus stop, in line at the grocery store, or before nodding off to sleep to focus on your breathing. Practicing even a few minutes a day of deep breathing has been shown to jumpstart our body’s relaxation response and regulate stress.

deep breathing 101 Roantree suggests trying the following technique: Inhale as you normally would. Exhale, making sure you take longer than you did to inhale. Repeat this process until you start to feel relaxed. If you prefer to count, try breathing in for the count of 4, holding for the count of 7, and exhaling for the count of 8.

9. Clean for 30 minutes

The way you feel about your home can influence whether your time there is restorative or stressful.

The next time you have a spare 30 minutes, set a timer and tackle some quick household chores that’ll add a little brightness to your day, such as:

Reward yourself by taking some time to enjoy your refreshed space — do a face mask in your newly clean bathroom, for example.

10. Forgive yourself and others

Holding on to regret, pain, and resentment hurts others. But it also hurts you. When you feel any of these emotions, it affects your mood and how you treat everyone, including yourself.

“Harboring unforgiveness breads negative thoughts,” says Catherine Jackson , a licensed clinical psychologist and neurotherapist. “Decide to let it go and make a plan to never go to bed angry.”

Check out our tips for letting go of the past.

11. Engage in self-care

We often think of self-care as manicures and spa treatments (which are all great ways to destress). But according to Jackson, daily self-care goes way beyond pampering. “It’s also about eating well and getting enough nutrition to support your brain and body,” she explains.

These don’t need to be time-consuming endeavors. Look for quick 10- or 20-minute pockets of time in your day where you can head outside for a walk or prepare yourself a bowl of fresh fruit.

12. Be kind to yourself

Many of us have the habit of lingering on something that was said to us, replaying it often in our minds. Instead of taking things personally and being self-critical, Jackson recommends offering empathy and understanding to the other person, as well as ourselves.

Think of all the ways you make a positive impact to those around you and try writing them down each day. Again, these don’t have to be grand gestures.

Maybe you held the door open for someone carrying some heavy bags. Or started brewing a fresh pot of coffee at work when you noticed it was getting low.

If you find you’re still struggling to change your frame of mind, Jackson advises to think of it this way: “Tomorrow is a new day, so if you beat yourself up today about something, let yourself off the hook and start fresh tomorrow.”

be your own best friend Try to treat yourself the same way you would a loved one. Would you constantly talk down to your best friend if they had an “off” day and dropped the ball on something? Hopefully not. And you shouldn’t talk to yourself that way, either.

The bottom line

It’s normal to get caught up in trying to become the best version of yourself. But being a better person starts with treating yourself with the same loving kindness as you do others.

This means not judging yourself harshly when your fall short of your goals and showing yourself patience and compassion on your bad days.

Keep in mind that there are many ways to become a better person, and those offered here are just a few. Find what feels most joyous and nurturing and try to build them into your daily life.

Last medically reviewed on April 24, 2019

How we reviewed this article:

Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available.

Medically Reviewed By

Timothy J. Legg, PhD, PsyD

Share this article

Aspects of Working on Self-Improvement

Self-improvement is often approached as a complicated and multi-dimensional issue that seems more complex in theory than it actually is. However, striving to be better and to do things that enrich one’s life and make it healthier, more fulfilling, and exciting comes down to recognizing positive practices. Such activities may range from reading several books a month to spending more time with family. Nevertheless, it is also necessary to recognize the practices that have been harmful to one’s well-being and should be corrected or eliminated. Thus, even though finding positive practices is detrimental to enhancing the quality of life, it is also necessary to take away some activities that may hold one back from living a fulfilling life.

Considering the practices that can help me improve as a person, several things come to mind. First, I always feel better when I have enough sleep, at least eight hours a night. The importance of getting adequate sleep cannot be debated, as numerous studies have proven that sleep is crucial for improved cognition, concentration, and productivity (Okano et al., 2019). In addition, good sleep can improve one’s problem-solving skills and memory performance of people of all ages. When it comes to mental health, poor sleepers are more likely to develop depression and anxiety disorders, which is why it is essential to pay attention to the amount of sleep one is getting.

