Invest in yourself: 12 ways to improve your life

Invest in yourself: 12 ways to improve your life

Investing doesn’t always have to be about wealth or money. IMHO, the best investment would be to invest in yourself so that you have a fulfilling life, and that would possibly help you earn as you as want to.

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What it means to “invest in yourself”?

The past year threw curveball on many of our plans and dreams. And for many of us (including me) it has been a drastic wake up call. I realized that my life could turn upside down in a day and I was not anywhere closer to whom I wanted to be, if and when that happens.

The gap between the person that I am currently and the person that I want to be is quite huge. And I consider anything that I do to fill that gaping hole is an investment in myself.

Why investing in yourself matters?

AKA what are the primary benefits in making a bet on yourself or by making an investment on you as person, not your job or business?

Investing in yourself:

  • Makes us grow into a better person
  • Helps us to build self confidence
  • Opens avenues for financial and career development

So what do you think are that areas that you can work on to start investing yourself?

1) Set SMART goals

Knowing where you want to go in the next 1, 5, and 10 years will give a great start in helping yourself reach there. This applies for both personal or business/professional growth.

And not just any goal or target, but set a SMART goal.

  • S – Specific
  • M – Measurable
  • A – Attainable
  • R – Relevant
  • T – Time bound
elgeewrites Invest in yourself: 12 ways to improve your life walk talk
Credit: ifeandstylemag.com

Setting a goal and a plan to achieve those goals is the critical step towards your dreams.

2) Develop your skills

Many a times, developing your skills or even learning a new skill can boost up your resume and open new avenues in terms of your career. But there are quite a few skills that help you to lead a better life in general.

  • Enrol in a few free webinars or workshops
  • Youtube and TED talks are also great resources
  • Advance your education through certifications
  • Stay on top by subscribing to publications and blogs

3) Read read read

You knew I was going to say this, right?

Reading is the best and most economical way to invest in yourself. The reading habit gives you a second hand view into lives of others and a chance to learn from their experiences. It also gives you a glimpse into their perspectives and way of life.

If you are newbie, here are few non fiction titles that are short and can be a good a good starting point.

If you are into fiction, these books are a good for a kick start.

4) Find a mentor/coach

Your path to success need not be always alone. Finding a role model or a mentor for yourself can have a huge impact, both in your personal and professional life.

A mentor can help you navigate the hurdles along your career path. You can find a business coach and even a life coach who are willing to share their experiences and knowledge, online.

5) Manage your life better

One of the best ways to invest in yourself is to spend time to organize your life and manage your time better.

A simple time audit exercise might go a long way to know where you spend your time and efforts on and then if they are worth it. I never knew how many hours I waste deciding which book to read next, rather than reading itself.

Planning your week and days ahead and creating routine for yourself may seem complex at first, but once you have tried it you will never go back to being a “unplanned chaos”.

6) Put your health first

More often, in the pursuit of success and wealth, we put our health on the backseat.

Investing on yourself means keeping your body and brain healthy. Put in some time to exercise or some physical activities in your new routine.

Not so healthy choices
credit: Tenor

I know most of us run on caffeine but replacing that with just water. Include greens and other healthy choices in your daily routine.

These small habits affect our mood and happiness, and thus increase our productivity as well.

7) Choose to be happy

Speaking of mood and happiness, make a conscious effort to keep yourself positive and cheerful.

I know with all that is happening around the world, it is definitely not easy to be light and happy always. But it is ok to step back when it gets overwhelming and choose to be happy.

“Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”- Abraham Lincoln

8) Get rid of toxic relationships

As a step towards choosing to be happy, get rid of those negative and toxic friendships from your life.

We are made of habits that we pick, subconsciously or not, from our surrounding. It goes without saying what happens when we are staying in an environment that is not conducive to our growth.

If you want to invest in yourself, invest in choosing positive and supportive friends, and getting rid of those who are not.

