Developing a Personal Improvement Plan For

Any GoalA personal improvement plan is one of those things that couldn't be any more personal. You are you, your friends and family are themselves, and anyone who doesn't fit into either category also typically doesn't concern you. The point is that undertaking this kind of endeavor can and often will involve a number of trials you will have to face alone. You may have support from those closest to you, and they probably want to see you succeed, but at the end of the day it is just you going against the grain.

Now if you are serious about getting the ball rolling on change, you need to understand what it is you are wanting to do. It is said that we are the choices we make, and that old habits are hard to break. So this isn't just about changing who you are, but who you have been. You are not just fighting against the decisions you made yesterday - you are fighting against decisions you may have been making your whole life.

It could be that you want to improve your physical health. It could be that you want to quit smoking. You may simply want to expand your horizons and learn something new. There is no real way to gauge difficulty with these things - one can not say that dropping the habit of eating dessert is easier than dropping the habit of lighting up a cigarette.

The truth is that the details likely will not matter in the long run, and you should focus only on achieving what you want rather than what that thing may be. Towards this end you are going to need something - one thing, in fact - that can change any aspect of who you are that you like. That thing is willpower.

Willpower is a phenomenal force that can not be measured and yet still has the power to change anything about you that you want. With enough of it, you could become a

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movie star or a great engineer - you could attempt to become leader of a nation, even. While we can not measure it, we know it when we see it in individuals who are driven to accomplish something.

This is where you come in and your journey really begins. It is easy to say that you only need to stay focused and walk the line, but what does that mean? Try to understand that knowing the path is not the same as walking the path. Think of it this way: you can have somebody tell you all about their trip to another country, yet you can not say you have been to that country or that you fully understand the experience of being there. Knowledge not what will help you - experience is.

Only when you have taken your first step will you start to experience, and therefore understand, what it is you are doing. As such you should start small. Too many have failed because they tried to do too much too quickly and found it overwhelming. If you are trying to quit smoking, set a limit on how many cigarettes you can have per day and then after a week reduce that number by one. If you are trying to lose weight, cut dessert or another fatty food out of your diet for a week or two.

You begin building a house by laying a foundation, not constructing a roof. Taking these small steps and giving them time to set - thereby changing your habits - will give you the experience you need and begin to test your willpower. Changing one's self is not done in a day or a week or possibly even a year. It is a fight you must jump into each and every day in some cases.

When you begin getting comfortable with the small changes you have made, it will be time to make more or make larger ones. For example if you have limited your smoking to only a few cigarettes a day, choose one or two days where you smoke no cigarettes at all. If you have significantly altered your diet to include healthier options, begin picking up an exercise routine.

Taking small, but steady, steps is what will give you the greatest chances for success. As already mentioned, overshooting and finding one's self against odds too great to hold out against is one of the things that causes many to fail. You should also be keenly aware of that fact - that many do indeed fail.

It sounds negative at first, but you need to be realistic about what you are doing. If this was easy then everybody would have already done it. The fact that there are still people caught up in bad habits, or behaving in ways they wish they wouldn't, is a testament to the fact that this is going to be difficult.

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Understand, though, that failing once does not mean you will never succeed. Each step forward invites the possibility of falling a step back. Be ready for those times when you find yourself slipping, and know that it is during these times that you will need to reaffirm your reasons for making a change.

Being prepared to get up again is just as important as determining your course of action from the start. The better your grip on what is to come, the more likely it will be that you can work through it. Keep in mind, also, that you do not have to do everything alone.

You likely have friends or family around you who can offer support when you need it most. In the event that you don't, however, you should find groups - whether online or somewhere nearby - who can help. Many coalitions exist that are run by people who have made the changes you are trying to. They can offer advice and guidance that may be just what you need to take the next step forward.

Developing a personal improvement plan can be daunting, but more difficult still can be putting it into action. If you are serious about it, do something right now - today. If you can do something today then you can do it again tomorrow, and the day after that. In time, you will reach the goals you have set for yourself, and be a completely different person as a result.

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