Spending more time with family is another beneficial practice that many tend to overlook. In the world captured by screen time and social media, many people fail to recognize that they have become less social with their families. What is surprising is that spending time with relatives is a crucial component of a full and meaningful life and has some health benefits. For instance, face-to-face communication reduces the risks of depression and other mental illnesses because it enables strong emotional support. It can also help boost confidence and help improve future parenting skills.

Aside from everyday tasks and the increased workload, there are numerous activities that prevent me from getting enough sleep and spending more time with family. Specifically, spending too much time surfing the Internet, doing online shopping, and watching TV take a lot of time, although one may not always notice it. There have been times when I had something productive to do and planned to go online for ten minutes; however, without me noticing, several hours would pass with nothing being done. Similarly, before going to bed, I have often gone online shopping or turned on a new TV show, which prevented me from sleeping for several hours, leaving me sleep-deprived the next day. Moreover, I have started relying on online communication with my family, which is why our face-to-face interactions reduced significantly.

Therefore, it will be beneficial to cut the time I spend online and on social media and dedicate myself to positive practices. I should develop a schedule that allows me to sleep between eight to nine hours a day and set restrictions on my devices that could remind me of spending less time online. In addition, I should be more dedicated to spending more time with my family and strengthen connections with them. It will be challenging not to pick up my phone as often as I do while going to sleep earlier and without using devices is also a radical course of action.

Okano, K., Kaczmarzyk, J., Dave, N., Gabrieli, J., & Grossman, J. (2019). Sleep quality, duration, and consistency are associated with better academic performance in college students . NPJ Science of Learning, 4 (16).

Cite this paper

StudyCorgi. (2023, February 17). Aspects of Working on Self-Improvement. Retrieved from https://studycorgi.com/aspects-of-working-on-self-improvement/

StudyCorgi. (2023, February 17). Aspects of Working on Self-Improvement. https://studycorgi.com/aspects-of-working-on-self-improvement/

"Aspects of Working on Self-Improvement." StudyCorgi , 17 Feb. 2023, studycorgi.com/aspects-of-working-on-self-improvement/.

1. StudyCorgi . "Aspects of Working on Self-Improvement." February 17, 2023. https://studycorgi.com/aspects-of-working-on-self-improvement/.

Bibliography

StudyCorgi . "Aspects of Working on Self-Improvement." February 17, 2023. https://studycorgi.com/aspects-of-working-on-self-improvement/.

StudyCorgi . 2023. "Aspects of Working on Self-Improvement." February 17, 2023. https://studycorgi.com/aspects-of-working-on-self-improvement/.

StudyCorgi . (2023) 'Aspects of Working on Self-Improvement'. 17 February.

This paper was written and submitted to our database by a student to assist your with your own studies. You are free to use it to write your own assignment, however you must reference it properly.

If you are the original creator of this paper and no longer wish to have it published on StudyCorgi, request the removal .

Self-Improvement: How Better to Improve You

“No matter who you are, no matter what you did, no matter where you’ve come from, you can always change, become a better version of yourself.” - Madonna. When you read this quote, you think of one word, “Self-improvement.” Just with this one topic, you may ponder and ask yourself, “Who needs Self-improvement?” ,“ When do we need to start changing and How do we begin?”,” What will we get from it?” , and the most important question of all, “Why do we need self-improvement?” Self improvement comes from experiences. Experiences that were either blessings, mistakes, regrets, and overall a lesson each time. Self-improvement is a wake up call but will we ever take the chance to self-improve or just let it pass it by? So who exactly needs self-improvement? Is it for a specific type of person? Is it for a group of people? Like adults? Or teens? Or even Children?. Is it for the rich or the poor? Self-improvement is needed in everyone. It does not matter who you are, or what you look like, or the background you come from. We all need Self- improvement.To all of us, Self improvement is needed in our daily lives just like we need food and water. It feeds us with understanding, knowledge, character, and wisdom. Coming from experience, I never thought I needed Self-improvement.I thought I was fine and did not need any adjustment in myself. I thought I was a good person with very good qualities, but I was wrong. You can say that one day, I made a tremendous mistake that lead to a regret but it was the wake-up call for me. Long story short, I thought that I did not need to eat and I use to starve myself but because I did that, I had a major blackout which put me in the hospital and almost died. How I said before, it comes from experienc... ... middle of paper ... ...cy that left behind would not be here today. Like a sermon that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote, “ I want you to be the first in love, I want you to be the first in moral excellence, I want you to be the first in generosity…” What this quote meant to me meant a lot in self-improvement. If you want to change be the first one to change. Don’t wait for someone else but take the initiative, take the action! But here’s the catch! Don’t wait to try to self-improve when you think you’re ready because if you wait to when you think you’re ready, you will never self-improve. This kind of ties up to “When do we need to self-improve?” and “How do we self-improve?” Overall, Self-improving is key in someone’s life. Without it, we wouldn’t be where we were in the past, who we are in the present and who will be become in the future. It is needed in our lives, no doubt about it.

