For the last twenty years, I've been working on many self-improvement ideas from all kinds of smart people. The biggest problem I've encountered is putting all the ideas together into an intelligible, comprehensive plan. In short, there are too many different ideas. At any given time, I'll implement a few, but forget the rest
Over the last two months, I've been tinkering with developing such a plan. The objectives of the plan are straightforward:
- Learn who you are.
- Cultivate a lifestyle with a deep sense of purpose and meaning while staying true to your authentic self.
- Become the best version of yourself possible.
To accomplish these Objectives, I've identified 18 Strategies that cover every significant aspect of life. The strategies are as follows:
- Take care of yourself.
- Trust in a higher purpose.
- Foster a growth mindset.
- Find passion and excitement in life's challenges.
- Build resiliency.
- Find contentment in simplicity.
- Promote positive communication.
- Value relationships.
- Be a person of integrity.
- Cultivate patience.
- Practice forgiveness.
- Be generous.
- Understand people.
- Be truthful.
- Respect life.
- Treat all individuals with respect.
- Show compassion.
- Be responsible stewards of resources.
Each of these strategies is accomplished with various Tactics, which are broken down into Rituals and Mores. Rituals are basically habits (behaviors) that are completed daily, weekly, or quarterly. Mores are ideas and beliefs that support the Rituals in accomplishing the Strategies.
Altogether, there are about 80 different Rituals and Mores. These Rituals and Mores are separated into four different phases, each one lasting approximately three months:
- Basic Self-Development
- Advanced Self-Development
- Developing Your Social Circles (also known as "Tribes")
- Developing Your Interactions with People Outside Your Social Circles
All in all, the entire system would take about 12-15 months to complete. By the end of this timeframe, the Rituals and Mores should be internalized and automatic, which will accomplish the Strategies, which will accomplish the Objectives.
In the next post, I'll discuss the theoretical underpinnings of this program.
~Jason
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