Being a Better YOU Starts Now!

I used to live my life thinking that when I grew up, I would be able to handle the world. I would take it by the strings and be able to be the person I wanted to be without any effort. However, when I did open my eyes, there was a little bit of a rude awakening as I tried to grapple with myself and how I fit in with a competitive and sometimes cruel world.  This is a classic coming of age tale where the young girl gets a taste of reality and has to figure herself out. Instead of dwelling on how lost and confused I was, I want to instead focus on the flip side.  My intention is advice. To help one get from this stage to that of someone more established and prepared. This can, in turn, help to enhance not only one’s own life, but of those around you. I like to think of it in three parts: personal projects, recognizing negative habits, and exceeding personal limits.
                In my third year of college I took a class that really tried me. My professor was so amazing at what he did and his talent would be hard to deny. I became overwhelmed at the skill level needed to excel in the class until something he said really stuck with me. It was not very significant in of itself and all of us have most likely heard it in one way or another, but it changed my perspective.
It is common knowledge and common sense that if you want to become good at something, you work at it. He simply stated that there is no reason to not be great. You have so much and no matter where you are there is always someone out there who has less. There are many resources that surround us that we can use to excel. These resources may include mentors, role models or talents. He said use what you have and never stop doing. Any free time you have can be time used to work on a personal project.
My professor shared, from personal experience, that he started out doing something that everyone thought was pointless and continued to cultivate that talent. Now it “pays his bills” and allows him to help others. The same principle applies to any area of skill that you want to enhance. Find that wasted time and make it useful! Cultivate one craft or skill and then move on to the next. I saw a physical manifestation of a well-rounded individual in the form of my thirty something professor and it gave me hope that greatness can actually start small.
                If you are constantly managing your time and making sure that you are practicing in a focused area, a hindrance can be those long standing habits that can prevent you from progress. One habit I have, for example, would be assuming I can make up for effort later and wait now. It’s like the counter to smart investing. You assume that you can start investing, putting little bits away into 401k later, when you don’t have as many bills or debts. Unfortunately, your investments double over time. Therefore, if you wait you have less later down the road. This, in turn, can cause you to end up with insufficient money after life drains you, to live comfortably down the road. If you do not make every effort to be great now, you may not have the time, resources, or capabilities later when they are going to make a difference. “Invest” in yourself now and delete anything that will prevent you from personal success and the stumbling blocks will reduce from internal and external pressure to mostly external. As a result of self-management, you can trust yourself and then deal with what comes your way easier. 


                Lastly, I want to emphasize stretching. We all are aware of how easy it is to stay where we are comfortable and justify a lack of progress because we pushed ourselves yesterday. This mentality does nothing but push us back to square one. If you think of life as a constant force pushing you back, the idea of progression without a constant pressure from us, in return, doesn’t work. If you make an effort and then stop, you get pushed back to where you were before. I think of that force as the competitive nature of the workforce and the result of a lack of working on skills. Change will happen around you. It is up to you to not only keep up, but to push past those preset limits and exceed your personal expectations. To become you have to do. Greatness comes with effort, but it’s not unattainable! Making little efforts daily can go a long way to becoming the person you want to be! Start small, but at least start somewhere! Being a better you starts now....  Stephanie Clark 

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