We can’t help but change and evolve. It’s the nature of evolution.

When I was younger, I feared change. I desperately tried to stay the same person because I had a fixed mindset full of fear. Little did I realize that change is not only inevitable, but it’s a sign of growth.

Change is the only constant in the universe. Even if we try to stay the same, time will do its thing on us. We are continually morphing and evolving.

Since we are going to change, we might as well focus on what direction we change in and who we want to become.

1. Improving a Little Bit Each Day Adds Up

Personal development and self-improvement mean consciously asking the question:

“How can I improve a little bit more today?”

Ask that question daily to grow, and you’ll be baffled by what’s possible.

I’d often pick my goal of who I wanted to be and compare myself to them. I’d only see how far I needed to go and how long it would take to get there.

This thought process caused me paralysis from analysis. I took no action as a result.

It took years to reframe it and only focus on taking baby steps. I learned that small actions taken daily could lead to great results.

How to do it:

Whenever we ask a question, it sends our minds on a journey with a task to complete. And an answer will eventually come as a result.

When we get the answer, then we must act. Taking time to think and reflect is essential, but if all we do is ponder, then we will never do.

Find your answer, write it down, and then take action.

Will it happen overnight? No. But that doesn’t mean it won’t happen. Actual change can occur when we trade our impatience for perseverance.

As James N. Watkins once said:

“A river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence.”

You don’t need to know everything. Instead, use what you know and then take steps daily. You’ll learn and discover more along the way.

That is how we can influence change in a direction that makes us proud.

2. Create Your Strategy and Then Execute

Your goals will stay goals without a plan. “Winging it” is foolish and dumb.

You must condition the habit of creating strategies and then executing them. Think and then do.

I’ll use getting in shape as an example:

If you desire to lose weight and get fit, the first step to achieving your desired physique is to set your goal. The next step is to create a plan.

What will your diet be? Research, write the plan, and go grocery shopping.

How many calories per day? Educate yourself, do the math, and apply.

When will you work out? Create your blueprint, get up, and go. Commit.

As the famous Benjamin Franklin quote says:

“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.”

How to do it:

If you don’t have a plan, then you’ll be doing things at random. You might see some results, but leaving things up to chance is stupid.

Find someone who has achieved similar results and study them. Learn their story. Success leaves clues, and if you can find out their story, you’ll find the strategy.

Then, take your dream and break it down into goals.

As Desmond Tutu said:

“There is only one way to eat an elephant; a bite at a time.”

At first, everything seems daunting. Especially the journey to your dream and the person you want to be. But when you break it down into goals, you also start to break down the illusion that it’s impossible. In time, what once felt impossible starts to feel possible and then, one day, probable.

Every step you take, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem, brings you closer to the result.

Once again, take steps daily.

3. Get Serious About Your Desires

If you want to change for the better, cut the bullshit from your life.

Cut out the parties, the Netflix binge-fest sessions, and wasting time scrolling on social media.

If you calculated the amount of time you waste each day just on social media alone, then your jaw would hit the floor. You’d see how many moments are robbed by useless activities.

Whenever I read self-help books, I thought I was working on my goals. To a small degree, I was. But reading about doing push-ups won’t make me stronger — me physically doing them will.

How to do it:

Get serious and commit.

Do the damn work. Put all your energy, effort, and attention into leveling up, and I guarantee that you will surprise yourself with what you can accomplish.

What helped me was writing my goals on post-it notes and putting them on my bathroom mirror.

Every time I’d see the goal, I’d read it and say it out loud. Doing this small action would remind me of what I wanted and inspire me to take action. It would also water the seed (thought) that I had planted in my subconscious mind.

Once the goal was achieved, I’d move the post-it from my bathroom to the mirror in my bedroom. In time, the goals to accomplish became the goals I accomplished.

When we are driven and focused, we can overcome any obstacle put in front of us. And when we know how to win once, we can do it again.

4. Check Your Self-Dialogue

Of all the people on the planet, you talk to yourself more than anyone. Make sure you’re saying the right things.

Any repeated thought will eventually seep into your subconscious mind and become a belief.

So let me ask you: How do you speak to yourself?

If you’re anything like I was, then you need to change your conversations with yourself.

I was an expert at bashing myself and portraying an image that I had my stuff together. In reality, I was a mess on the inside. It was a war zone in my head.

My go-to phrase on repeat was:

“I’m not good enough.”

How could I ever expect to create the best version of myself when I felt awful? I couldn’t, and neither can you.

I finally learned to shift that toxicity to:

“I’m not good enough, yet. But I can improve and grow.”