A Better You

A Better You

You may be sitting on a crossroad and trying to figure out which direction to take. In time such as this it may be best to sit down, evaluate your situation and create a good plan. So why not give yourself some down time to read this book. Don’t rush into making a decision before deciding where you stand and where you want to stand. This book includes 11 short chapters with 11 advices on things you can do to become a better version of yourself. There are 11 key steps described that will help you feel better inside out as you cannot be the best version of yourself if you are broken on the inside regardless if you look perfect on the outside. Advises to a better you include the importance of exercising, keeping a healthy environment for yourself or in other words cleaning up, the importance of keeping an active social life, money managing, the need to do good for others and carry out kind actions, eat right, develop your mind, find time to relax and travel, don’t forget to spend time doing what you love and of ‘course organize yourself in order to optimize your time and efforts. It is never a bad time to start doing something for yourself, it is never a bad time to think of yourself and it is never a bad time to become the best version of yourself. Take a trip with me through this 11 chapters and they may just inspire you to take your next step towards getting your act together.

Exercise

Everything you dream of can become true as long as you are healthy enough to put in the hard work.

Health equals life.

Take care of yourself – Exercise!

Exercise doesn't have to be something that you drag doing but something you are looking forward to do. If you feel that exercising is something you avoid try to find the right one- what is it that you like? Exercises can help us stay healthy, control body weight, reduce risks of heart diseases, improve our mood, improve our overall health and others. In its very root the biggest advantage of exercising is that it boosts our health and health equals life. Think about a day you are sick and what you are capable of achieving on this day which is nothing much. When we are sick our entire efforts are aimed towards feeling better. So why not just put in the wok to help our bodies be strong and healthy. Let’s always keep in mind that workouts have to be proportioned to our bodies and what we can do, so don’t set unrealistic goals. Start small and see how far you can go without overwhelming yourself. Different bodies have different abilities, and what is good for one person may not be as good for another, there for it is important for us to listen to our bodies. Overworking our bodies with workouts can bring the very opposite effects of what we are trying to achieve. One of the biggest challenges towards exercising is to make it part of our busy schedules and busy routines. Important key steps toward this is to find the exercise activity that we like, so that we truly enjoy it and don’t drag towards doing it. Today we have so many different ways to keep us active such as simple walking or running, dancing, yoga activities, fitness, zumba, climbing and others. Have a sit and think of what you like doing that helps you be active, what have you enjoyed doing as a child, what have you dreamed of trying to do but kept pushing off for later times. You can also choose a variety between those activities that you like. You can always keep trying different sports until you find something that you truly enjoy as the actual key is to keep your body moving. If you don’t like the fitness room you can choose dancing and this will keep your body moving as well. The type of dances depend on your preferences and they can even be social activities. If you are trying to spice up your life and keep the positive energy flowing try to do something that will take you out of your comfort zone, think about what is unusual to you, is it salsa dancing or is it pole dancing. Whatever you choose make sure to leave a little time for fresh air. We stay inside various buildings majority of the time and don’t allow our bodies to absorb fresh air. Take a walk at the park, take a walk around your home and neighborhood, and take a walk to the store, regardless what the destination is just take a walk outside. You can choose walking or running as your exercise routines which is not expensive at all and you can decide the hours of walking as convenient to you on the actual day. In order to stay motivated you can get an exercise buddy or an exercise group, or you can join an online group that has the same exercise goals as yourself, you can also download an app that rewards you for your exercise activities. Whatever works for you just set your mind on doing it – the goal is a healthy you, one of the objectives towards it is to exercise, so draw a plan and get on it!

Clean Up

The more your mind is occupied with useful tasks the less time you have to think of silly things.

