This blog post is about how to hold yourself to the highest version of yourself. It's all about self-improvement and personal development. We all have a vision of who we want to be, but are we striving for that? This article will offer some helpful tips on getting started and staying motivated on your journey towards being the best you can be.

Becoming the best version of yourself

So what does becoming the best version of yourself mean? Does it mean the current "you" is an inferior version? Well, not exactly, but maybe you could have done better at things, and you're not bringing out your full potential yet. There could be things that are preventing you from achieving what you can do.

We are talking about how this best version of yourself can be the ideal "you" you were thinking about when you were still a kid. As a child, maybe you were asked by someone what you wanted to be when you grew up. I want to be a CEO, a billionaire, the next Bill Gates, a famous author, or a superhero. As far-fetched as some of our childish dreams can be, one common thing is that we want to become a better version of ourselves. As we grow up, we might have lost our way of fulfilling our childhood dream. Changes and adjustments in our lives might have forced us to think of another path.

Knowing the real you

Aside from our childhood dreams, the better version of you might be existing in the form of a job in a career path you decided to follow when you are still in high school or college. But, of course, many people end up having jobs that are in a different career path. As workers, we might say that we are already okay and settle for less when we can achieve more. Mediocrity sets in your life.

While you are still studying in high school or college, it's quite a good idea to think as early as this point in time to figure out what you want to do in life. First, see where your interests and passions lie and what values are most important to you. Then, dedicate a day or two where you can be in your room or some quiet place by yourself and ask questions to yourself. Ask yourself what things and activities bring happiness to you, what things you enjoy doing, what kind of contribution you want to make in the world, what things can bring fulfillment to you, and what state you can consider yourself successful. By questioning ourselves, we then dig deeper in our minds and possibly see what could be the things stopping us from becoming the best of who we are. Even when you are already working as an employee or managing your own business and are a full-fledged adult already, it won't hurt to dedicate a day to stop and spend some time asking yourself these questions.

How to become the ideal "you."

Once you've figured out the ideal person you want to be, the next thing to do is create plans and formulate the exact steps you will take to get to that perfect point. It might be hard to pull this off alone, so try to get some help along the way from trustworthy friends, family, or even a life coach. The following are things that can help you become the best version of yourself.

Focus on your strengths

By getting to know ourselves better, we can see what we are good at and the ones we are bad at doing. It's easy to wallow in self-pity and say that you are not good at this and that. Instead of focusing on your weaknesses, work on improving your strengths. For example, if you are not that strong physically but blessed with a creative mind and good writing skills, try to find a career that will make good use of your imagination and writing abilities. Learn and improve in this area so you can take advantage of your strengths.

Don't expect too much.

Expectations are not inherently wrong but holding on to them too much can do more harm than good to you. Also, having very high expectations beyond what you are capable of can lead to frustrations. A better thing to do is to set goals that are realistic and attainable. Make goals that you can accomplish quickly so that the feeling of success comes more easily to you, and there's that sense of accomplishment that you are going somewhere in your life. You won't be overwhelmed, and your self-confidence can build up this way.

You must be willing to change.

No matter how good the self-growth and development plans you have, they're useless if you don't want to change yourself. It's easy to stick with the familiar and follow the path of least resistance, but you will not reach your full potential this way. Becoming the best version of yourself will most likely involve new habits and routines of doing things in your life, so you must be ready to accept that.

Love yourself

You won't become the best version of yourself if you don't know how to love yourself. It's pretty tempting to hate yourself when you seem incapable of achieving success with whatever you do. Other people's opinions of you and comparing yourself to others are things that are holding you back. When we're talking about the best version of yourself, it's you that we are talking about here, not other people. Do things that can bring you joy and empowerment so you can eliminate self-hate.

Stop being afraid

Fear is one big enemy that is putting a stop to us reaching our best version. It's easy to feel anxious when thinking about the future. We don't know what will happen. We fear that our decisions might end up in failure. We might even be thinking about problems that are not necessarily there. Try to pinpoint what are the things that cause you to be afraid. If you can, confront the reasons for your fear and think of a plan of action to deal with them. You won't immediately conquer your fear, but the sooner you address it and take action, the less anxious you will become in the long run.

Have the right company with you

You might not be making progress in your life because you listen too much to what other people think of you and their expectations, which is even more so if you have some terrible company with you. Surrounding yourself with good people and having others hold you in high regard and make you accountable for wrong actions is the key to improvement. Along with this, you must build up your strong sense of identity to reach the ideal version of yourself.

Stop the excuses

It's pretty amazing to see people have so many excuses whenever they didn't do something or things have gone wrong. To overcome this, one must have a mindset focused on growth and grabbing opportunities for improvement when they are there. Even if things go badly, at least you tried to do something, and you probably learned a thing or two from the process.

Set systems to manage yourself

An excellent way to track your progress in self-improvement is to employ systems that will track your actions and success. For example, time management allows for adequate time utilization, so none gets wasted, and you do something productive with your time. Having notes and a to-do list will help you see everything you have to do in detail. You can also create a timetable of your goals to know what you should have accomplished per week, month, and year. If you're having problems creating these systems yourself, a life coach can give you ideas for structuring what you are doing, so you will know how to tackle them systematically.

Think positive

While said many times, but the adage "think positive" proves to be an effective way of moving forward in life. When you practice having a positive mindset, that energy and power push you to improve and develop yourself. Problems will come into our lives. Bogging yourself down with negative thoughts will not help. Thinking in a positive way will motivate us every day to accomplish our tasks to realize our fullest potential one day.

Become the best you can be

Successful people did not just suddenly get to where they are. They probably have envisioned themselves to where they are currently positioned and worked hard to attain it at some point in their life. The key things to remember are that you have to identify who you are, know what makes you smile, recognize your strengths and weaknesses, understand the obstacles impeding your progress, and continuously work on self-growth and development. It might be acceptable to settle for mediocrity, but sometimes there's that lingering thought that maybe you could have done something more. Anytime you find yourself thinking of things like this, you may need to start to do some digging into yourself, and you might have forgotten that best version of yourself somewhere in your past. It's never too late to pick yourself up and start dreaming again.