Oprah calling out toxic people
credit: Tenor

9) Find a community

Surround yourself with people with whom you belong and those who travel in a path similar to yours. The more social relationships you have, the better your mental well being will be.

You don’t have to go out of your way to build a community, just look around (and online) based on your interests.

If you are a blogger, you can join for blogging community right here.

The book twitter fam would be a great place to find your tribe, if you are a bookworm like me.

Make some time to create and cultivate new relationships, so that they add meaning to your life. And maybe they will create new opportunities further down in the future.

10) Give space for your creative process

While creating your new and improved schedule, ensure you have some creative space for yourself. Creative space may mean different to different people.

I can’t do without some quiet time during the mid day. Usually, I need some white noise and maybe a power nap to get through my second day, especially if it is hectic. That never fails to help when I am too distracted and can’t churn out a 1500 word article immediately.

My friend does mandala art or Zentangle to keep her thought spirals away. There are few more who swear by early morning meditation.

It doesn’t always have to art or painting, it can be anything that makes you think differently than usual.

Find out what your creative outlet is and OWN IT.

11) Give yourself a break

More than everything, please be kind to yourself. Be conscious about how you speak to yourself. Ask if you will say that to your friend. If you won’t, then why are you so hard on yourself?

It is okay if everything doesn’t go according to your plan. Forgive your mistakes, acknowledge that you can do better and work on it. No need to pull yourself down, especially when the world is so hard you as well.

12) Catch up on your sleep

Finally, the most important one. Do not mess with your sleep cycle! Try to go to bed at reasonable hours and wake up refreshed. Put your screens away before you hit the bed.

Donald Catching some sleep
credit: Tenor

Consistent sleep pattern can be the best investment you can make on yourself and your physical well being.

A well rested person can be more productive, more creative and more happier than others who are on constant sleep deprivation.

Final note

The key to investing in yourself is patience. None of these tips would make you a different person overnight. You keep practicing them daily and in the long run you will see the change in yourself professionally, mentally and emotionally.

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Invest in yourself: 12 ways to improve your life

2021 plans: What to expect of me

While this is not exactly the “New year, new me” moment, I just wanted to talk about the 2021 plans for Elgee Writes to give you an idea of what to expect during this year.

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What are my 2021 plans?

I also consider this post as a part of my goal setting process that will help me following it more consistently. So fingers crossed, eh?

Reading Plans

Without a reading plan and schedule I am inclined to slide into a reading slump. And that’s why I join up as many reading challenges as I can, just to keep me motivated.

Goodreads Reading Challenge 2020

I have been reading 45 books or so for the past few years. So I think I can safely increase it to 52 in 2021.

I know it doesn’t sound like much when you compare the 100s of books that other bloggers read in a year. But it is definitely a challenge for me to reach this number considering how busy I get around the mid year.

Target: 52

2021 Nonfiction Reader Challenge

I read non fiction books once in a while. But I want to make it official in 2021, and I will participating in the Nonfiction Reader Challenge hosted by Bookdout.

I will probably read more of Self help and essay collections under this category.

Target: Nonfiction Nibbler – Read 6 books, from any category

Books in Translation Reading Challenge 2021

Another reading challenge that I am participating this year would be the Books in Translation, where we read translated books (from any language to any other language, not just English).

I have been wondering why I have not read as many Indian regional literature as I would like to have, and I would be correcting it in 2021.

Target: Conversationalist: 4-6 books

Reading more classics

I have been trying to do this in the past few years but I have not covered a lot. So I think 2021 might be the year that I actually read more classics, including children’s.

Anyone has a good reading list or guide to follow? Please do share.

Blogging plans and actions

After a tumultuous year that broke most of us emotionally and mentally, I just need an action plan to go forward. You know, an attempt to make things more normal. So here comes by blogging plans for 2021.

Blogging content

I have a fairly regular blogging schedule and I hope I don’t have to change it – because it works for me and you guys, based on my statistics.