Our environment affects the way we feel, so why not surround ourselves with clean environment. Clean up at home and clean up at work, and clean up everywhere possible around yourself. Cleaning up also helps us stay occupied and with tasks to do which can help us avoid depression. Keep your mind on something important and avoid silly thoughts that can disturb your mind. A better you understands that negative things will happen but they will not bring you down. Especially when you can’t concentrate on deciding how to fix your big problems, concentrate on the daily needs of yourself, so yes clean up. Set up a plan on what you need to get cleaned up in your home. Decide if you need to rearrange something around your home, maybe bring brighter colors and more positive energy into your surroundings. Your environment should be healthy and clean. We all have AC and heat working constantly, but take time to actually let fresh air in and open your windows and doors to vent your home. Please, be aware of any health concerns you have, such as allergies, if you decide to vent your home by opening windows and doors. Pollen season will not be the best to vent the home of a person with allergies. Cleaning makes you feel good and even accomplished. You can set a day to do a major cleaning and the rest of the time just clean up behind yourself which shouldn’t take much time. The key is to definitely have your time organized and get yourself up from the couch and start moving. Cleaning up your home and getting organization in can help you reduce stress. Cleaning up can also be considered a physical activity, so hey… here comes another way that can help you stay active and even benefit you in more than one way, or in other words that is a combo that you cannot refuse. When you start cleaning don’t attempt to do it all at once, but be smart about it and make a schedule. Settle a day for cleaning and be flexible to change it, just ensure that you have a day to do a major cleaning around your home. This doesn’t even mean that you have to spend the entire day cleaning, but definitely that you have enough time to complete a task. Your tasks can be spread in long term steps, for example, one task can be to organize and clean the dressing room, another the kitchen and another the bedroom and so on. Depending on how much you need to do at each space you may spread each task into many smaller tasks. For example consider your kitchen, you can spread to one day cleaning the fridge, another day the cabinets and so on. Clean homes help with allergies, help protect the immune system, and help you feel your best. Remember that the idea of cleaning up is to benefit you and not stress you. Just to make it clear one should not be obsessed with cleanliness or in other words most things are good when not taken to the extremes. Taking cleanliness to the extremes can have the very opposite effects of the positives mentioned so far. Also let’s keep it realistic and set actually possible goals. For example if you have a dog don’t set a goal such as keeping your sofa hair free. About everything is good with a measure so clean up your home and bring some organization in to it and you will definitely feel a difference in your mood.

Social Life

None of us is meant to be alone – There is always some joy to be shared and some sadness to split.

Social life is at great importance to a better you. Check your weekly routines and make sure to meet up with friends and have time to socialize. Socializing is a very compatible activity and you can combine it with other tasks or activities you have. Exercising with a buddy can be a social activity and a work out at the same time and it can be motivating to have a partner. Activity such as seeing a friend for a cup of coffee can help you relief stress, bring positive emotions and set a positive mode for yourself. If your schedule is pretty busy combine your tasks with socializing for example have a grocery shopping with a friend.

Socializing bring vital importance to your mental and even your physical health. Positive and strong relationships help us feel supported, not alone, confident and they provide balance between things you have to do and getting some mental rest. The absence of social life can bring lack of motivation and depression, so make the efforts to go out and about.

Let’s start with having good friends and a positive company. With this being said if somebody makes you feel bad and affects you in a negative way it may be best to stay away. Friends bring support and should not aim to affect you in a negative way. If somebody brings you down it may be best to bring distance between each other at least for a period of time.

There can be multiple types of social activities and it all depends on where you want to start. If you are socially active then you may just need a balance between everything that you have to do and what you need to do. If you have been by yourself and not communicating with a company for a while a simple walk in the park can be a beginning for a social activity. If you find yourself without anybody around you try to reach old friends and see how they are doing, go to church and get with the church family, join a reading club, join dance lessons and others. Look around the area you live in and see what activities are happening around as they may just wait for you to join them. Think of what makes you happy and where you are able to interact with others and do it. Social activities can be going to the museum, seeing gallery openings, community groups, different types of classes, volunteer work, meeting groups and others. Go out and get busy.

Relax

No one can run on empty batteries – sit down and recharge!

The ability to relax and rest is beyond important for the well-being of any human. Nobody can work on empty batteries, so yes we need sleep, and we need rest, and we need time to pull back calm our minds and look clear at our lives. When we plan our week it can be very beneficial to leave the last day for rest and the next day we can begin planning the week as we are rested and able to look clear at our challenges and advantages.