In this essay, the author

Self Assessment Essay

My Self-Assessment in the Nursing Profession and How this Helped in the Improvement of Attention to Detail and Compassion

Self-assessment, in the nursing context, is moment-to-moment self-monitoring. This directly refers to one’s ability to observe his or her own actions and correctly judge the effects of those actions (Epstein, Siegel, and Silberman 2012). Brown and Harris (2013) also gave their definition of self-assessment as an evaluative and descriptive act that is carried out by a nurse as relates to their own work. These definitions include the assessment of one’s abilities, products, and processes as they are all subject to the influence of one’s feedback.

Mechanisms of Self-assessment

There are many sides to a formative assessment in the clinical field. Basically, in the course of my earlier assessment, the areas I discovered that needed some level of improvement are my difficulty to pay attention to details due to poor concentration abilities and poor level of compassion towards patients, which also has to do with concentration issues. As stated by Hawe and Parr (2014), the main reason for self-assessment is to help participants grow in their respective fields and take central roles in the improvement aspect.

The Position of Compassion in the Clinical Care

As captured in the work of Crawford, Brown, Kvangarsnes, and Gilbert (2014), there is a global concern over the deficit of compassion across the nursing profession. This development is evident in the contemporary literature that has fairly tilted towards addressing this deficit (Dewar Adamson, Smith, Surfleet, King 2014). Noticeably, most cases of poor exhibition of compassion toward patients are from nurses who also have self-compassion issues (Dewar et al., 2014). “For someone to develop genuine compassion towards others, first he or she must have a basis upon which to cultivate compassion, and that basis is the ability to connect to one’s own feelings and to care for one’s own welfare. Caring for others requires caring for oneself” (Crawford et al., 2014). Statistics have given the indication that compassion for patients is one of the factors that motivates people who join nursing because nursing itself is synonymous with compassion. Unfortunately, at a point and through my previous self-assessment, I realized that I was one of those whose level of compassion towards patients has been declining. According to Izhaki, Treacy, Phaladze, Romeu, Vernon, Marshall, Fealy, Ehrenfeld, Larkin, McNamara, Dignam, Rollins-Ganz & Nelson (2015), there is evidence that a lack of compassion can limit the proficiency of a nurse in delivering care to patients. This is why (Klopper 2010) it is constantly important that nurses take the necessary measures towards optimizing their compassion for patients.

Earlier Measure of My Compassionate Disposition towards Patients

This measuring was done using a psychometric scale known as the Likert Scale. My choice for the Likert Scale is due to the fact that it can be easily interpreted by the prospective audience. This scale was used to find out what people (both patients and co-nurses) think about my compassionate disposition. In order to get a sincere opinion of what people really think, a questionnaire was distributed to them and they were allowed to maintain anonymity in getting their responses across to me. In the practical version of the questionnaire, I used my real name to help the respondents know who was been referred to. Here, however, I will refer to myself as nurse A.

The questionnaire came in the following versions:

S/n question disagree disagree disagree agree disagree agree.

The overall results gotten from the questionnaire shows that I have not been doing very well in terms of compassion in the course of discharging my duty. Using 4 points Likert Scale, the results are summarized as follows:

The summary of my personal assessment of compassion, using 4 points Likert Scale

The scale indicates that my earlier self-assessment on compassion was on average on a scale of 4 options. This was a pointer that my performance in that aspect needed to be thoroughly examined and improved.