  • Sunday – Personal and blog related updates
  • Monday – Book reviews
  • Wednesday – Discussion posts related to books, blogging or self development.
  • Friday – Listicles, quotes and quizzes. An occasional guest post.

I love how far I have come in making the schedule consistent, despite 2020, and I hope it continues.

I will be joining Nicole and Shannon’s Book Blog Discussion Challenge in 2021 as well, and it has become a staple in my yearly challenges. Nicole and Shannon, thanks for hosting it.

Action plan

  • Do a series on quotes, again
  • Create a resource page for authors and bloggers

Increasing blog engagement

Just like every other blogger here, I love getting comments and shares on my posts. The more the merrier.

I started the Comment 4 comment challenge in 2019 and it turned out to be a success. And then 2020 happened where we struggled to just float.

But I am hoping 2021 will be different and that is why I have resurrected the Comment 4 comment challenge from dead. You can read all about it here and it is not too late to sign up.

Join us to leave no comment un-replied and un-returned!

Increase your blog's engagement by participating in the Comment 4 Comment Challenge 2021 #C4CC2021! Join us to leave no comment un-replied and un-returned and it is not too late to sign up. Click To Tweet

Action:

  • Visit blogs I follow at least weekly once.
  • Reply to all the comments on my blog
  • Return the comments by visiting their blogs
  • Learn to care about the follower counts and blog statistics.

Final note

Though it is 2021, we are still under the throes of the pandemic and we are not yet normalcy. I am not going to be trying too hard or be stressing myself with these plans, but using these action plans as guidelines and take it as they come.

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What are your reading and blogging plans like? Do you engage in a yearly planning process? Tell me more about your 2021 plans. Let us chat.

Invest in yourself: 12 ways to improve your life

Bullet journal ideas for books and reading

With the New Year just around the corner, it is time to pull out your planners for tracking your TBRs and reading challenges for 2021. Here are some bullet journals spread ideas for book lovers to organize your reading schedule.

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Bullet Journal ideas for books and reading

I love lists and planners. But as someone with minimal artistic talent, I totally suck at bullet journaling (or BuJo). Of course, that doesn’t stop me from drooling over these amazing bullet journal set ups over Instagram. How about you?

Reading list

I usually have a hard time choosing my next read, often. Having a reading list for the month or week, or even the year would be a great idea for your reading bullet journal set up. These are some of the ones that I loved for your inspiration.

Bullet journal ideas reading list
Credit: kaylasbookgram
Bullet journal ideas reading list
Credit: reyanoenikki
Bullet journal ideas reading list
Credit: robinwilljournal
Bullet journal ideas reading list
Credit: bujoprincessx
Bullet journal ideas reading list
Credit: lillebujo
Bullet journal ideas reading list
Credit: darlingjournals

Tracking your reads

How do you track what your reading habits? I do so on notion and excel but BuJo spreads are much more fun and interesting, especially if you are artistically inclined. Here are some bullet journal set ups to help you track what you read during the month.

Bullet journal ideas tracking your reads
amarisafloria
Bullet journal inspiration tracking your reads
caseysplansandpages
Bullet journal ideas tracking your reads
jennikreads
Bullet journal ideas tracking your reads
amarisafloria
Bullet journal ideas tracking your reads
caseysplansandpages

Know your reading habits

I love being able to look at how my reading style and habits have been over the year or month. Bullet journals can help to do just that too.

Bullet journal ideas reading habits
tiaandallthebooks
Bullet journal ideas reading habits
kateereadsbooks
elgeewrites Bullet journal ideas for books and reading morenamonologues
morenamonologues
Bullet journal ideas reading habits
jojobuckreads

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Invest in yourself: 12 ways to improve your life

Self doubts: How to overcome the impostor syndrome

I have been working as a freelance writer for more than five years now and you wouldn’t believe the number of times I stopped myself before I mentioned that on my about me page. Yes the scary impostor syndrome is much more common than we like to acknowledge. And that’s exactly why we are talking about how to deal with the impostor syndrome and how to overcome it.