We often skip on rest as we concentrate on the work load that we have to do right now, but let's remember that the idea is for us to be capable of doing something now, and tomorrow and the day after tomorrow and for that we need to be well which is beyond challenging without rest. The main advantage of getting enough relax time and rest is that you are helping yourself to reduce stress. A person that frequently leaves time to relax is more productive, happier and a better version of him or herself. Our work performance is higher and we are capable of achieving more when we are rested. Some may feel anxious and even guilty when they are trying to relax and have a moment for themselves, but let's remember we need to take care of ourselves and we can't help anybody else if we ourselves are not ok. Relax time help our bodies recover, our mood improve, our creativity flourish, improve our focus, and charge ourselves with energy. Our minds deserve time to relax, our bodies deserve time to relax and we need this in order to be the best version of ourselves.

In order to have adequate rest we need to set our schedules to allow enough time for daily sleep. A schedule or a priority list may be able to help us with better time management. A main problem to get enough sleep is having too much to do. When we have things to do we can start with the more important ones that need to be done, and if we are not able to do all of them by the hour it is time for us to get to bed, the least important ones can be left for another day. It may be hard in the beginning but it would be a good habit to establish as sleep is vital to all of us. The most important idea is your well-being and a better you so as difficulties arise keep remembering this and set reminders everywhere around you on what actually matters. You can leave little notes around your mirrors, on the fridge door, on your work desk, in your car and so on. Some may have trouble sleeping all together and they may need to see their doctor. Good idea to get good sleep is to keep a schedule which allows your body to get used to getting to go to sleep at the same time. Also one may avoid taking naps if they interfere with their night sleep, avoid TV at night and try to relax your mind and eyes to be able to fall asleep, ensure your bedroom is dark and quit, try deep breath exercises, and most of all allow time to wind down.

After we discussed sleep let's discuss some good ideas to relax. We can all come up with good ideas for a relax time, such as a spa day, but sometimes we are limited on time and finances. Relaxing doesn't have to be expensive at all and it can be done from about everywhere. One can relax by taking a tub - yes light a couple of candles, turn on some good music and soak yourself in a hot tub. Relax time can be just going to the park and sitting on the bench while watching the nature around you. One can always try to start practicing meditation or just go to the pool and soak up on some sun or why not make a combination of the things that you like and dedicate a day for yourself. Other cheap ideas for a relax time can be to read a book, do yourself a facial at home, have some tea time, try a new recipe and cook and enjoy a delicious meal, start growing plants, watch a movie and others. A day for yourself with the things that relax your mind and your body can help you to recharge and can be just what you need, but you have to set yourself as a priority in order to be able to do it.

Eat Right

Eat well and you will feel good.

Eat great and you will shine!

If you can’t take big steps then do small ones and keep moving. No matter how small the steps are motion is the best way to reach your destination. Keep moving!

Yes, a better you needs to have a better and various diet. And this absolutely doesn't mean that you need to be on a specific restriction or starve, but instead experiment and find a healthy and balanced meals that are better for your body and will help you shine inside out.

There are multiple advantage that come from eating healthy. As a starting point it will be best to have an early exam and discuss a better diet with your doctor. What is good for one may not be the best option for another person, but with your blood results your doctor will be able to best tell you what foods you can enjoy more and which you should avoid or limit. Eating right can benefit you in multiple ways for example it helps maintaining healthy weight, it helps reduce cancer risk and improve memory and help with overall health. The way we eat can even affect our sleep. Eating healthy can also help you establish a better mood, so examine well what you are eating and take the steps towards establishing better eating habits.

Eating healthy is usually challenging. It is important to identify what your specific challenges are in order to decide best on a plan to overcome this challenges. You cannot fix a problem without knowing what is causing it. So take a moment to decide what stops you from eating healthy. Some challenges are not having enough time, healthy food being too expensive, absence of motivation, having strong habits toward eating unhealthy foods, travelling a lot and being limited on healthy choices, and others.

Time restrictions is something we all have and we need to work around it. It may be very beneficial to create a weekly schedule of your tasks and mark them by importance. This can help organize your day and your week better and have a better visual on when you can do a specific task. Such task can be grocery shopping. Depending on your time, set a day in which you can do grocery shopping, it can be once a week, twice a week, once in two weeks or whatever works best for you. I like doing grocery shopping once a week as I buy enough for the whole week (which frees time) but I don't buy too much to create waist of food and money. Yes, by doing grocery shopping you can create time as odd as this sounds. Think about how many times you had to run to the store to pick up something, how long do you spend in drive through lines to pick up food because there is nothing at home to cook, or the time spent getting other foods. All of this time can be reduced if you do a good grocery shopping once a week and cook majority of the time at home. In the evening you can cook a big meal that will be enough for your family for dinner and for you for work lunch for the next day. You can also dedicate one day to cook major meals and store them in the fridge and the rest of the week just warm this meals up and add minor steps such as maybe cut up a salad and others. The key is to utilize your time well in order to have time for what is important and your health should be one of your top priorities.