On the other hand, paying good attention to details is critical for effective care to patients. This, also, was another area in that I found myself performing poorly. Prior to my earlier assessment, it was practically difficult for me to pay attention to details in the course of offering care to patients. This, I could say, was largely due to my inability to concentrate when I should. As Saarikoski, Ekaterini, Pérez, Tichelaar, Tomietto, and Warne (2013) stated, for nurses, paying good attention to details is a powerful component of mindful practice. One of the differences between effective delivery care is the ability of the nurse or caregiver to pay good attention to little details that have to do with the patient in question (Saarikoski et al., 2013). To do this appropriately, internal discipline is required. Some of the many qualities of paying attention are listening, taking actions that change the course of events, and noticing details. In other words, this involves staying alert and being ready and prepared for the unexpected in order to take quick actions that are necessary (Kajander-Unkuri, Salminen, Saarikoski, Suhonen, and Leino-Kilpi, 2013). For nurses, not being vigilant or paying good attention when one should has been associated with concerns over patients’ safety because this could lead to a number of problems including poor infection control and medication errors (Kajander-Unkuri 2013).

To ascertain my level of performance in the area of paying attention to details in the course of delivering my duty as a nurse, I also conducted a survey, using questionnaires that are tailored towards getting revealing questions in this regard. The questionnaire came with the following content:

S/N question

How was i at poor fair good very good excellent.

These questionnaires were distributed amongst patients and my co-workers and they were allowed to return their opinions anonymously to encourage sincere responses. 5 point Likert Scale was used in the opinion collection and the result is shown below.

The summary of my personal assessment on paying attention to details, using 5 points Likert Scale

The collected opinions indicated that I had a poor attitude toward paying attention to details.

My New Skills

The knowledge of the following assessment came to me like a shock. I had never anticipated anything as poor as that. This, however, spurred me to enroll in a number of programs that helped me develop the needed skills. On my own, I felt I was improving because my relationship with patients and colleagues were changing for good. Not relying on this, I ran another self-assessment to truly get people’s opinions on the new improvement. The result was quite encouraging. This was a repeat of the first process with the same questionnaires:

The above questionnaire was sent out to participants during the second phase of my self-assessment to ascertain how well I have improved in the area of compassion towards patients.

The summary of the second phase of my self-assessment on compassion, using 4 points Likert Scale

Also, I ran another assessment to ascertain my level of improvement in the area of attention to detail, using 5 points Likert Scale

The summary of the second phase of my self-assessment on paying attention to details, using 5 points Likert Scale

The results show a significant improvement in the skills. During the first assessment, I was “average” on compassion and “poor” on paying attention to details. On the second attempt, however, I went from “average” to “excellent” on compassion and from “poor” on attention to detail to “good”. This shows that, although more efforts to gain additional knowledge in those areas might be required, the effort made so far has shown significant improvement.

Future Impacts on My Nursing Profession

The new skills are part of the knowledge I need to continue in the continuously dynamic medical profession. Things are changing in the medical field and it is only important that nurses strive to acquire new skills to better position them professionally and in caregiving. The new skills will help me to effectively give care to patients from different backgrounds.

Our writers will provide you with an essay sample written from scratch: any topic, any deadline, any instructions.

Cite this Page

Get your paper done in as fast as 3 hours, 24/7.

Self-Understanding

How to know yourself and seek self improvement.

Today, most people like the idea about self-improvement. It’s trendy.

But before you can improve yourself, you have to get to know who you are, what you want, and why it’s so crucial to know the answers to those questions.

Once you know who you are, what you stand for, and what you want, then you can go on to work on self-improvement.

This article will take you through the main reasons why you should take the time to get to know yourself, how to get to know yourself, and then finally how to seek self-improvement.

Why you should get to know yourself, how to get to know yourself, how to seek self-improvement.

Bonus: 5 Self Improvement Books That You Can't Miss

Final Thoughts

More resources about personal growth.

Many people go through life without getting a clear understanding of themselves. There’s a difference between wanting to be someone and then the actions that creates a person. It’s easy to tell people who you are, but can you actually walk the talk?

We have a tendency to brush away our shortcomings and play a certain role that we’ve intentionally or unintentionally created for ourselves. It may work for a while, but it won’t help you achieve anything in the long run.

Yes, you can say you’re a good spouse. People will believe you when they see the picture-perfect image on your office, but if you go home to a different story, it doesn’t really matter.

