What you focus on expands.
So if you want to grow and achieve success, you must focus on yourself.
This doesn’t mean you have to stop caring about others.
Instead, focusing on yourself first enables you to care more for others. Because if you don’t feel good about yourself, then how can you be a force for good? You must have your stuff in order and feel great before you can help others.
In other words, a degree of selfishness can help you to become selfless.
That’s why you should prioritize personal growth.
So in this article, you’ll learn how you can focus on yourself. That way, you feel happier, more successful, and can provide more value to the world too.
Let’s dive in!
#1: Focus on yourself, not others
Stop worrying about what everyone else is doing and live your life.
It sounds so simple…
But it’s not easy.
If you had the choice between a well-paying job that sucks or a job you love but doesn’t pay well, what would you choose?
Most people pick a well-paying job.
Think about your typical jobs like accounting or law. Do some people enjoy it? Sure. But there are too many people in it for the money and don’t feel motivated to wake up because of it.
So why do so many people choose it?
For starters, it pays very well. It allows you to buy luxurious stuff and keep up with the Joneses. Too bad you can’t enjoy it because you’re working over hours. But truly living is all about the flex, right?
Talking about flexing, these jobs often come with the status of success. Who doesn’t admire an intellectual with a top college degree, who also happens to make a lot of money, right?
Unfortunately, the comparison game isn’t one you will win.
Though you can become very successful from the outside, how you feel is much more important. And if you don’t feel successful inside, are you then really successful?
Worse yet, the deeper you get sucked into comparing yourself to others, the harder it becomes to get out.
The route that’s least popularized while growing up is the better one for most people.
It’s the journey that’s chosen from the heart – not for short-lived validation. A journey of which you enjoy the process, not just the potential result.
Focus on yourself and don’t compare yourself to other people.
#2 Figure out what you love
If you want to focus more on what you enjoy, it raises the following question:
What are those things?
The important part to figure out is what you would do most of the time: your occupation. If all jobs pay the same wage, what would you do?
The answer to that is an obvious sign of where you should look.
Of course, it’s not an easy question to answer.
And you don’t need to have the answer straight away. There are thousands of jobs that you probably have never heard about. And finding the right one isn’t easy.
Yet, you have to start somewhere.
Start with who you are and what you like. Learn about yourself. And then, start taking action and test different things. Through it, you gain clarity faster than dabbling between choices.
Learn more about self-awareness.
#3: Set a bold vision for yourself
Why do you need a bold vision?
Because it helps you to get out of bed in the morning. It helps you to do what you have to do, even when you don’t feel like it. And it helps you in keeping a focus on yourself and your desires.
You see, most people lack purpose. And therefore they lack drive.
They stay up until late at night because they don’t want the next day to start. In the mornings, the alarm snoozes for the sixth time when they realize they’re late for work – again.
A big part of focusing on yourself is to find meaning in what you do every day.
That’s why a personal vision can help.
It’s a decision you make because you can, not because you have to. And because it’s a personal choice, you’re also likely to commit and take responsibility for it.
It’s the reason that starting a family often motivates and inspires people. Having someone else to care for that is dependent on you, can give a sense of purpose.
What’s a vision that inspires you to wake up?
Here is a guide on how to find purpose.
#4: Start making small changes
Everyone is always looking for the big wins.
But it’s the small changes that make the big ones.
Success for that matters is quite simple: do the small stuff consistently.
If you’re trying to become a social media influencer, show up consistently. If you want to become an artist, work on your craft every day. Even on the days that you don’t feel like it. And when you want to run a business, the same principle applies.
What is the smallest action you can take today?
Focusing on the smallest action you can take is less scary than thinking about a big goal. Doing the small thing feels achievable and reduces the chance of procrastination.
Take another small step the next day.
And the next one the day after.
If you make small changes and keep taking tiny action steps every day, it will lead to new habits and big successes.
This counts for everything btw.
It works for your health and fitness. It works in dating and relationships. And it works in any career or business.
Focus on yourself by doing the small stuff consistently. And you will soon reap the big rewards of this habit.
#5: Surround yourself with positive people
There are three types of people in this world:
- The positive types
- The pessimistic types
- And the pessimists in disguise
The negative type in disguise is an interesting one. It’s those people that claim to be neither positive nor pessimistic, but realists.