Eating healthy can be considered expensive, however, I disagree with this. Eating at home and healthy instead of going out to eat can actually save you money and that is especially if you are cooking for a family. Some ideas to cut food costs are to use coupons, buy things on sale or buy in a bulk. Another thing to remember is to buy only what you need and use and nothing that just may go to waste. I find it helpful to eat before I do grocery shopping as I think and buy better when my stomach is full. When I go to the store hungry I find myself buying a bunch of foods I don’t exactly need. A good idea is to use a grocery list that will help you stick to only what you need. Set your finances towards your priorities where eating healthy should be one of the top priorities right next to paying your bills. Let’s think what is more important to have your nails done or to eat healthy. I am hoping that this is a rhetoric question as eating well affects your overall health and your health should be your top priority. You are the most important person to you and if you don't take care of yourself nobody else will. There will never be a better you if you yourself do not decide to love yourself and take care of yourself.

A challenge towards eating well can be the absence of motivation. The absence of motivation encourage us to see temptation everywhere. The absence of motivation also doesn't help towards going away from strong unhealthy habits. In order to get motivated one can create a list of what specifically can change for him or her with making changes towards eating healthy. This points can be written on a sticky note that can be put about everywhere - in front of the mirror, on the fridge door, in the car and so on. Those can be daily and even hourly reminders of why you are making such changes to your diet. Have little healthy snacks always ready for you and those can help you avoid the temptation around you. Also pick foods and snacks that you actually like and would make you excited to eat them. Let’s get away from the ugly image of healthy foods being not tasty. You can get on line and find delicious recipes and ideas to better food habits. Eat what you like just make sure that what you like is good for your body. Ask your family and friends to help you stay motivated as they can be your cheerleaders and supporters and help you remain strong on your path towards a better you. Ensure that you set goals, but those goals are possible and realistic. For example you cannot expect your body and yourself to feel great if you drastically change your diet and habits in a day, you also cannot expect to lose 50 pounds in a day neither and so on. Ensure your goals are realistic such as your objectives and plan to achieve them. Remember it’s better to walk a long path in small steps than jump and fall, however, it is worse when we fall and remain down. It is absolutely normal for all human beings to fail, so think of your stumbles as battles not wars. I am not sure who said it first but I love the saying that the battle may be lost but the war is not. Keep moving, no matter how small the steps are the motion is the best way to reach your destination.

Kind Actions

A YOU without kindness is not YOU at all.

A better you is soft on herself or himself and kind on those around her/him. Before I go any further it is beyond important to remember to take distance from the people that may be toxic to us. There is a great difference between being kind and being subservient, and for the goodness of yourself you should not cross that border, but if you did remember that it is never too late to take a step back. Don't let any previous experiences pull you down as they were just occasions that taught you different lessons. You can always let go of the burden, hate and regret as love suits your heart so much better. A better you is a kind YOU filled with love.

Doing good for others can make you feel meaningful and whole. Doing good for others can involve small and big actions and it should be set in accordance to your personal abilities. No gesture is too small as long as it is given from the heart. We can try to remember and do for those that love us and for those that need us.

We sometimes forget those that love us such as close friends and family members. A good idea is to make a calendar with your friends and family birthdays and special occasions such as anniversaries and others. We can also do things for them without a special occasion. You don’t have to have a specific instance to do sweet gestures for those that love you. You can bring coffee to your mom or take her out for lunch, bring flowers to your aunt, bring cupcakes to your neighbor and so on. Try to always remember those that love you and have been there for you when you needed help most in other words be grateful.

Look around you and you will find love everywhere. There is nothing that you take away from yourself when you give, as love have the ability to always return to you. Start bringing memorable actions into your family, for example, start a family tree where each member can contribute memories.