In the end, the opinion that matters the most are the one we hold about ourselves. A lie will drain you, overwhelm you, and unresolved emotions will resurface.

Maybe you choose a certain path many years ago and now you feel stuck. You look in the mirror and you don’t recognize yourself. The week seems endless and it’s only 7am on a Monday morning.

These are just examples. It doesn’t mean that only unhappy people need to get know themselves and seek self-improvement. Even if your life is truly as great as it looks like, it’s always worth checking in with yourself.

It’s natural to change throughout life, but too many people are afraid of reacting to this change or realize that the path they once choose may not be right anymore.

Change is scary, but it’s even more scary to ignore your emotions and not react to them. For better or worse – change is the only constant . If you get to know yourself now, then you’ll be able to handle change better. Obviously, you can’t always control what happens to you, but you can control how you react to it.

There’s no time limit for getting to know yourself or window of opportunity. Remember that:

“Self-improvement and success often occur together. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re the same thing.” [1]

You can be at the top of your game to the outside world, but still feel the need to get to know yourself and seek self-improvement.

It’s never too late to get to know yourself, because once you do, then you’ll be ready for whatever comes next. When you know yourself, a new road won’t seem scary because you already know whether you’re planning on turning left or right.

So, it’s settled. It’s a good idea to know this person that you wake up to every morning and look at while brushing your teeth. The person in the mirror that kind of looks the same, but yet somehow seems different over time. Here comes the million dollar question: where do you start?

Unfortunately, there isn’t a quick answer (or solution) to this. It isn’t math. There’s no right or wrong. You can’t find a page with all the secret answers and ace the test.

Most people will get a better feeling of who they are over time by simply looking back at their previous actions, reactions and decisions. But you can also choose to take an active part of the progress right now.

Here are some active actions you can take to get to know yourself:

1. Increase Your Self-Awareness

It’s all about you now. Let the outside world exist on its own. It’s not about your neighbour or the guy from high school that posted yet another sunny picture from Dubai. It’s not about them.

Take some time to look at yourself. What have you been doing? How do you react to certain situations? What makes you smile?

And if you keep going back to comparing yourself to a specific person, then ask yourself why you’re so fixated on them. Figure yourself out. You’re worth knowing.

If you want to increase your self-awareness, I recommend you take a look at this article:

How to Increase Your Self Awareness to Be Much More Successful

2. Face Your Fears

It might seem obvious, but for some reason you keep avoiding that one thing.

A lot of people let fear stand in their way even though they know deep down they have the ability to face it. It’s easy to say of course, but if you manage to overcome your weakness, it will change you for the better. You will learn from it, and you’ll know a whole lot more about your character.

Not sure how to conquer your fears? This guide can help you:

How to Overcome Your Irrational Fears (That Stop You from Succeeding)

3. Focus on Your Strengths

It’s always a good idea to focus on what you thrive at and nurture it . It will help you become more successful, but you’ll also get a better understanding of yourself as our strengths are a big part of who we are.

Even if you’ve been running towards the wall for a while and your head is really starting to hurt – you’ll always have some strengths in you that you can return to. Go back and focus on them and see where they’ll lead you. Maybe a talent will turn into a career. Maybe a character trait will turn into a new path or relationship.

Now, let’s move on to how to go further and seek self-improvement.

Ryan Holiday said: [2]

”You can’t learn if you think you already know. You will not find the answers if you’re too conceited and self-assured to ask the questions. You cannot get better if you’re convinced you are the best.”

It’s important to leave ego behind and realize that you’ll never move forward, if you don’t accept that you’re not the best. You can always become better. Maybe you’re currently the best at your job, but you should never stop competing against yourself. It’s not about putting endless pressure on yourself. It’s about keeping yourself in movement.

Maybe you did some soul-searching and you realized that you did choose the right path. That’s great, but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to improve yourself. Or maybe you just realized that you want a completely different life. You quit your job, bought a dog and moved to a new city. Great, but you’re not done yet.

Once you tell yourself you have done what you set out to do, then you’ll run into the same wall that knocked you out in the first place.

Self-improvement is not about putting yourself down. Self-improvement is about lifting yourself up higher. The only way to do that is by accepting that you’re not the best. You can always become better. Even (or maybe especially) if you’re only competing against yourself.