I think of self-improvement when considering future goals, dreams, and aspirations. I want to be the best version of myself and encourage others to strive for that. I believe self-improvement is the fundamental prerequisite for achieving our other ambitions. We often must work on ourselves before we can attain or at least inch closer to other goals. These include our career and relationship goals, like landing our dream job or starting our family. Before I get married, for example, I must be someone that someone wants to marry; I must work on myself to be the right person for someone else. The idea similarly applies to my career. I want to be an attorney. Before I can attend law school, I must score high enough on the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT). The LSAT tests for reading comprehension and critical thinking, so I could be more likely to attend law school by improving those abilities.
            It might occur to you: how will you know when you’ve peaked? How do you know when you’ve reached the best version of yourself and can stop self-improving? I don’t know. I hope I never know. The goal is not to know. And to believe that self-improvement is limitless. Why I (you) would want to stop improving is an ensuing question to ask. Think of where you are and where you would be if you didn’t improve. And where you could be if you keep improving. If that doesn’t convince you to work on yourself, think about it again until it does.
            Self-improvement can take different forms. Some people want to become better drivers. Others want to be better at math. I want to be a good man. That’s my priority. That’s my ultimate goal. To do right. That is not an easy aim. How do I define “good”? What does it mean to do right? One way to answer these questions could be to follow in the footsteps of people generally considered Good Samaritans. Another way could be to read ethical philosophy. I could also think for myself, make mistakes, and learn from those mistakes. The best approach is probably a combination of the three. And to not think so much about what a good man should be and be one, as Marcus Aurelius wrote in his book, Meditations.

This entry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.