Weathering the Storm

I have been blogging a lot less frequently.  The reason is that I have not felt like writing about self improvement.  I have not felt like actively doing anything in a while.  It is hard to strive for improvement when you feel like you are just getting by day to day.

Life can wear you down when you let it.  And sometimes it feels like you don't really have a choice in the matter.  Pretty much everything that this blog has revolved around is that we all have a choice in who we want to be and what type of life we want to lead.  In theory this is a great idea and I truly do believe it.  But I also recognize that in practice we don't always have the time or energy for our normal lives.  In these difficult times improving and choosing to be better is an afterthought.

How you handle the difficult times can define who you are.  Sometimes weathering the storm is just the best option.

Photo: Kr. B  

How to Make Self Improvement Fun

I enjoy improving. Particularly, I enjoy seeing progress. This is one of the biggest reasons why I enjoy computer and video games. The games allow you to level-up, increase various attributes, all the while letting you see how you have improved. (Yes, I realize that I am a dork.)

Self improvement is similar in the sense that it is fun to see ourselves get better at things. But there are big differences. Virtual improvement is quick, easy and displays the improvement right away. Real improvement is not always quick, not always easy and not automatically displayed.  (Another big difference is that real improvement is...actually real.)

Making self development more like a game can make the process easier and more fun. The easiest way to do this is focus on displaying or charting results and progress. I envision something similar to the Wii Fit, where every workout is recorded and displayed in various fun ways.  (If only there was a Wii Diet or Wii Law School Application.)

Here are a few tips to making improving yourself more like a game and more fun:

• It has to be easy. If the process to showing progress is more work than actually improving you will not stick with it.

• Make it public. Making your goals public gives you a greater incentive to work towards them.  It also is a lot more fun when you succeed.
  

• Make a work out log. I am doing this right now. It has been very helpful, sometimes frustrating and other times, fun.
  

• Try to make your goals more quantifiable. Without being able to track what you have done it is almost impossible to track progress.  (This does not mean that less quantifiable goals are less worthy, just that they are harder to keep up with.)
  

• Make a blog. Trust me, creating a blog is really easy. It allows you to publicly create goals and gives you an avenue to chart improvement. If you are thinking about doing this let me know and I will be more than happy to help out.

• Find people who are looking to improve. They will motivate you. You will motivate them. Everybody wins. Places to check out: online forums/websites and even your everyday friends if you talk to them about it.

• Improve things you care about.  Do not try to improve just to improve.  You either won't stick with or won't care after you have succeeded.

I am still working on ways that I can better chart improvement. I will keep tinkering with this blog and other avenues to see how I can make the process easier and more fun.  If things are fun, we do them.

Photo: vramak