Self Improvement In 4 Easy Steps - NLP Coaching
Author
Damon Cart
Date
Oct 29, 2018
Content
Author
A lot of people consider themselves to be into self improvement and personal development, but what does that mean exactly?
I know people who like to read self help books because it makes them feel good but they never take action on what they learn from the book.
I also know people who try things. They dabble. They get results that reflect inconsistent actions not surprisingly.
So how do you know if you're actually improving?
1) Be specific about you want.
Simply wanting to improve yourself or become the best version of yourself is way too vague. In what area of your life do you want to improve and what does the best version of yourself look like and sound like if you were to become him or her?
How would you know it if you got what you wanted or became the version of yourself you want to be?
"I want to be physically healthier" I often hear people say.
What does that mean exactly? What foods will you eat? Will you track calories? Do you want to lose weight? If so, how much?
If you're not specific you don't have a clear vision of what you want and this will dampen your motivation.
2) What is important to you about improving this area of your life?
You've heard that you should know your big "Why". In NLP terms we call this values.
When you understand the deeper value of what it is you want, you become unstoppable. You also become more flexible and adaptable and more motivated.
Go really deep with this one and keep asking yourself what's important to you about improving yourself in a particular area of your life and what will it do for you until you've elicited 3 to 5 of your highest values.
When you connect this intensity of purpose and meaning to improving yourself, it becomes automatic. You will be drawn to your vision effortlessly and both your conscious and unconscious will guide you there.
3) Measure your progress.
How do you measure your progress? If you don't know how, you're not clear and specific about how you want to improve. Go back to step 1.
Using the getting healthier example you can measure your progress in many ways. You can do it by going to your doctor for a physical and check your vitals like blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, etc. Ask your doctor what would be a good goal to work toward and make an appointment to be tested again in a month.
Weigh yourself everyday or almost everyday is another way to measure progress.
When you're clear about the improvement you want, how to measure progress is easy.
Measuring your progress is necessary because otherwise you don't know if you're improving. The numbers don't lie.
When you make progress you will be even more motivated toward improving yourself.
If the metrics say that you're not improving, you know you need to change up your strategy, which is important so you don't waste your efforts.
4) When do you want it and what is your exit plan?
It's important to have a deadline or a timeframe for improving yourself otherwise there's no urgency.
Hold this loosely though and don't overwhelm yourself. I see people getting excited about embarking on a new endeavor and they think they can do more than what they can in too short of a timeframe. The result is they get discouraged when they miss their deadline.
Be realistic.
Also, don't stretch it out too long either. Losing 20 pounds doesn't take a year. If you stretch the timeframe out that far you're more likely not to do anything the first 6 months.
Exit plan? Why would you want to exit from improving yourself?
At some point you're going to reach your goal and you need to have a measurable way to determine that. Once you arrive at it, you need a new plan and a new goal.
This could be improving even more in this area or focusing on another area of your life to improve.
Once again using the getting healthier example, if you lose the 20 pounds and you check back with your doctor and your vitals are perfect, what then?
If you stay on the plan you will keep losing weight. At a certain point you will need to stop losing weight (or risk becoming emaciated), which is why you need an exit plan and a maintenance plan.
Many people lose weight and gain it right back because they didn't have an exit plan and a maintenance plan. After achieving their goal they didn't want to lose any more weight so they exited the old plan by default and had no new plan to maintain their results.
An exit plan is really just a transition to a new plan.
Follow these four simple steps and you will improve yourself.
Damon Cart
NLP Coach and Trainer
Santa Cruz, CA
Damon Cart
Author
Damon Cart is considered to be a natural talent by some of the best NLP trainers in the world. His approach to guiding and teaching students brings to their awareness that they've been doing NLP all of their lives without realizing it and he empowers them with skills and resources to thrive and reach their full potential. With the understanding of how Neuro Linguistic Programs create oneβs experience a person can then take charge of those programs and create the experience and the life they want. By taking this approach into his own rigorous, daily NLP practice Damon has been able to rapidly accelerate his progress in learning, coaching clients and teaching workshops.
