Seven ideas for those who want to develop every day

These tips will help you improve, rejuvenate and find inspiration.

1. Come up with morning and evening rituals

When it comes to morning rituals, they usually cite one of the billionaires as an example or say that Barack Obama starts the day with a cardio workout. Jane Austen played the piano in the morning, cooked breakfast, and sat down to write. All this may be inspiring, but let’s be honest: morning exercises or meditation alone will not make you a president or a great writer. But they will help structure the day and make it more organized. If you know what you should do in the morning or the evening, the temptation to spend an extra 30 minutes in bed or get stuck on the phone will be a little less.

Here are some ideas for your morning ritual. But first, subscribe to our Telegram channel. We often publish such valuable articles!

  • exercise or short workout;
  • meditation;
  • keeping a diary;
  • filling out the diary;
  • light cleaning (make the bed, put scattered things in their places);
  • self-education (foreign languages, popular science literature, courses, and webinars);
  • creation;
  • stroll.

But for the evening:

  • analysis of the past day and planning for the next;
  • yoga or stretching;
  • personal care (skin cleansing, masks, creams);
  • taking a bath;
  • reading;
  • listening to music or podcasts;
  • writing practices include keeping a gratitude or achievement journal.

It is just an indicative list. You can create rituals. It’s good to include activities that make you happy, meet your goals and values, and have time to complete tasks.

2. Create a motivational notebook for yourself

This pocketbook will inspire you, remind you of your goals, and help you stay on track. You can turn to it if you are discouraged, confused, or drowned in procrastination.

Choose a compact, sturdy and cute notebook. Write in it:

  • basic life values;
  • your mission — as you see it;
  • long-term and short-term goals and plans to achieve them;
  • their main strengths;
  • mottos that motivate you (read five ways to stay motivated when you feel like quitting everything);
  • mantras that help you calm down and support you;
  • the positive feedback you received (client reviews, praise from colleagues and managers);
  • inspirational quotes.

You can add pictures that illustrate your goals. Any creativity is welcome. It is your pocket motivator; compose and design it. You can not have a paper notebook but a document in the cloud.

3. Look for your “blind spots”

These are shortcomings or features you do not know about but would be worth working on — for example, intolerance towards specific categories of people or a lack of certain skills and competencies.

To identify these blind spots, blogger Celestine Chua suggests paying attention to what pisses you off.

If some phenomenon or event hurts you, you can try to understand the reasons and work on them.

For example, modern bloggers infuriate you to horror: it seems they are engaged in nonsense and get money too quickly. Perhaps you are angry for a reason, but because you would like to earn money by creating content but do not dare or cannot find a good idea. So, it is worth thinking in this direction.

Corporate parties and crowded events scare you. Yes, you are an introvert. But if you’re afraid because you cannot communicate, make friends, and network, this is an occasion to learn about networking and practice it (read Networking with empathy: what is it, how, and why to build it).

4. Ask for feedback often

It is difficult for even the most reasonable and sober-minded person to assess himself adequately. An excellent way to learn about your progress or identify areas for growth is to listen to what others say about you.

Constructive and polite criticism is an ideal space for development.

It's great if you already get feedback regularly: let's say you are praised or scolded by customers. But if the specifics of your activity do not imply this, you can ask for feedback from someone you consider authoritative enough. This could be a leader, a more experienced colleague, or a well-known specialist in your field.

It is essential that the person be as competent and unbiased as possible. For example, you draw and want to know your opinion about your work. It is best to show the work not to your mother (she will undoubtedly praise you) and not to random people on the Internet (they most likely do not understand the issue and may turn out to be trolls) but to the artist you like. Or contact an art teacher.

Try to formulate the request as specific as possible. That is, not just “How do you like my drawings in general?” but “I have been working on anatomy and proportions lately; please tell me if progress is visible and what else you can pay attention to.”

5. Practice digital hygiene

Analyze what you read in the news feed and social networks. If this content undermines your self-confidence and makes you bile and envy, it is pretty logical to replace it with something that will bring you new knowledge, inspire you to work on yourself and become better, just cheer and relax.

Calculate how much time you generally spend on social media. If you can’t get off your phone for several hours a day, use services that limit the time spent on specific applications. And figure out how to replace this bad habit. Maybe it will be books, crafts, or podcasts — any simple activity that will allow you to cope with boredom and anxiety.

6. Tidy up

No, this is not about washing dishes and dusting but about getting rid of trash and organizing space. If you devote at least 10-15 minutes to this every day, your things and papers will always be in order. And this is important because of the bedlam we lose precious minutes, get angry, upset — although we could be doing something more productive.

A well-organized space is essential for any business. As the saying goes, sharpen the ax first, then cut the wood.

You can do small daily tasks to help rid the house of unnecessary things. Let’s say disassemble one shelf in a closet or clear the desktop of everything superfluous. Or maybe delete unnecessary emails and sort files on your computer into folders because the order in the virtual space is also essential.

7. Spend time by yourself

Keep a diary, meditate, draw, and walk alone. Invite yourself to museums, cafes, cinemas, and shops. All this helps to take a break from other people, calm down, filter out the views and judgments imposed on you, hear yourself better, and understand what you need.

Try to practice seclusion every day. Svetlana Goncharova, the author of books on time management for young mothers, offers an interesting idea called “Spoiled Bag.” The point is to collect items in a bag or box that help you relax, fill you with strength and inspiration, and find time daily to be alone with this set. This technique is suitable not only for mothers and not only for women but for everyone.

In the “spoiled bag,” you can put:

  • a book;
  • sweetness;
  • headphones that you plug into your phone to listen to music or a podcast;
  • notepad and pen;
  • album and pencils;
  • something for needlework;
  • face mask;
  • aroma candles;
  • kinetic sand or slime.

The list can be anything. The main thing is that these things make you happy.

Creativity expert Julia Cameron talks about another way to spend time alone — creative dates — in her book The Artist’s Way. During such a date, you can go anywhere (or even stay home) and do whatever you want. But there are a couple of conditions. First, the lesson should not be routine. Very good if you’ve never done this before. And secondly, it should fill you up: give new impressions and emotions, lead to exciting ideas and thoughts, and in the end, just please and soothe. Thirdly, you need to go on creative dates alone.

Here are some ideas for things to do:

  • take a walk around the city with a camera, take a dozen or two shots;
  • go to a second-hand bookstore, look through books; if you like something, buy it;
  • attend a creative master class;
  • prepare an unusual dish, serve it beautifully and take a picture;
  • take a walk in the forest or park, collect a herbarium;
  • get a sketchbook and make a couple of spreads.

Not only people of creative professions need such dates. After all, they help restore resources and find new ideas which will not hurt anyone.

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