How To Become The Best Version Of Yourself In 2023
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Approximately every fourth person makes new years resolutions but few actually stick to them for longer than a few weeks. “Why?” you might ask.

 

Here are some common mistakes:

 

  1. Setting unrealistic goals or too many goals

I’ve talked about this often. If we set our goals too high most of us will soon get overwhelmed by the mountain in front of us. A common example is the new year’s resolution to become healthier and part of it is often going to the gym. Often we are driven by expectations and we want them fast. So we set the goal to go to the gym five times a week. This becomes counterproductive when we haven’t been there for a while or have never actually been because our body and mindset can’t go from zero to a hundred since they need time to adjust. 

 

While I encourage setting more than one goal, setting too many can hinder you from achieving them. Our resolutions are achieved by adding habits into our daily life. Adding too many drains us emotionally and physically because of this sudden lifestyle change. The mind and body can’t catch up as quickly as we like and we will lose motivation quickly and have a hard time with discipline. 

To avoid these mistakes we need to start small and set two to five resolutions. 

 

 

  1. Not developing discipline

It’s easy to do when you’re motivated. However, the truth is we’re not always motivated. That’s why discipline is the actual key to staying consistent.

 

Practicing discipline is an essential step to actually sticking to our resolutions.

We can do this by getting uncomfortable, for example not snoozing the alarm clock in the morning.

 

 

  1. Not having a game plan

Setting goals without a clear plan of action are not goals but dreams. 

As Taylor Swift once said: ‘If you fail to plan you plan to fail’ 

 

That plan might change over time but you need clear steps toward your resolution. When you planned out your steps you know exactly where to start leaving uncertainty behind and with that one reason for procrastination. 

 

I wrote a guide to realistically set goals: read here!

 

 

  1. Not tracking progress

By tracking your progress every day you keep yourself accountable. Accountability is one of the most important factors contributing to consistency. There are different ways to track your progress: with a habit tracker on paper or digitally on Notion, in a journal as a diary entry, or through photos or videos as a video diary which I personally prefer. 

 

Not tracking your progress and reviewing your goals makes it easy to forget your aspirations when you get wrapped up in stress and daily life.

 

After a while, you will see the first results of your hard work and it’s really rewarding to look back on where you started to realize how far you’ve come.

 

 

  1. Expecting fast results

In my opinion, this is the number one reason why people give up their resolutions. The truth is results don’t happen overnight, it’s likely you won’t see results the first few weeks and that’s when most people get demotivated. Little did they know if they pushed through for a little bit longer they would see and feel the progress they worked so hard for. 

 

 

picture via pinterest

 

 

There are an infinite amount of things you can do to become the best version of yourself. 

 

However, I’m giving you ten things to do in 2023 to level up and transform your life. 

 

Follow at least three of them and you will already see a shift in your lifestyle. Step after step you can bring more of them into your life and step into the best version of yourself.

 

 

  1. BUILD DISCIPLINE

I almost say this too often but it really is the key that opens up the door to your dream life. When you trained yourself to be disciplined you can achieve anything you set your mind to and don’t need to rely on motivation anymore.

 

Discipline is like a muscle that needs to be trained. Start small with small tasks and habits. Force yourself to do them daily without any off days, they should be as normal as brushing your teeth. Get over that voice in your head that chooses comfort over growth because growth happens outside your comfort zone and someday your comfort zone will expand. 

 

 

  1. BUILD ROUTINES

Relying on routines helps you build discipline and consistency. Write down routines that you do consistently on a piece of paper that you revisit every day to remind yourself of them. 

 

The most important routine for me is my morning routine. 

I wrote a blog post about the perfect morning routine as well: read here!

 

Night and reset routines are other great steps. 

 

Night routine: Have a set bedtime that guarantees enough sleep until the morning. Additionally, adding a screen-free hour before going to bed will improve your sleep quality. So instead of being on your phone or watching Netflix read a book, listen to music to unwind, or have time for self-care to recharge mentally from a stressful day.

 

Reset routines: Personally, I have a reset routine for every week and every month.

On Sundays, I clean my space, do laundry, and set goals and to-dos for the upcoming week. At the end of every month, I reset and evaluate my finances, set monthly goals, and do a deep clean.

 

 

  1. DAILY MOVEMENT

Ever since incorporating daily movement, I noticed an increase in energy, mood, and motivation. Movement can be as little as getting in ten thousand steps a day, going on a daily walk, stretching, yoga, or a little heavier as going to the gym, doing daily home workouts, or a combination of things. The intensity of the movement is up to you and your schedule but make it a habit. After a few days, you will notice a rise in life quality and after a few weeks, you might see results in your physique. Overall movement helps you build muscle allowing your body to move more easily in everyday life. 

