Be Your Own Life Coach: 10 Ideas for Self-Improvement

It’s that time of the year when you look at how you can better and make 2019 the best year ever. However, it is important to be consistent to get your desired results. Seema Giri, Life coach and the author takes you through 10 ideas for self-improvement. Here is what she has to say:

Having suffered from debilitating autoimmune diseases (fibromyalgia, hypothyroid and rheumatoid arthritis) that went undiagnosed from early childhood until I was an adult, I finally reached a point where I decided that I had enough of living with pain. I made conscious decisions to break the pattern to provide a better life for my family and me. This motivated and inspired me to continually be in action and quickly get back on track when I got off course.  It can be quite confusing on where and how to start. So I started with the basics and as I reached my goals to my satisfaction (not perfection) I moved to the next level. The key is to build a strong foundation that will propel you into becoming the best version of yourself at any age.

These are the steps that helped me transform my life. Let’s get started!  You’re a diamond waiting to be polished so that you can shine with the gift(s) you were given in this world.

Beliefs

First and foremost, I believed that life is supposed to be joyous and vibrant. The journey can be made with ease and grace. Create a belief in the kind of life you expect to have and be totally immersed in that belief. Magic happens!

Healthy Eating

It’s important to nourish your body. Food is fuel. The better quality of food that you eat the better energy, sustenance and longevity you will have. It will also better regulate your hormones and sugar. You will be more balanced with the ability to have better clarity, focus and decision making power.

Exercise

Thanks to modern technology and today’s lifestyle we have become a society that is more sedentary. We have forgotten that our body is meant for movement. Do your favorite activity at least three times a week. If you add cardio for the heart and weight lifting for strength you will be in great shape.

Mindset. Mindset is not just about positive thinking. It is about not being too critical and hard on you. Allowing you to fail. Given you permission to retry multiple times.  We have a tendency to be much harder on ourselves than on others. Become your own best friend.

Self Care

Today’s lifestyle is so hectic that you are working on the overwhelmed mod. Work, home, family and social obligations that self-care are the first thing you stop. It feels more like a luxury rather than a necessity. On the contrary, self-care is not only a necessity but crucial to your wellness. When you take time out for self-care you avoid burnout, you are able to have better focus thus getting your activities done on time. Most importantly you avoid the negative effects of stress.

Emotional Hygiene

Keeping a check of your emotions throughout the day is equally important. If you are experiencing intense emotions or feeling it come on such as anger, frustration or rejection. It is helpful to take a break and asses the feelings. What is making you feel this, where is it coming from?  Remind yourself that is not who you are, it is due to the situation you are going through. It’s helpful to step back from the issue for a few minutes.

Sleep

Sleep is the first thing that gets sacrificed due to an overwhelming schedule. You feel if you cut the time in sleeping you can get more work done. This is not the place to cut corners. As you sleep your body repairs, for example, your heart gets a rest and beats slower, your spine elongates or decompresses from standing all day, you release excess water and your digestive systems gets a rest. Your immune system gets a boost. When you get the proper hours of sleep that you need you will be more emotionally balanced, be more productive and handle stress better.

Time

Protect your time like you protect your money. Prioritize your schedule first; make sure you are getting the most important thing for the day done first which will make you feel that you have achieved something. Be mindful of where you are spending your time as you do with money. Be aware of the time thieves that show up, you take the extra time to chit chat at the office, you agree to do the task for others even if it’s not your area of responsibility. Spending time with people you don’t serve you in a positive way.  Time is precious it’s the only thing in life that you can’t get back so be mindful of how you spend it.

Forgiveness

The mere idea of forgiveness makes many people get upset. You become a prisoner holding onto the resentment, pain and anger.  The best analogy I have seen on what happens to you when you hold on to the pain is “drinking the poison yourself and expecting the offender to die”. It’s actually killing you slowly. The act of the offense happened once but because you are constantly relieving it, it’s harming you in terms of your mental, emotional and physical health. Preventing you from moving forward in life. The greatest misconception is that if you forgive you are condoning the offense. In fact, the person never needs to know that you have forgiven, it is not a matter of if they deserve forgiveness, and it’s a matter of you deserving happiness. Most importantly, it’s important to forgive yourself, too often you hold yourself responsible for the things that happened. It’s not your fault. Let go. You deserve happiness and to move forward.

Journaling

Journaling has great healing power. This is one safe place for you to process the events that have occurred both positive and negative without stress and fear.  You get a cathartic release by writing, by doing this daily you release the daily stresses thus allowing it to not compound where then it becomes more difficult to manage. Be sure to include what you were thinking and feeling at the time. It helps to get your creative juices flowing. It also helps in helping you become more aware of yourself and creating better habits. I would suggest using a notebook and pen. Something magical happens in the brain when you write in this manner versus using a device.

For more information please visit www.seemagiri.com