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How to overcome the impostor syndrome

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Well, when I spoke about this impostor syndrome to some of my friends who are in the similar profession as mine, I was shocked to understand that they shared the same worries as I did. At least once a week, I contemplate if I am a fraud, an impostor, trying to show off as someone who is knowledgeable than she is actually.

And these are some of the things that actually work for me, and may do for you too.

Collect your positive experiences

Every time I publish a blog post a moment of self doubt creeps in. Why would anyone want to read my ideas “to be more productive” or “how to get more comments on my blog“?

And without a beat, I read some of the comments and engagement I received on my blog posts to remind myself that there are indeed people who want me to talk about it.

positive experience How to overcome the impostor syndrome
Giphy

Reminding yourself of your past positive experiences and appreciations will help in defeating the impostor syndrome and other self doubts.

Know Your feelings

Your emotions including mood swings matter. Understand why you are feeling the way you are and what triggered you. Are you comparing yourself to that person? Did you meet someone who make you trigger the impostor syndrome?

Spend sometime to objective understand what your triggers and warnings are. Knowing the cause and effect might help you avoid those pitfalls or even use them as a motivation.

Perfectionism Kills

If you are a perfectionist, impostor syndrome might be a common occurrence for you.

You are probably setting your expectations far too high than the standards, and consequently setting yourself for failure right away. And if and when you fail, it inevitably leads to shame and guilt.

perfectionist How to overcome the impostor syndrome
Giphy

As a self-sabotaging perfectionist you are focusing on your mistakes and shortfalls, instead of your positives. Curbing the desire to be perfectionist is a good way to overcome the impostor syndrome.

Avoid negative self-talk

Boost your confidence and esteem by curbing your negativity towards yourself. Often these self talks sow the seeds for the impostor syndrome that you are trying to overcome.

Visualize your success and benefits every time you have self doubts. Stop attributing to your success sheer luck or hard work, but accept that you did well because you are talented.

Reframe your thoughts and emotions to rein in your self doubts and channel them towards doing better.

Take the bull by the horns

That brings us the next point.

impostor syndrome is usually accompanied by the fear of being discovered as a fraud by others. What if someone finds that I am not good enough? How long till they figure out? These fears and insecurities impact the future performances and becomes a vicious cycle.

Instead take action to overcome the impostor syndrome by constantly increasing your knowledge and increasing your productivity. Focus on sharing these knowledge with your peers and consistently work on being valuable to the team and your clients.

Self doubts How to overcome the impostor syndrome Pin me

Take actions towards reducing those insecurities instead of letting them affect you.

Start a conversation

Reach out to someone whom you trust, like a friend or colleague and understand if they can relate to your feelings. Build some support system where you can share your experiences and insecurities and try to deal with the impostor syndrome.

Hearing reassuring and encouraging words from others might dissuade your self doubts. And it may not come as a surprise that women are more prone to self doubts and it is harder for us to overcome the impostor syndrome.

Fake it till you make it

Sometimes we fail and there will be things that we do not know. But that is what we are here for – to learn and grow. A few losses do not make someone a bad athlete or a bad businessman.

Fake it How to overcome the impostor syndrome
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So the next time you hit by a wave of self doubt, fake the courage and confidence that you aren’t feeling at that moment and dive through it. If you win, you would know that you are capable of doing it. And if you don’t, you will learn how to do it.

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Invest in yourself: 12 ways to improve your life

Amazing benefits of waking up early: 5 tips that work

I was not been a great morning person, until a few months ago. Just a few weeks into the new year, I realized I was always running out of time in a day and decided to get up few minutes earlier to catch up on things. One thing led to another and now I can’t stop raving about the benefits of waking up early.

