For all that it has taken away and destroyed, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented us with an opportunity to reflect. And not just about the world we live in and all that still desperately needs fixing, but about our own lives, and all that still desperately needs fixing. Today, I want to talk about becoming the best version of yourself. I believe this is something we should all be striving toward on a daily basis, but something that often gets lost in the shuffle as we go about the chaotic nature of our daily lives. So with that, let’s dive right in on how to become the best, most confident you, you’ve ever been.
WHY BECOME THE BEST YOU?
Okay, I lied. First, I want to tell you about why you should want (or even need) to become the best version of yourself. This is important to remember, as it can help guide you on your purpose toward becoming the best you. Any time any of this seems like it’s too daunting, it’s important to remember why you are doing it, and that will push you to, as Dory from Finding Nemo would say, ‘just keep swimming.’
Becoming the best version of yourself will help you in literally any context. From becoming more confident, to having a more active social life, to enhancing your dating life to optimizing your health or your career to literally whatever it is you are trying to achieve, becoming the 2.0 new and improved version of yourself is the first step to success. Our inability to accomplish something is never just based on a lack of ability in that one specific thing. It’s an overall function, for better or worse, of who we are as people.
For example, when I was going through my coaching licenses, I failed at my first attempt at my C License. I was distraught over this, as I knew I had the quality to not just be at a C License standard, but well above that. However, the why of my bump in the road had nothing to do with my ability as a coach. I failed because I wasn’t confident in my own abilities, because I lacked certain communication skills, because I didn’t seek the expertise from other knowledgeable others, and for many other reasons that had nothing to do with my actual readiness to meet the standards, or my coaching knowledge, skills and abilities at that time. I failed because I wasn’t at an optimal stage in any area of my life outside of coaching.
When it comes to dating, people often say (including my exes) that you have to love yourself before you can love someone else. And it’s true. You have to be the best version of yourself BEFORE you can achieve your hopes, desires and dreams. People often get this backwards and think that WHEN they achieve their hopes, desires and dreams, they will be happy and successful. This mindset is what stops us from achieving what we want in life. Our sense of self, and our sense of our best self, needs to come first. So in case worst you was wondering, that’s why becoming the best you is so important.
THE BACKBONE TO SUCCESS
You might have already picked up on this from the introduction, but if not, it’s time to really hammer home the key message here. Becoming the best you is not just about improving one aspect of your life. It’s about improving all or as many aspects of your life as possible. These “aspects” can be broken down into different areas – what I’m dubbing – the Backbone To Success. When becoming the best versions of ourselves, we first want to start with the core principles; the spine; the backbone! I’m no doctor, but anatomy (or at least this website) will tell you that the human body has a total of 40 back muscles. It is the spine however (more coolly known as the backbone) that keeps everything else in place and allows the freedom of movement. So think of these core principles as the thing that will keep everything else in line, and allow you the freedom to go on and achieve your goals. These are the things that make up your backbone to success…
- Social life (including family life, social circle and dating life)
- Health and fitness (including physical health, nutrition, mental health, fashion and grooming)
- Work life (including personal projects, career aspirations and work-leisure balance)
- Personal development (including your knowledge, skills and abilities).
So now, in this four part series, I venture to go on a long-winded explanation of each of these core principles. Check out the series here (more to come in time)…
- Part One – Improving your social life
- Part Two – Improving your health
- Part Three – Improving your work life
- Improving your KSA’s (becoming the best you)
So that’s all for now! But before you go, be sure to check out more articles to helping you become the best you, such as Three tips for boosting confidence and Tips for establishing yourself in new environments. Thanks for reading and see you soon! You might also enjoy…
Rhys Desmond 