Self Improvement Resources Are Within Reach

Why 'self improvement resources' needs a health warning!

Why does the whole self improvement resources industry need a public health warning? Because you've always had the best of your self improvement tools within you! On this site, I call it simply 'the real you'.

Let me explain.

I use this article on 'self improvement resources' to help me question some of the assumptions out there in the self improvement field. Once you've had a chance to think about them, you'll be a wiser consumer in the self improvement market place.

Let's face it, there are an awful lot of self improvement books and CDs around. If they all worked, we would buy less and less of them!!

What's going wrong?

Advice to "improve" can bind you to the idea that you're not OK, that deep down, you're flawed in some way. That's the key issue.

The whole approach I describe here assumes that deep down – you're absolutely OK! And that self improvement is a matter of re-discovering that.

Of course, there is a place for skilled help with taking your life by the scruff of the neck, for help with starting a business, making a step up on the career ladder ... achieving your dreams, whatever form they take. In other words there is a place for looking outside you, in the world, for tips, tools, techniques – for resources that will help you make that important journey to where you want to be ...

But if you're connected to your own inner self improvement resources, that journey will start to look shorter, sweeter and more hopeful. Things will come to you more easily when you are able to lean on your own inner resources. When your view of yourself matches the view of where you want to be, change and self improvement come more easily.

So, this page looks at the whole spectrum of self improvement resources. Resources aimed at developing your inner strength and commitment to discovering the real you. And resources like self improvement systems, self improvement audio, books and training.

The reason I stress getting to know, remembering (that is 're-membering'; putting the real you back together) is this. That real you holds all the resources you need to make positive changes in your life.

Let's give your real self a run out!

Simple example of Self Improvement Resources : Affirmations

And it can be as simple as this.  Think about the two affirmations:

• I will live my life with gratitude and openness


• I live my life with gratitude and openness

Repeating the first reinforces the idea that this will happen sometime in the future, but that it isn't happening now. This can keep you forever running towards a finishing line that keeps receding into the distance.

On the other hand, the second reinforces the idea that gratitude and openness are right here, right now ... a big difference.

Let's see if – by repeating the affirmation – you can feel the difference. If you can, then that is a simple example of your inner compass at work.

A question:

If you want to achieve a level of self improvement, you need to take some form of action.

Before any determined growth or change, there is a stage of reading, pondering, building your motivation – but it's acting in and on your world that really makes a difference. Maybe all those shelves full of self improvement resources are some kind of testimony to the amount of time people think about making changes.

But remember – long-jumpers don't run a marathon before they take off! They

• focus – get clear about what they want to achieve
• rehearse mentally – experience their best jump mentally and physically
• run like hell
• hit the board hard
• let the magic of all their preparation, all that training, take over – they fly
• tuck their butt in when they land!

The Best Self Improvement Resources

Should have you making a change to your mind-set in some way, then have you taking action to put that new mind-set into practice as best you can. Acting differently is the experiment you make in the world based on new this new self-awareness or insight. What happens as a result of your experiment is the feedback you need to check in with yourself about whether you're making positive changes.

Self improvement resources fall into different categories. The links below will lead you to more detailed information.

This plan  might help you select the best kind of resources to help you take the next step on your journey.

Inner Self Improvement Resources

So have we really left behind grind-it-out notions of self improvement? Hope so ...

In 'Alive in the world' on the Looking East album, Jackson Browne captures – for me – something  of that openness to live fully immersed in life, to express the desire to live, love life and find the inner space to act in the world.

He sings:

And I found this video on You Tube. It was made by Adam Fulgence, who says it was the first of Browne's songs that he connected with, and “...a poignant reflection on a journey back from the confusion and despair that can come from losing a sense of hope and courage.”

For me, that's the guts of the self improvement journey, in a nutshell. And – though it's not compulsory to have any kind of 'Dark Night of the Soul' – it is intriguing how lots of us had to feel the jab of some kind of pain to kick-start our journeys.

Thanks for the lovely montage of music and images, Adam.

Here's his video:

It takes 4 minutes 40 seconds ... an opportunity to sit back and let your mind float with the words, music and images ...

• Attitude, commitment, intent – the ability to create change out of self-love
  • One person grits their teeth at the gym, determined to reach their target
  • Another exercises for the joy of experiencing their body in movement
  • Which are you closest to as you seek self improvement?
  • Does that work for you?
  
  
• Self-awareness, mindfulness – the ability to know yourself and your motivations
  • Do you find that you do things in a haze, 'forget' the drive to work, to taste your food?
  • Do you routinely multi-task (radio or tv + breakfast + paper  + talk to partner and kids)? And
  • React emotionally to stresses but remain unaware of your triggers? Or, alternatively:
  • Have head-space to experience your life moment-to-moment
  • Choose how to respond when life's stresses cut in?

• Attention – the ability to direct your awareness to where it serves you best
  • Do you notice your awareness being dragged into habitual responses:
  • Something goes wrong – feel angry, blame myself – focus on bad feelings – distress multiplies. Or:
  • Something goes wrong – take responsibility – how did I contribute to that? - what's the lesson for me here?
  
  
• Reflection, contemplation, meditation – the ability to clear your mind and direct its focus
  • Do you remain unaware of the fabulous resources contained in the real you, beneath the masks or day-to-day roles?
  • Do you take time out to simplify ...  to just 'be' ... to experience the ocean of silent knowledge that connects us all?

My idea is that these inner self improvement resources are the most profound. Dust them off and let their wisdom guide you to the best in ...

... Outer Self Improvement Resources

There's no need to have your bookshelves and CD racks groaning under a weight of self improvement resources! But it is good to be able to dip into great books, meditation audio's, relaxation, yoga, Chi Gung resources and inspiring stories and poetry from time to time.

I stopped buying books when I discovered my life-changing one.

I guess it was a matter of 'When the student is ready, the Master appears.' I've had a pretty extensive collection of books in my time. But one really had an impact.

I read it a second and third time (and since many  more) – and found that on each reading I 'discovered' things I hadn't read before. I first thought that pages must've been stuck together! But on reflection, the book was probably having such an impact that my second and third reading were made with very different eyes.

Lots of people agree – it's a New York Times best seller. It's the first book I describe in the self improvement books section.

Here is a snappy, bullet-pointed look at self improvement programs.

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Where to next?

On this site:

You arrived looking for self improvement resources. You might find that the articles accessd from my personal development plan page will be helpful.

Off this site:

Here is an article very much focused on 'inner self improvement resources.'

Ebbi Thomas presents a very structured way of understanding how we create emotional turmoil - and therefore how to beat it. His self improvement plan article offers a fundamental perspective on human stress, distress ... and its alleviation.

Your biggest self improvement resource is your mind. For more on how your thoughts create your reality, read this article by Paul Ogunkoya.

Finally ...

Ask questions, subscribe to my personal development coaching newsletter, get free downloads on the contact deeper coaching page.

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