You can also try to give to those that are in bigger need than you - remember that all bank accounts are different and no gesture is too small as long as given from the heart. Decide what you can afford and what you can actually give. You can gather food cans for the less fortunate, donate clothes that you no longer wear and are in good condition and others.

Don’t forget the small gestures that can brighten your day and the day of those around you. A good ideas are to make a bird feeder and feed the birds, try to smile more often, when you are in line if you are not in a rush and somebody else appears to be in such let them pass you, hold the door for those behind you, give compliments when they are due, try to listen when somebody wants to talk to you and help others when you can.

It is important to mention that people mistreat each other often. Somebody may be rude to us or even arrogant. Don’t let this affect your day or the way you act as it is said that others people actions define who they are and your actions define who you are.

Time Management

The key to your best productivity is good time management.

Time management would be the key step towards anybody being able to complete anything. In order for us to be able to exercise, to clean, to socialize, to eat right, to relax and so on we need time. The proper organization of our time allows us to accomplish more, be more productive and efficient, helps us overcome procrastination, helps us improve our quality of life, helps us reduce stress, allows us to establish a better reputation for ourselves and can help us improve our overall quality of life. Most of all good organization helps us create time for what is important.

We can organize our time differently as different methods work for different people. I like to use a big calendar, yes old fashioned calendar, but you can choose to have a digital calendar or apps that can help you stay organized. In the calendar I put all important dates that I need to know such as doctor appointments, birthdays, and other occasions. I add tasks to it and before I do so I am able to see whether I already had something planned for that day.

There are multiple ways to get organized, but organization methods should have an individual approach. What works for one person may not work for another one, so take a little time to decide what approach to organizing your time works best for you.

Good idea for time management is to create a monthly schedule in which tasks are written in priority order. Another idea can be to plan this calendar with your family or significant other as our close people plans affect our plans. The idea for the monthly schedule is to find time for what is important by organizing our tasks better. A major step is to decide what is most important for us to get done and what we can push to another day. It can be helpful when prioritizing to use color coding to mark higher priority tasks. Be realistic when you set your tasks. Think about how much time it takes you to do one thing or another and whether you really have the time to complete it. There is no point to write 10 tasks to do when indeed you can only complete 2 of them. When you plan your time make sure you involve all of your activities including rest, grocery shopping, family time and others that cannot be left out. You can also try to leave empty spots and in this spots you can put tasks you wasn’t able to complete on previous days or new tasks that popped up or if nothing comes up that would be just extra time for yourself.

When you do your time management make sure that you are not overwhelming yourself. When possible delegate as some tasks can be done by another responsible person. If you have children they should be able to help you with a lot of the house chores. If you have a significant other he or she should also be able to help you for those tasks that benefit the whole family such as grocery shopping, cooking dinner and so on. When you get ready to do your schedule take a step away from distractions such as social media as this will only encourage procrastination and will not allow you to make your plan clear. Set your mood on getting it done - the quicker you start the faster you will finish.

Another step towards making time management successful is to make sure when you do your schedule you leave a little time between each task as it is impossible to believe you are a robot and can jump from one thing to another and still be efficient and productive with it. Also tasks should be aimed to stop by a certain time so that you have enough time to rewind before going to sleep as rest is beyond important.

It is vital to set good time management for ourselves, but it is even more important for us to be flexible. Planning is important, but we cannot expect everything that happen to us daily to be as planned. Unexpected occasions are part of life so don’t let them overthrow you. The idea of time management is to reduce stress, and not increase it, and help you optimize what you can do.

Travel

The best way to eliminate the fear of the unknown is to make it known.

Travel- experience the world.

Why travel? Is that even a real question?

There is no better way to ease your mind and recharge than to change your surroundings and experience something new. Travel includes the benefits of gaining new experiences, increase your knowledge of diversity and better comprehend different cultures, history and background, increase your creativity and of course broaden your mind. People are often afraid from what is different and unknown and this limits their ability to see the beauty of diversity. The best way to make the unknown into known is to travel and grasp a better and more truthful understanding of different cultures. Traveling can help you increase your tolerance and decrease your fear from what is different and boost confidence. Traveling is able to help you improve your social and communication skills, create new friendships, create memories, bring fun and positive emotions. With traveling you are able to not only find out more about those around you but also find out more about yourself.