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Benefits of waking up early

Waking early by 6 AM is a habit that was expected of almost every Asian kid and as I got into later teens, it somehow translated into a rebellious thing to do – waking up at 8 or 9 AM. But now that I am an actual adult who has a never ending to do list, things have come to a full circle.

Times have changed wrt Benefits of waking up early
Credit: Giphy.com

Let us talk about some other benefits of waking up early.

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Amazing start

Getting a head start on the day and ahead of your usual schedule can make you feel better about yourself. The feeling of being in control and not running like a headless chicken translates into a peaceful and productive day for me.

I even sneak in a bit of reading (non fiction books) into the morning schedule and that makes me feel like I am on the top of the world.

The quiet time

With the new normal of working from home and the non stop zoom calls and texts, getting some quiet time before the chaos starts is a blessing. Not having to think over the noise of Netflix and the other background commotion helps in focusing on the work in hand.

Benefits of waking up early - some quiet time
Credit: Giphy.com

I wake up an hour or two earlier, depending on the day, and having the whole house to myself is a perfect way to start a day.

Increased productivity

It is no secret that the brain is alert and focused in the morning, at least once you have loaded it with caffeine.

With zero distractions and the newfound quietness, means you can put in some meaningful work as soon as you get up. And the high that you got some deep work done, will let you ride through the day on a positive note.

Eating the frog

We all have the one thing on your to do list and you keep procrastinating until we reach the deadline. And then half bake it, so that we can get it done with.

Don’t get me wrong. They are usually not even something I hate doing. And it is sometimes something that I want to do really well.

Of late I have been working on doing those special something tasks as soon as I wake up, like the post that you are currently reading. More often than not, these tasks require focus and uninterrupted time – a great choice for the morning task.

And even if you end up doing nothing else the whole day, just completing this one task would make you feel better about yourself.

Setting goals and things to do

The distraction free morning and the extra hour you get by waking early is perfect for setting the goals for the day and putting up your to do list. So you know what you can expect for the day and get into the slaying mindset.

Being more organized is a goal by itself for many of us and waking up early is a good way to start with that habit.

Get your breakfast on time

I can’t skip breakfast and I end up getting headaches if I do. While it is a good thing, I used to have the first meal of my day at around 11 AM (as I used to wake up around 9 AM), which meant the subsequent mealtimes are also disrupted.

Benefits of waking up early to Get your breakfast on time
Credit: Giphy.com

But since I started waking up early, I have been eating my breakfast by 9 AM or earlier, which is something I have been trying so hard to so far.

So there is no more excuses for you for grabbing that granola bar or simply skipping your breakfast. Eat something filling and healthy, dude!

An extra hour or two

Not having a work life balance and not having time in a day are some of our usual complaints. But when you wake up early, you are basically getting an hour or so extra each day – an hour that you can spend on exercising or reading a book that you have been promising to.

What would you do if you have an extra hour each day?

Some tips to wake up earlier

I know these benefits of waking up early sound cool. But in reality it is definitely hard to get off the bed in the morning especially in the cold winter.

Here are some tips that worked for me when I started waking up earlier

  • Try to go to bed earlier. If you are a night-owl like me, I know it sounds hard. But it is all a matter of getting into the habit. If you usually go to bed at 12 AM, try to sleep in 11 PM – baby steps work better.
  • Don’t think waking up early as a chore. I know it sounds harder, but if you understand that it is for your own benefit, not some thing you HAVE TO DO as an adult.
  • Instead, imagine waking up early as a reward by itself and you are getting an hour more each day.
  • Hype your morning up. Just before you sleep, mentally plan and prepare for all the task on you to do list. Imagine of all the things you can get done from to do list before 9 AM.
  • And finally, do not think. Get off the bed as soon as you wake up. Give your brain no chance to come up with excuses to get two minutes more of sleep or to snooze.

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What does your morning look like? How early do you wake up? And what are the other benefits of waking up early, according to you? Let us talk.