Welcome to the 1000+ new readers who joined last week!
Disclaimer: You might have seen a version of today’s post on my new Instagram account I opened to share my writing! A lot of my drafts might not make it to the newsletter because they are too small. I aim to post them there. Check it out.
Some of the top or best-selling personal development or self-help books like Atomic Habits, The 7 Habits of highly effective people, and The subtle art of not giving a F***, etc. have a few pieces of advice in common.
They are simple & effective. If done well, they can change your life. Here are some good recurring tips I found.
Set ambitious goals & hold yourself accountable
If you keep on saying you can't achieve something, you won't achieve it. If you keep on saying you will achieve something, you just might via a combo of hard work, smart work, & most importantly, luck.
Once you set these goals, hold yourself accountable for the pursuit of these goals through clear action. Otherwise, ideas & goals don’t amount to much.
Break down goals into small tasks
You have to break down big important goals into tasks or habits that you can do weekly or daily. Otherwise, goals will remain goals & won't ever become reality. Example: Staying very fit -> exercise 30 minutes per day on average
Block time for daily progress on important tasks
Block some time in your daily or weekly calendar to complete the most important tasks, your daily highlights.
If you don't block your time for those important tasks, urgent but not-so-important tasks in life will take over, & you may never get your long-term important tasks done.
Stay laser-focused as you take action
This one is the simplest but the hardest. Take action. Do your tasks, at least try to.
Don't multitask. Don't procrastinate. Don't say "I will do this after learning X or doing Y." Get your important daily tasks done with focus & intensity. The idea is people who get important tasks or their daily highlights without being distracted produce remarkable results in the long run.
Only say yes to the 20 that brings the 80
The idea is your biggest wins in life will come from a very small portion of your work or areas of investment (time, emotional, or financial). Focused effort in the most important places can change your life completely. So, the focus should be on the important things, the tasks, or the areas that truly matter. Generally, they tend to be around: meaningful social relationships, health, happiness (fulfillment to be more precise), & just enough wealth to get you the freedom to invest in the 1st 3.
You have to learn how to filter & say no to many other tasks that might seem urgent from time to time. If something is not a hell yes, it’s a no.
Stay consistent, for a long time
Keep doing this every day for a long period of time. Very small daily wins & good habits can change your life when done consistently over the years.
Make time, or compounding advantage, your friend. This concept does wonders, especially for things like building skills, health, & building wealth.
Measure, learn, & adapt
Every now & then check how far you have progressed in achieving your goal. If you don't see results, ask where & how you can improve.
Learn from those mistakes. Take feedback from people who did similar things before you successfully. And then improve.
Start now by yourself, if you mist
No one's coming to help you. Don't wait. Don’t tell yourself “I will start X when Y happens”. Start now.
Almost all these books talk about the idea of self-reliance: the help or some event to change your life won't come. Change starts with you: the actions you take, the habits you build, & what you prioritize. The books are called self-help for a reason. You need to take action to help yourself.
I tried to summarize some of the most common, simple, & effective advice given in top personal development books. They are timeless & can truly change your life. But first, you must take action. Otherwise, nothing will change.
I hope this helped.
Stay kind,
Seeam
This 3-point summary of 300 self-improvement books is phenomenal. It really captures the crucial philosophy behind a lot of these books.
Sponsored
If you want to become an entrepreneur, Khalid Farhan’s Formal Friday paid newsletter is an amazing way to get cool business ideas & full case studies that you can use to start your own business right now. Join 5500+ readers & use code “seeam” for 10% off. I bought the newsletter myself first, loved reading it, & then started marketing it.