The term self improvement is a bit misleading and is sometimes erroneously interrupted. What do you really improve? You don’t improve your “self” and you don’t improve your “spirit”. You learn to develop certain skills that can help you go through life. You learn to look at things from a different, broader viewpoint, and you learn to forego limiting thoughts and habits.

You don’t improve something that does not exist in you. You improve and develop some skills that are already in you, but are weak, in a dormant state, or negatively expressed.

Self improvement is actually not “Improving yourself”, so much as changing your point of view, changing the way you look at yourself and the world, and strengthening and developing certain skills.

Self improvement is about developing:

• Stronger willpower.
• Better self discipline.
• Better concentration.
• Some degree of emotional and mental detachment.
• More patience.
• More tolerance.
• Getting rid of negative or weakening habits and developing new ones.
• Learning to think more positively.
• Learning to be more kind and loving.

This is a partial list of the aims of self improvement.

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I receive many email messages from people asking how to get rid of anxieties. It seems that anxieties and worries are so common in today’s world, and people are looking for solutions.

I am not a physician neither a psychologist. I am writing about this subject from a totally different viewpoint, from the viewpoint of inner development - self improvement, spiritual growth and meditation. This approach might not be everyone’s cup of tea, as it requires time and effort, but the rewards are great, and go much further and beyond reducing anxieties.

There is nothing in the world worth to be anxious about, no matter what your situation is. Anxieties are thoughts tinged with negative feelings and expectations that take control of your mind and life. You are the Spirit beyond the mind, and therefore should be the one in control of your thoughts and anxieties, and not the other way around.

Being anxious is a habit of the mind, and you need to find a way to undo this habit. Often, it becomes an enslaving habit, which weakens and can cause a lot of trouble. One finds himself caught in a vicious circle of negative thinking, fears and worries, which are difficult or next to impossible to overcome.

How can you undo and overcome the habit of anxiety?

* You can start by telling and convincing yourself that anxieties are thoughts and feelings that inhabit your mind, and as such, they are outsiders, not part of yourself. Believe and tell yourself often that you don’t have to accept every thought that comes into your mind, especially negative thoughts.

* Learn to concentrate and you will learn to be in control of your thoughts.

* Work on developing some emotional and mental detachment, by being alert and aware of your thoughts, feelings and reactions, and trying not to get too much affected and involved with them.

* Focus your mind on happy thoughts, and avoid dwelling on negative thoughts and events.

* A regular practice of meditation can also help you reduce the level of anxieties.

All this will gradually help you reduce your anxieties, and even overcome them completely and bring inner peace into your mind.

Following this advice might sound too tough and difficult for you, and it also requires time and effort to implement. Some might prefer psychological treatments or taking medications to relax the amount of anxiety, but in the long run, the above mentioned inner development methods bring greater rewards and make you independent of treatments and medications. They will eventually make you strong, happy, positive and free of anxieties, and develop new positive habits.

Remember, anxieties are thoughts tinged with feelings. It is up to you to accept or reject them. They add nothing to your life, and life without them is more free and happy.

Clear, step-by-step instructions and guidance for overcoming anxieties and worries, and gaining inner peace, happiness and mental mastery, written in a clear and easy to understand language.

Peace of Mind in Daily Life

We hear so much about self-acceptance from people who follow or teach personal growth and spiritual growth. What is self-acceptance? Does it mean accepting your weaknesses or negative habits and doing nothing about them? Does this mean accepting your behavior, attitude and life style, and doing nothing to change and improve? This can be an easy way to give in to laziness, and to having good excuses for leaving everything as it is.

This kind of self-acceptance might make you feel a little better and alleviate feelings of guilt, but it is not enough to contribute to real progress and improvement.

Self-acceptance seems to be not well explained and well understood. Accepting yourself as you are is only the first step. It helps you realize your good and not so good points. It could help you stop the war inside you, and alleviate the lack of satisfaction and the sense of unhappiness. It could develop some inner detachment that will prevent you from sinking into self-pity, negative thinking and other negative states of mind.

Self-acceptance does not mean that you accept what you are and do nothing to change and improve. It does not mean accepting your fate and loving it.

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Here is an excerpt from the article “Happiness and Security Are the Primary Desires”:

What do you really want to attain or achieve? Do you have some clear goals, or you don’t know what you really want? Do you go through life, wherever it takes you, or you have definite plans, and work on accomplishing them?

Not everyone has goals. Many go through life wanting this and that, but never something definite. Some even feel bad for not really knowing what to do with their lives.

We read and hear so much about the importance of having goals, but the truth is that most people don’t have definite goals. Actually, all people have two important goals, though they are not consciously aware of them.

What are these two goals? What is it that you really desire, money? A better job? Love? A house? A new car? To travel abroad? Do you wish to do something big, or maybe you are satisfied with your life as it is, and don’t want to change it? If you analyze your goals, small or big, you will ultimately discover that what you really want are happiness and security. Everything you do is motivated by the desire to gain happiness and security, whether it is money, a TV set, a house, a car, a new job, love or losing weight.

You desire this and that because you believe their attainment will bring you happiness and security, and therefore freedom from stress, anxieties and fears.

Read the complete article “Happiness and Security Are the Primary Desires”!

Building self confidence is important for everyday life and for achieving any task or goal. How can you build self confidence, especially if you lack self confidence?

Stop judging yourself and comparing yourself to others, especially comparing yourself to strong and successful people. You might feel that you don’t measure up with them, and this will further weaken your self confidence. Accept yourself as you are, don’t compare yourself to others and start working on building self confidence. If you lack this ability it won’t appear suddenly. You need to develop it.

Self confidence is the way you look at yourself, and has nothing to with what people think of you. It is an attitude, and attitudes can be changed.

Here are a few tips for building self confidence:

1. Never tell yourself “I can’t.”

2. Always tell yourself “I can.”

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