The drive to improve is in all of us. Who doesn’t want to be better than where they are right now. It’s a good thing for us to push ourselves to be better people. The only problem with wanting to be better than we are is that sometimes we may feel like we’re not doing enough.

The 5 main areas of self-improvement are:

1. “Health and fitness: Weight loss, increasing exercise, lowering blood pressure

2. Self-care: Increasing efficiency, decreasing procrastination, meditation

3. Mental health: Mindfulness, gratitude, reducing anxiety

4. Relationships: Dating, overcoming breakups, finding love

5. Education and/or career: Job searching, promotions, career exploration” [1]

Being addicted to self-improvement means that you “are never satisfied with their current state and always feel like they need to do more, be more, and have more.” [2] Similarly being addicted to bettering yourself means that you are “constantly exploring different things that will change your life for the better.” [3]

Instead of focusing on your deficits don’t forget to focus on your strengths and what’s working for you, not just what you need to do better. [4] Don’t stress out over what could’ve been or how things should be. Really embrace the present moment and be grateful for what you do have in life. There’s so much pressure to keep up with others these days it’s natural to want to keep up with our peers and live meaningful lives. You don’t have to be the best at everything in order to be happy. To live your best life don’t put too many requirements in between happiness and feeling satisfied with yourself. Acceptance is key to feeling fulfilled in life, not to mention helps to boost your self esteem giving you that energy to conquer your day and with ease mentally.

References:

[1] https://www.verywellmind.com/can-you-be-addicted-to-self-improvement-4174464

[2] https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/toxicity-self-improvement-addiction-pisit-tardging?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios&utm_campaign=share_via

[3] https://30dayschallenge.org/personal-growth/why-you-should-be-addicted-to-bettering-yourself/#:~:text=While%20bettering%20yourself%20you%20are,keep%20learning%20more%20each%20time.

[4] https://moraleapp.co/3-reasons-why-constant-self-improvement-can-be-damaging/#:~:text=Occupational%20psychologist%20and%20business%20coach,working%20or%20consolidate%20their%20strengths.