 

A few other not appearance-related effects are better brain health, improved sleep quality, reduced health risk, and increased chances of living longer.

 

 

 

  1. SELF-CARE

Self-care is linked to productivity because without rest and self-care we keep depleting ourselves and we end up drained and out of energy which hinders our productivity. Sometimes taking care of yourself is the most productive thing you can do. The best version of yourself takes care of herself as she would someone she loves because she loves herself and shows herself love.

 

 

 

  1. REDUCE SCREEN TIME

We waste the majority of our time on our phones. Let’s do a quick calculation. If you spent five hours on your phone daily then that’s 35 hours a week (1 day 11hrs) and 1825 a year which translates to 76 days that’s two and a half months. 

 

Not only do we waste time we also gain access to easy dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that determines how motivated we are. A lot of easy dopamine creates a higher dopamine tolerance. Activities like studying, working, exercising, and eating healthy don’t produce as much dopamine and as a result our brain leans toward high dopamine activities like scrolling on social media, fast food, and other forms of entertainment. 

 

Reducing screen time by even one hour a day gives you one hour that can be spent working towards your goals or taking care of yourself. Another tip to limit screen time is to set time frames to scroll and then be disciplined and turn off your phone. 

 

Have a dopamine detox once in a while and don’t go on your phone in the morning, assign a screen-free time after you wake up.

 

 

 

  1. CHOOSE GROWTH OVER COMFORT

As said before growth happens outside your comfort zone. So get uncomfortable. 

Take that opportunity because if you weren’t capable you wouldn’t have the opportunity. The move that makes you feel uncomfortable thinking about, or doubting your capability, might be the move that elevates you to your success. 

 

Uncomfort can be simple like getting out of your bed in the morning because it’s cold outside or beating procrastination. 

Get uncomfortable pursuing new things until they become the next comfortable. So get comfortable being uncomfortable.

 

 

 

  1. ELIMINATE BAD HABITS

You’re building all these good sustainable habits but still not feeling as fulfilled as you hoped to? The reason for this might be that you haven’t eliminated your bad habits. They are often overlooked in self-improvement “guides”. A bad habit could be talking negatively about yourself while you try to get out of your comfort zone and be confident talking to others and not caring about what they think or smoking and drinking alcohol often when trying to eat and be healthier. 

 

Make a list of all the bad habits you have and collect ideas on how to sustainably replace these habits with new better ones. 

 

 

 

  1. STARE BACK AT FEAR

I fear social situations, meeting new people, and public speaking. This fear holds me back in aspects: relationships, career, and friendships. It limits me and my capabilities every day and I have missed opportunities because of it. However, fear doesn’t have to be permanent. For the last three years, I have taken steps toward beating this fear of mine and I have seen progress, slow progress but it still opened the door to new possibilities. 

 

Bottom line is that “if you can’t beat the fear just do it scared”.

 

 

 

  1. GET TO KNOW THE BEST VERSION OF YOURSELF

I can’t stress this enough but the relationship you have with yourself has such a huge influence on everything around you especially your relationships with other people. So get to know yourself. Discover your likes and dislikes, discover what you want in relationships, what you value in yourself as well as in other people, discover what goals you have for the future, set your boundaries and say no to things that don’t bring you value. Invent the person you want to be, who you are is not set in stone. We create ourselves through our words, thoughts, mindset and most importantly our actions and decisions. 

 

A few ways to help self-discovery are journaling, shadow work and solo-dates. Do things alone, spend time with yourself and take care of yourself. Be mindful of how you talk to yourself. If you talk bad about yourself and are not compassionate with yourself you need to enforce the habit of stopping these thoughts and replacing them with accepting and compassionate ones. 

 

 

 

  1. EAT HEALTHY

This point is severely misunderstood especially in the context of the “that girl” trend. Eating healthy does not mean: starving yourself and/or starting a strict restrictive diet. Please don’t harm your body like that. 

 

What I mean by this is sustainable, (mentally) healthy long-term changes.

 

I’m not a dietitian so I’m not telling you what to eat because I’m not an expert, obviously. However, there are some changes I included in my life.

  • Intentional grocery shopping by making a list and never going shopping hungry. 
  • Adding more vegetables to my meals.
  • Searching for recipes with the vegetables I like
  • Fruit smoothies with seasonal fruit (ugh so delicious)
  • Letting go of tracking my food and beating myself up over my weight
  • enjoying my food and eating in silence without my phone
  • Adding a bit more protein to my meals
  • Cooking and meal prepping

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