How do you start your journey to self-improvement?

 their lives and achieve their goals. Self-improvement helps you to reform the quality of your life and enhance your personality according to your principles and desires. In fact, we always have something to improve and have unlimited capabilities, but they need to be discovered and made use of.

Before we begin to list some tips that help you improve yourself and your awareness of your capabilities, realize that self-improvement is not a destination in itself, but a mean that paves the way for us towards our goals and dreams.

That is why governments and countries are paying attention to this matter. And if you are a Saudi citizen, we can say that you are lucky. Because Crown Prince "Mohammed bin Salman" announced the launch of the Human Capability Development Program to improve the national competitiveness of human capabilities at both the local and global levels and to meet the needs of all sectors of society, beginning with children and progressing through university graduates and up to the labor market, through knowledge and skill development, and the cultivation of values.

According to Crown Prince "Mohammed bin Salman", the program’s plan includes 89 initiatives aimed at achieving the 16 strategic goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. The program’s strategy also includes three main pillars, which are: developing a solid and flexible educational foundation for all, preparing citizens for the future labor market locally and globally; and providing life-long learning opportunities.

Engineer Ahmed Al-Rajhi, the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, has confirmed that one of the program's objectives is to prepare citizens to work in the available jobs in the leading global companies. Now, after we realized the crucial of self-improvement and how much it is important to achieve your goals

here are some tips to help you improve and develop yourself:

Read every day

There is no doubt that reading expands your awareness and helps you understand the world around you. If you look at people around you, you will find a great difference between the people who always read and the others. As you find the reader is conscious, enlightened and has a solid grasp of many issues, which is reflected in their way of life, thinking and dealing with others. So, reading is one of the magical keys to self-improvement.

If you are a novice reader, you can start with self-improvement books because they are quite simple and their content is very useful.

Establish your priorities 

Before you start making any new plans, you have to schedule your tasks and define them according to first things first. And know your priorities well to complete them according to a specific time plan. In such a way, you can avoid mess and procrastination, and make the best use of every step you take.

The best way to do this is to classify tasks into four categories according to the Eisenhower Matrix:

• Important and urgent tasks.
• Important but not urgent tasks.
• Urgent and unimportant tasks.
• Unimportant and non-urgent tasks.

Learn a new language

There are countless benefits to learning a new language, such as strengthening memory, developing creative abilities, improving attention, enhancing brain health, being able to do multiple tasks, increasing verbal and non-verbal intelligence, and promoting self-assuring and a sense of achievement. In addition, learning a new language fosters your career opportunities and opens many doors in the labor market. All of these benefits represent exceptional value in your journey to self-improvement. So, start learning a new language right away.

Get out of your comfort zone

Staying in our comfort zone keeps us like stagnant water, motionless. Indeed, being comfortable doesn't help us to improve ourselves, and it doesn't get us anywhere.

If you looked for life, dreams, and self-improvement, you would find your comfort zone and get out of it gradually. For example, try long walks in a new place, cooking your own food, working out if you don't, or starting projects that you always procrastinate on.

Set goals outside of your comfort zone, and achieve them until you get acclimatized to doing the difficulties.

Take up new courses

The courses are a very effective way to gain more knowledge and skills because they help you improve yourself. There are also several benefits that you will get from joining the courses. Because they enhance your strengths by developing your old skills and teaching you new skills and improving your weaknesses by solving problems in professional, family and social aspects by assigning you some tasks that you learn how to perform efficiently and effectively. Which affects your quality of life and general welfare.

Never give up

If you seek to improve yourself, no matter what adversities you may face, never give up and consider them something you should overcome and resolve, not passively accept. Also, know that troubles and obstacles sometimes carry opportunities to create alternative paths and ways to move forward and take greater steps.

Michael Jordan said, "I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that's why I succeed". Realize that your refusal to give up will push you beyond what you expected.

Meditate

Meditation helps you clear your head, enhance self-awareness, make a connection between your body and soul, and reduce stress and anxiety. This makes it a very important exercise in self-improvement.

Find a quiet place, sit in a comfortable posture, and focus on your breathing while trying to stop any thoughts that jump into your mind. The best time to meditate is in the early morning or before sleeping.

Eliminate bad habits

Most of us have at least a bad habit, whether it's smoking, overeating, responding quickly to distractions, or addiction to phones and social media.

Whatever bad habit you have, try to quit it and replace it with a more positive one. And never forget that this step is pretty important in order to get out of your comfort zone and help you improve yourself.

Tune in to podcasts

Podcasts are a very effective and interesting way to improve yourself. They help you gain more knowledge on various useful topics. You can also listen to them on your way to work, during walking or working out. In other words, you don't have to find time to listen to podcasts; you can do it while doing something else.

Never stop learning

You have to realize that learning does not stop when you graduate from school or university. In this life, there are many things and fields you can learn, and it has become much easier in our era.

Whether you want to enhance your knowledge in your field or start learning a new one, this will help you improve very quickly and one-up your peers. Remember what Jean-Jacques Rousseau said: "The root of true achievement is in your desire to become the best you can be".

Enjoy the current moment

Enjoying what you're living now is an important step for your mental health. Never overwhelm yourself with overthinking the future or regretting the past. Meet your friends, watch nature, and laugh as much as possible. No doubt, enjoying the current moment leads you to develop a positive mindset that helps you move forward and feel happy.

Get started now

Many have a lot of goals, but they are waiting for the appropriate circumstances to start achieving them, but this is just a kind of procrastination. So, you have to start immediately, and not stay wait for perfect conditions that never come.

Start achieving your goals, develop them later, and learn from your mistakes to improve the next steps.