What is Self-Improvement?
Defending the process of honest Self-Improvement in a society of comfort.
Self-Improvement is a controversial topic. There’s a large bulk of followers ranging from the simple fitness advocate to the almost religious disciple who takes every bit of his life apart in order to optimize it To make it faster, easier and better. At the same time, though, there is a noticeable anti-crowd, that categorically rejects any notion of structured self-improvement for it’s inhumanness. The following is a discussion of the topic considering the common prejudice and also my personal decision.
What people see
Steven Covey’s Book ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective’ People makes a perfect start into this argument. Why? Because of the discrepancy between its title and its content. What you see, isn’t what you get. Out there is a great amount of people who, over time, have grown averse of the general theme of ‘productivity’ and ‘effectivity’. They have some solid arguments on their side, like ‘Life isn’t about doing more’ and they are right, but we’ll get to that later. To those People the book title of Coveys bestseller is an absolute No-Go. It has the classic buzzwordy article type of heading promising seven simple steps to take and it contains the word ‘Effective’, what a bummer. Because what’s in the book is as far from a superficial step-by-step guide to pumping out more work as it can get. The book, instead, is about the true nature of effectivity and about what I would like to introduce to you as honest self-improvement.
What’s in it.
Coveys pretty much nails the point in the first chapter when he says, that effectivity has to come from inside out. Inside to outside, that’s the key. It’s crucial to get that understanding across, because for many people, self-improvement is just about crunching through the work and being harder on yourself, from outside in, imposing rigidity on the nature of yourself.
For me, Self-Improvement is about growing as a whole. As a person, a brother, a lover, a friend. It is about finding your nature and letting in prosper.
Let me cover some pillars that are essential to honest self-improvement.
Self-Improvement is Self Review
Self-improvement is to a great extend based on Self-Review. The ability to honestly review your deeds on one side, and your character on the other side. I personally believe, that self-improvement is about opening your weakest spots to the warming light of consciousness, whereas many think it’s merely about covering them. Here again, it’s from the inside out, that is to say it is about accepting what is inside you, questioning it under the light of rational and conscious thought and then working on it.
I think we can agree that it is in our best interest to at least consider, what we are. For I believe that a life without structured and conscious retrospective is like a walk in the park with blinkers on: boring.
The word conscious has occurred a few times, and I want to make clearer what I mean by it. When I say we need conscious review of our character and deeds then I mean that we should review with a clear and unbiased mind what we do. Clearly, this is utopic, because we are never unbiased, especially concerning ourselves. But with practice and external review we can become more honest and objective. And here indeed it is a good starting point to just be a little bit harder on ourselves, because through our conditioning and external influences like media and advertising we have become addicted to the comfort zone of behaviours which we are unlikely to leave if we don’t start thinking about our own decisions more carefully.
Self-Improvement is Proactivity
Another essential pillar of Self-Improvement is proactivity. Together with the self-review or even before it must come a mindset of proactivity. Viktor Frankl used to say “Life asks and we respond” and reflects with this the core component of responsibility of his work on logotherapy. Responibility, as Covey put’s it is our ability to respond. Thus, ‘taking responsibility for your life’, has a whole new meaning. Self improvement builds on our ability to respond actively to the circumstances that we are confronted with.
I believe, again, that this is one of the immovable truth, because no one can argue against responsibility. No one can convince a large group of people that it is a good idea not to take responsibility for their actions, because that would result in chaos. Self-Improvement takes that idea further and uses a whole new perspective. The perspective of proactivity. Basically it is about saying: This is my life, I decide what it will be and what I will make of it. I am responsible for my deeds, my character and thus my future. As opposed to: ‘I was dealt a bad hand in the game of life and I’ll have to live with it’.
Also with proactivity comes a character trait that is sort of imported from the Stoics. It is the powerful idea to only focus on that which is inside your sphere of influence. This is more of a basic philosophical and moral discussion, but for me there is no point in worrying about something that I can’t possibly change. In some cases, this may seem ignorant and cold, but it only draws positive energy from me that could be actively put to use on something that really helps people somewhere else.
Self-Improvement is about Experience
Lastly, Self-Improvement for me is about experience. This is controversial, because many people think that by focusing so much on productivity and effectivity, we forget to just live our lives. That is true, to some extent, and it is honestly a point where we ‘self-improvers’ can learn from the ‘masters in the art of living’, that is from the hedonists, the emotional and sensitive who focus more on the experience than on the improvement of it.
At the same time one can argue that being productive and trying to be the best version of yourself in any circumstance is an experience as well. And it is one, that many people miss, because they hide behind their argument of life-quality. Surely, constantly working on yourself isn’t the only way to live, but neither is not doing so. Thus, giving it a try can only enhance the range of your experiences in life. And for me personally, that has become a larger theme to strive for. To see every tree, to walk every path and to get lost at times in the forest of life.
I am convinced that the optimal way lies somewhere in the middle and somewhere else for every individual. To neglect the power of self-review and proactivity completely, however, amounts to ignorance of a whole direction of the forest.
Self-Improvement is what you make it
Self-improvement, eventually, is about becoming a better person. And the nature of the world tells us that it is your decision, what better actually means. Self-Improvement for me isn’t some higher moral or the unquestionable truth in productivity. It is about seeking the truth. The truth of yourself, what you really are and what you want to do. Whether your truth is to be the best father, the best entrepreneur or the best friend.
We have only one life, and one, continuous self. Make it the best, make it count.
