The 5 Laws Of Self Improvement
This is what I’ve figured out in my few years of existence
A few months ago I became pretty obsessed with improving myself.
I wanted to sleep better, eat better, be more productive and make more money. And after all the books I’ve read and things I’ve tested, here are my laws of self-improvement.
#1 Meet the competition
I know it can be unhealthy to think of life as a competition, but sometimes, it is important.
A while back, I surrounded myself with people who were slacking, lazy and weren’t particularly successful in life. And I made them my benchmark of what everyone was like.
I thought, ‘Person X watches 5 hours of TikTok each day, so if I watch only 4, I’d be succeeding in life’.
That notion was entirely wrong. Although some, or maybe even most people aren’t investing time into improving themselves, that doesn’t mean everybody isn’t. I should hold myself high above those standards, not just a little.
I don’t just compete with the few people I know, but all 8 billion human beings out there.
So yes, 1 hour of scrolling on TikTok is bad, even if others are doing more. That’s 7 hours a week, and 2 weeks a year gone down the drain.
How much could I have achieved in that time? I could have read a chapter of a book, gone for a run or done anything else remotely productive. Millions of people out there are being productive. I have to too.
Once I realised this, I wasted hours less time.
I want to use every single minute of my time intentionally. Sometimes, I go out of line, but for the most part, I try to stick to this goal.
Before I do something, I ask myself, “Does this contribute towards the end goal in my life?” And if it does, I’ll do it. Otherwise, forget it.
This leads me to my next point.
#2 You are the average of the 5 people you surround yourself with
I’m sorry for that incredibly long subtitle.
When I had friends who were on social media for 5 hours a day, it felt socially acceptable for me to do so as well. Their behaviour would influence mine, in a bad way.
With better friends, ones who:
- were driven
- were productive
- motivated me
- supported me
- were more successful than me
I became more and more like them. I morphed into a mini-clone of them, which has helped me become more productive and happy.
Maybe you can do well with bad friends. But You would do 10 times better with amazing friends. Finding those people will change your life. The more you improve yourself, the better you become.
And the higher you climb, the better the people you meet.
Think about it. You’re probably not friends with Elon Musk or Taylor Swift. It’s not because you’re a bad person or they don’t like you. It’s because we haven’t climbed as high as they have.
It doesn’t have to be your goal to become a billionaire, but becoming a better person should be high on the list.
#3 He who wants it the most, gets it
When people succeed, you might hear the jealous people whispering “Oh, I could have done that, if I wanted to.” Yeah, sure you could’ve.
The point is, you didn’t want it as much as they did. You didn’t spend hours researching, working, designing, and studying as they did. That’s the big difference between those who succeed and those who don’t.
Maybe hard work doesn’t always turn into success. Sometimes a good strategy, the right people, and a ton of luck do the trick.
But if you want it, you’re going to have the drive to get it, no matter what.
The people who really want to succeed won’t give up after the first failure. They will pour hours more time into their projects and find ways to solve the challenges they face.
So the next time somebody says they could have succeeded if only they wanted to, feel free to slap them(just kidding, please don’t).
#4 Leave people behind
Once you’re on a better path in life, you can’t carry all the remnants of your past life with you. If your friends aren’t on the same page as you, you don’t need to stick with them.
There are billions of other people out there that you haven’t met. They can all be better friends and help you achieve more.
There’s no point in letting other people slow you down.
Some of them are just… losers. That might be a little harsh, but for some people, it is the reality. At some point, I realised the quality of the friends I was making.
90% of them spent upwards of 5 hours on social media each day. They didn’t go to the gym. They weren’t interested in becoming more successful.
They were just there, existing.
And once you leave them behind and find new friends, it’s like a bird that’s been set free from a cage. It’s made me so much happier, more productive and more successful.
#5 Change your brain
There are two different sides of my brain:
- The lazy corner-cutter
- The motivated and laser-focused
Most of the unproductive things I do come from the first part of my brain. It’s the part that encourages me to watch TikTok because it is ‘a good way to relax’.
I’ve learnt not to trust this part of me. Instead, I lock into that second persona.
I have to pretend to be a productivity guru and ultra-successful billionaire. What would they do if they were in the same position as I was in?
It takes discipline to do this, but that’s a given. Nobody said life would be easy, and if it were, everyone would be successful. It’s the same as if every day were a holiday. Then a holiday would be meaningless.
So being disciplined, and listening to that ultra-productive side of you is crucial. Don’t fall back into your old ways.
Final thoughts
This is definitely not an exhaustive list, and yours might be a little different from mine. Here’s a recap:
- Meet the competition
- You are the average of the 5 people surrounding you
- He who wants it most, gets it
- Leave people behind
- Change your brain
What are your thoughts about them?
I hope you found this article insightful. Thanks for reading!
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