I’m aware that everyone, including myself, is probably a little bit of a hypocrite. What irks me the most is when I do something, say wear a chain with my name on it, think it’s cool, and then see someone else do it and think it’s lame.
So when I hang around self improvement fanatics and find their quest for self improvement to be a little bit annoying and selfish, I’m horrified. Maybe I’m just as self indulgent as they are.
A good chunk of my friends are on perpetual quests for self improvement (Leo Babauta and Sebastian Marshall to name a couple), and I don’t find it annoying at all. It’s the opposite, actually; it’s inspiring.
What’s the difference, and how can I make sure I’m on the right side of it? The answer I’ve come to is that self improvement demands an outlet.
The ones that are the least tolerable are those who are really doing it all for themselves. They improve themselves to bask in their own glory and possibly to impress everyone around them. And, okay, I’m sure we all do that to some extent.
There’s another component, though, that not everyone has. They improve themselves to make themselves more effective at creating things for the world around them.
Leo and Sebastian, again, are good examples. All I ever hear Leo talk about, besides his maniacal pursuit of discipline and good habits, is the results he wants to get for his readers. The work he puts into himself isn’t just for his own gratification. Sebastian’s entire life is running his charity, Give Get Win. Every ounce of focus and productivity he wrings out of his existence is poured into his non-profit.
A reminder to myself, and maybe to you, too, is to make sure self improvement projects benefit those around us. We all want to be admired, but we can do better than that. We can inspire others and use the our skills and understanding to help push them along, too.
Self improvement demands an outlet. It can be a book, a blog, the community surrounding you, a good cause, or any number of other things. Just make sure that it doesn’t stop with you. That would be a waste.
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Photo is a bald eagle flying near the island. One day it swooped right over us.
I know it’s been post-overload recently, but it needed to happen to get back on my Monday – Thursday schedule.
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