A better you is accepting what is different and able to co-exist with people that are different from her/him. Even more, great teams come from people that have different abilities and different views and are able to work together in order to achieve common goals. Acceptance is necessary for a peaceful and prospering society.

You can travel big or small the point is to travel. Depending on how much time and money you can spend there can be various ideas for traveling. An idea for traveling is to be a local tourist and explore what is around you (you may be really surprised of what has been near for so long and yet you never new). You can explore your region from closest to furthest points and even make a plan map where you can collect something from each trip and make a memorable souvenir for yourself. To visit what is around you may help you learn more about your own region - who are the people that occupy the specific land, where are they coming from, what are they famous for, what are they proud of...so much that you can find out and see. Local tourist offices usually offer good suggestions on what and how to visit. Traveling local is also a great way to stimulate the economy of your own community.

If ever financially possible traveling abroad can be an unforgettable experience I suggest to everybody. Ideas to make trips cheaper is to visit national parks and even camp instead of going to a hotel, to pay far in advance in small parts, try to take your vacation and travel in off peak seasons as prices go down, make sure you do your research before you travel so that you know the best options for yourself, look for deals - there are flight deals, hotel promotions and so on that can definitely save you some money and others.

Money Manage

As long as you are consistent in your efforts to bring your finances in order, the goal will be completed, just remember that the path is not always straight so be flexible.

The golden rule for managing money is to not spend more than you earn. That could require good planning a research before purchases and budgeting well.

Let’s start with evaluating your current situation. It is vital to understand where you stand and where you want to stand financially so that you know what step to take next. First you need to calculate all of your spending and see what the total is. It helps me to write those expenses down so that I have a visual. For example the mortgage is 900, the electricity bill is 50 and so on. After calculating the total of expenses we can proceed to calculate the income that we have and find the total as well. Now follows the simple math to decide on whether we are in the plus and have left over money or we are in the minus and our spending exceeds our income. Based on the results we can decide what is best for us to do. The goal should always be to have a positive difference between what we spend and what we earn and be able to save and live comfortably.

Ideas for good money managing is to have a budget and stick to it, track spending, choose best prices when shopping and always remember that it takes practice and we cannot expect results in a day. When we track spending we need to evaluate our bills, and track what we spend a week on personal needs. There are many online apps that will help you evaluate your finances, or you can do it old style with a pen and paper (like I do). See what monthly bills and other spending you have and whether you can lower them or eliminate them, for example, there is no need to pay a monthly subscription payment for something you don’t even use or rarely use. If you have credit card balances see whether you can transfer the balances to one card with low interest rate (a lot of cards offer no interest rate for 18 months) which should allow you to lower your monthly payment but still the goal should always be to pay the balance off. Credit cards can involve a good part of your monthly payments. It is a good idea to pay off your credit card debt before you continue spending. High credit balances increase your monthly payments and lower your credit score. Check you weekly spending and decide where do you consistently spend money that you can avoid, for example do you eat out a lot, do you buy your coffee out daily and so on. When creating a budget remember that it needs to involve all of your spending but also you should have a left over amount for unexpected spending. It is always a good idea to find ways to increase your income for example find a higher paying job or find side incomes. Side incomes can be having a part time job, do activities such as Door Dashing, Uber, Lyft and others. A great side activity can involve your passion such as to create a blog or make YouTube videos. Be creative and always remain positive and reasonable with yourself. As long as you are consistent in your efforts to bring your finances in order the goal will be completed just remember that the path is not always straight so be flexible and patient with yourself.

When it comes to big purchases decide where it is best to buy it and how to buy it. For example if you use a credit card check on which credit card interest rate should be best. The best interest rate is no interest rate and most cards now allow you a period of time before they apply interest rates. Another way is to save up the money before buying the big purchase and this limits the possibility of interest rate all together. Check the prices, promotions and sales of the item you would like to buy and find out not only where it is best to buy it but also when to buy it in order to receive the best price. For example, big sales happen on black Friday and other holidays, so why buy an item a week before that when you can save money buying it on a specific date.