Yet, everything that comes from their mouth is negative. They keep asking themselves the question: why is life so hard? And they let the “reality” of life dictate how they feel and how they respond.
Though there are plenty of reasons to feel pessimistic, the opposite is also true.
Here is why:
Positivity doesn’t mean you believe that there’s only positive stuff happening. Instead, positive people can see reality for what it is, yet choose to respond positively.
That’s the secret to true optimism.
For example, what was most people’s reaction to the lockdowns when corona hit? Many people felt like their freedom was taken away. They got sad, angry, or frustrated.
In other words: they let the circumstances dictate how they feel.
A positive person would still acknowledge the same situation and understand it outside the sphere of influence. Yet, they choose a different response. For example, they saw an opportunity to learn a new skill or start a new project.
You can always choose your response in any situation.
That’s what positivity is all about.
Surround yourself with as many positive people as you can. Doing so will help you to develop a positive mindset too.
#6: Celebrate tiny successes
Do you celebrate your successes?
I don’t only mean the successes like the obvious big wins and results. The more important successes are the ones that most people don’t celebrate.
Think about the small steps of action you took today. The ones that required you to get outside your comfort zone and made you feel awkward and nervous.
If you set a goal for yourself for the day or week, and you achieve it, celebrate your success.
Why?
Because if you only celebrate the results, you celebrate the stuff that’s not within your control. And when you do that, you build the connection in your mind that you should get results before you feel good.
Celebrating the steps you took today is a much better alternative because you control that 100%. When you reward this behavior, you build the habit of action.
Set small commitments, keep your commitment, and celebrate them.
#7: Focus on Nutrition
For a great part, focusing on yourself means focusing on your health.
Feeling good starts with the stuff that you put into your body.
Nutritious fresh foods are going to make you look good and feel energized too. Poor foods, on the other hand, reduce your energy and make you less attractive.
And drink enough water too…
Once you do that, you start noticing significant differences in how you feel. The stuff you eat and drink has a direct effect on how you feel.
Don’t believe this?
Eat pizza, snacks, and drink coke for a week. Let me know how you feel afterward.
Then, throw all that stuff out and only eat unprocessed foods. Put some effort into it and prepare your meals. You can cook a couple of recipes in batches if you like. That way, you don’t have to motivate yourself to cook every day.
Once you did the two weeks, let me know if you felt a difference.
Of course, this is a radical way of living. No one eats pizza all day and expects to feel great. And though you don’t have to cut pizza out of your diet completely, most people can benefit from a dietary upgrade.
#8 Start Exercising
Research shows that physical exercise can improve your mood, self-confidence, and energy levels. In addition, it reduces stress, depression, and various diseases.
There is no reason not to work out.
Even if you spend every day working on your business or career, you should prioritize some time for exercise too. At least, if you want to enjoy your success in the long run.
It doesn’t have to take a lot of time. With only 20 to 30 minutes per day, you enjoy many of the benefits of working out and also maintain high levels of energy.
Typically, you want to do something in the big three areas:
- Strength training
- Cardiovascular training
- And flexibility training
If you don’t have time, I recommend checking out some bodyweight exercises.
#9: Take time off
Focusing on yourself also includes rest days.
That could mean sleeping in and watching Netflix all day. Especially if that’s the kind of thing that makes you feel energized and ready for the next day to come.
For others, it might mean to get into nature for a long walk. Or what about going to the sauna and getting a massage there?
When talking about success, rest days are not popular.
But if you want to enjoy success in the long term, you should take time off to refill your tank. Focusing on yourself means you take care of yourself so you don’t burn out.
It also helps you to become more productive in the time that you do work. Because spending more hours working doesn’t mean you also get the most out of it.
Finding balance is key to long-term success and happiness.
So if that’s something you want, make sure to schedule replenishment days. Days where you take time to relax and focus on yourself.
What makes you feel great?
Conclusion
If you want to achieve more and live a great life, you must start focusing on yourself. Even if you want to help others, starting with yourself enables you to do that.
In this article, we discussed the following 9 methods:
- Focus on yourself, not others
- Figure out what you love
- Set a bold vision for yourself
- Start making small changes
- Surround yourself with positive people
- Celebrate tiny successes
- Focus on nutrition
- Start Exercising
- Take time off
Which one will you start implementing?
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