50 Lessons I Learned on My Self-Improvement Journey

I started my self-improvement journey 4 years ago. I started the journey with reading. I did not have a habit of reading before that. So, I picked up my first book on self-improvement and have been on this journey ever since. Today, I would like to share 50 lessons I have learned in these 4 years.

General

1. Read non-fiction books. Develop a habit of reading.

2. Number of books read is not the right metric. Implementing and practicing the learnings derived from books is important.

3. Don’t just read books, re-read them. Every time you will learn new lessons.

4. Talk less, listen more.

5. Do an act of kindness daily.

6. Importance of compounding.

7. Have a purpose in life. Your purpose in life should be aligned with your passion.

8. Listen to others patiently. Don’t jump to giving solutions. Sometimes all people need is someone to listen to them.

9. Talk to your loved ones, and connect with them. Give them your full attention. When talking to them keep your phone away.

Happiness and Mental-health

10. Improve your thoughts. Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think.

11. Accept your situation. If the situation is bad, don’t complain. Try to find a solution.

12. Don’t gossip.

13. Focus on what you can control. Don’t worry about things you cannot control.

14. Meditate

15. Journal

16. Practice gratitude.

17. Be present in now. You cannot change the past and the future is uncertain. But you can control what you do today. So be your best today.

18. Cut toxic, negative people out of your life.

19. Take a walk.

20. When stressed or thinking too much, take long deep breaths.

21. Nobody owes you anything. Don’t feel entitled.

22. Don’t care about what people think. When you are among people, nobody is thinking about you. They are thinking about themselves just like you.

23. Don’t compare. Everyone has a different life journey. Don’t compare yours with theirs.

24. Don’t complain.

25. Don’t blame. Everything that happens in our life is a result of our choices and our actions.

26. Be kind to yourself. Don’t blame yourself. Everyone makes mistakes. Learn from your mistakes.

27. Our happiness is our responsibility, not anybody else’s.

28. Don’t act out of your true nature only to impress others. Be Yourself.

29. You cannot make everyone happy. If you fulfill their expectations today, they will have more expectations tomorrow. Act according to your values and your likes, without hurting others.

30. Other people’s happiness is not your responsibility. If they are unhappy, that is their problem.

31. Give importance to yourself. Your happiness and health should be most important to you. Only when you are happy and healthy, you can serve others.

Health

32. Most important things for good health — good sleep, exercise, eat healthy.

33. Wake up early.

34. Sleep early to wake up early.

35. Improve sleep quality by setting up a bedtime, and removing screens 2 hours before bedtime.

36. Exercise regularly (at least 5 times a week).

37. Mental health is as important as physical health.

Success

38. Increase your productive time in a day by limiting the use of social media.

39. Consistency is the key to achieving any goal. Doing small tasks consistently brings great achievement.

40. Failures are not bad, they are part of life. Everybody fails. Every failure is a lesson. If you have not failed you haven’t tried anything new.

41. Don’t get comfortable. Challenge yourself.

42. Learn new skills. Enhance skills you already have.

43. Learn from your mistakes. Don’t repeat them.

44. Say “no” when you need to.

45. Value your time. Only then others will value your time.

46. Money is important, but only to the extent of giving you a comfortable life. After that, there is no limit to the desire for money. Being content brings happiness.

47. Selfish desires bring unhappiness.

48. Don’t target perfection, target progress.

49. Don’t work only for money or vertical success. Don’t worry about the outcome. Perform your best at your work, and success will follow automatically.

50. Share your knowledge, and mentor others. Sharing knowledge will enhance your own knowledge.

Self-improvement is not a goal that can be achieved, it’s a journey. I have improved a lot in these 4 years and have experienced more calm and happiness in my life by practicing these lessons. The journey is not easy. I had a few failures and did some mistakes but, I have made progress. I hope this list helps you make progress in your self-improvement.