Remember that it is never a bad time to save as the savings we have can greatly help us when we are in need. Having savings can help you feel secure and relief stress associated with finances. If you don’t have a habit of saving start little and watch your saving account grow. Decide whether it is best to move your money to savings in the beginning of the week (when you start spending your check) or the end of the week (when you see how much is spent). The best way depends on your personal habits and you can always make a combination between the two. For example in the beginning of the week you can set aside a specific amount from your check to savings and in the end of the week if you have left over money from your check you can move those as well.

Beyond anything we need patience with ourselves and remember that practice is the key. It takes time to establish a good credit, it takes time to increase your income, it takes time to adjust your spending to what you can afford, so be gentle on yourself and enjoy the path you walk.

Your Mind

The clarity of your reactions is a reflection of the heath of your mind.

A better you is healthy inside and outside. A better you seeks to improve her/his self all the time and leaves time out of the busy schedule to exercise her/his brain. Never stop developing and read and challenge yourself.

Benefits to keep your brain engaged is that it reacts better in stressful situations, you have an improved memory and sustained mental clarity. Keeping your brain active also helps you boost your mood, performe better, build confidence and it helps you fight diseases related to your brain. Exercising your intellect helps your overall health. Stress, anxiety and doing the same routine over and over again can affect the health of your mind. Exercising your brain definitely help you overcome this negative reactions. Along with this we need to not forget to always learn how to cope with stress, eat well and rest.

When you look for brain exercises for yourself try something that will sit well with your soul and mind. Find something that you get excited to do and brings out the passion in you. Don’t pick an activity that you drag to start and is unenjoyable to you. Consistently try something new. Go out for a coffee with a new coworker, try a puzzle, learn a new language, read a new book and others. Our brains are designed to discover and if we don’t enter unknown situations and approach new learnings we are denying its nature to learn and experience new things. Imagine if our body muscles don’t move and exercise, then they will become weak and so will you, so it is the same with our brain we need to let it exercise. Different hobbies can be beneficial to practice your brain such as playing an instrument, playing cards, building your vocabulary in your own language or in a foreign one, learning new skills, teach someone a new skill, even going to a dance class can stimulate your brain. With all that being said I need to repeat myself by stating that everything is good with a measure. Just as our brain needs to exercise it also needs to rest in order to perform to its optimal ability. So don’t forget to sleep, eat healthy and simply rest. Balance is the key to all success.

Hobbies

When you choose a hobby don’t set limits just think of what you love to do and do it.

Hobbies carry the purpose of assisting us to destress and avoid getting burned out. Our hobby can be about anything and what you specifically define as hobby and not somebody else. For example what is a hard work for one can be a hobby for another. Your hobby should definitely be something you absolutely enjoy and let you clear your mind and put your thoughts away from all of your worries. Time spent with your hobby is vital to recharge. With all that being said don’t push yourself to do your hobby as this is something you should be looking forward to do because you want to and not because you have to. If your hobby is something you push yourself to do then this is definitely not a hobby for you.

Hobbies can be anything you want to be your hobby. We can call our hobby working with plants, knitting, tennis, dancing and so on. If we are not sure what to choose as our hobby we can try different things until we find the one we love and we can always switch our hobbies. Hobbies can be combined with other of our needed activities and even enrich them. Dancing is a great hobby and we can enrich our social life and exercise while simply enjoying a hobby.

When you think of what can be your hobby, think of anything and everything. Yes, anything can be your hobby: acrobatics, swimming, astronomy, reading and yes even geometry. Depending on the choice of hobby it can help you sharpen your mind, relax and unwind from daily stress, help you with personal growth, help you with your emotional health, help you establish better physical health, learn a useful skill that can help you make more money, enrich your social life, make new friends and others.

Conclusion

A better you cannot be built without your own consent. You cannot expect changes if you yourself don’t take the steps to do it. You can create a thousand excuses or you can make a plan and act upon it. Definitely love yourself for who you are, but always strive to become a better version of yourself. There is not a shortcut to a better you, and instead there is hard work to be done. Finding the balance between everything that is happening and what you want to happen can be tricky but very possible. Don’t skip a step and exercise, clean up, enrich your social life, manage your money well, don’t forget to do actions to show your kindness, eat right, clear and develop your mind, spend time relaxing and traveling, find your hobby and organize yourself so that you may find time for all of this. This was a short plan with 11 steps you may take towards becoming in balance with yourself and it is up to you what you do next.