Self Improvement: Key Strategies for Finding Peace, Responsibility, and Purpose

The Reality of Life and Self-Improvement

Let’s accept this, me, you and everyone living. The world, the people you know or don’t, this Life, it is not going to be fair. It is not going to be rosy cozy every time. It is not supposed to be, it has not been, it will not be. The world is a very interesting place for our existence. In all aspects of life combined, you are going to find the presence of goodness and evil in this world. Keeping all possibilities into consideration, the world will eventually hurt you. And if you are naive and careless and irresponsible of your actions, you are going to hurt a lot of people too, and its can also be in the true form of evil.

The Importance of Self-Work in a Complex World

In this adventure of existence, it is important to work on self so that you do not get affected or at least get less affected by the evils. Also, get your act together so you do not become evil. What is going to happen if you work on yourself is, there will be less evil in the world. I believe that is a good enough reason to work on self.

So how do you work on yourself, how do you protect yourself?

1. Find your peace.

Identifying What Brings You Peace

Try to make note of things that give you peace and do this very consciously. When you start this journey there will be things you will do that may look or sound selfish. It may even feel selfish. How you decide whether an act is good to do or not is by a simple rule of thumb that I learnt some time back. I have always followed in my life and I have been suggesting it to all my students:

If your act gives you happiness, and most importantly, does not harm anybody, there is nothing wrong in doing it.

Do not exhaust yourself in doing things for others that take away your own peace and balance of your life. Of course, the limits of the idea of over exhausting can be different for different people and only you can find your limit about yourself.

Tiny things that we ignore which brings us peace could look like, watching the sunset, feeling the warmth of sun on our faces, watching the clouds, feeling raindrops, going for a movie, talk to your family, tiny acts of kindness.

2. Be Responsible of your act.

The Consequences of Irresponsibility

But be mindful, you must not ignore your basic responsibilities at the stake of finding peace. Else this will be a short happiness, and it will not last for long.

If you ignore your basic responsibilities for any short-term happiness, then you are just a naïve and self-centered individual. And imagine yourself in a situation with a self-centered person who does not care about you, your feelings, your well-being, your growth, your peace. Would you wish to be with that person?

Being irresponsible will eventually turn you evil. And god forbid, if you become evil, you will have to suffer for your actions, especially if you have conscience left in you and you are not a narcissist and psychotic. Your acts of evil will kill you, every day, every moment and you will have to almost die to come out of your acts of evil. The idea of working on self is to be less evil and escape the evils of the world, not to be one. Read more on this topic here.

3. Upskill yourself

The Role of Skill Development in Personal Growth

I believe most of us know this, we humans are social animals. You could be introverted, but you still would be surrounded by people who impact your life, your family, your partner, your co-workers, your friends and so on.

A peacock has beautiful feathers, I believe you know why. It is to attract peahens. The strongest lion becomes the leader of pride. If you are skilled, you will receive attention and recognition from people around you. You also get better at what you do and then you can bring larger impacts to this world.

Learn a skill that you can add in your resume, learn a skill that supports you in attaining the true purpose of your life. And if you do not know your purpose yet, well then keep looking. Keep picking up new responsibilities, I am sure your calling is not far away, trust me on this.

4. Surround yourself with people who make you better.

The Impact of Your Social Circle

The people you surround yourself with significantly impact your life. For example, when I wanted to join the NCC in college, none of my friends were interested, and some even mocked the idea. As a result, I never joined, and I realize now that if I had connected with someone who was already a part of the NCC, I might have joined. Similarly, if Sachin Tendulkar’s friends were singers, he might have become a great singer instead of a cricket legend. Or if Sunita Williams’ friends were cricketers, she might have pursued cricket instead of space exploration. My own path was shaped by being sent away to study, which led me to writing this blog.

Choosing the Right People for Your Journey

Surrounding yourself with encouraging, kind, and courageous people increases your chances of achieving your goals. Conversely, being in a discouraging environment can hinder your progress. Choosing the right life partner is also crucial, as emphasized by Henry Cavill’s advice that a significant portion of your happiness and peace comes from your partner. If you haven’t found your supportive community yet, don’t be discouraged—continue seeking out new connections and socializing. Good people will attract good outcomes, most of the time.

5. Discover Your Life’s Purpose

The Journey to Finding Purpose

Well, if it all boils down to, it is the true purpose of our lives. You can read about me here. You see, I myself have been stuck in the loop of misery throughout my life. The only reason things started to change me was when I started doing what made me truly happy. It did not happen overnight, it will never be, it is not supposed to be. It does not mean that we should stop doing everything else either. During the course of our life we start to find things that gives us immense peace, that makes us feel satisfied with what we do. Remember, being satisfied is not equal to being happy. I could have rather spent my time partying, or sleeping, or binging my favorite shows than sitting and writing this and those could have given me many short term happiness. If something gives me no pleasure at all is sitting on a laptop and typing. But yet, I am satisfied.

If you have not found your purpose yet, it is still absolutely okay. I did not even realize until I was being turned down by companies when I was looking for jobs. And it has been 7 years I am still polishing my skills and I am still trying to make it my full time work. Some people may have found their calling much earlier, some people much later. As long as our acts are responsible and courageous, we will find it.

Conclusion: Building a Better You

So these were 5 ideas to build oneself. 1. Find your Peace, 2. Be Responsible, 3. Upskill Yourself, 4. Watch your social circle, 5. Find your Purpose. I have been using them, I have been recommending these to everyone I know in my life. I have tried to make these short but I have also written about some of these in different blogs. You can check them out here.

Do let me know which topic you would want me to cover next. All your thoughts, suggestions and feedback are welcome. And in this blog, this is what ABHIsays and hey…Keep Shining!