I think a lot of us would say that on any given day we’re not the best version of ourselves. Sometimes that’s because we don’t take the time to think about it. Or maybe we just have no idea exactly how to get there. But it’s important that we do get there. I’ve talked before about living life with intention. When it comes to living with the intention of being your best self, you have to first imagine or visualize what that future best self looks like. Because if you don’t know who that person is, you can’t start acting like that person now.
It’s kind of powerful to understand that just visualizing your best future self can have a massive impact on the person that you’ll become. And you might be asking yourself – that all sounds great, but how do I do that? Well, the very first thing you should do is set the intention and then set a time and place to actually do it.
This is one of those times when you want to find a quiet place that will allow you to close your eyes and be able to really think without interruptions. Then just picture yourself as you are right now, then picture yourself as the person you want to become. After you do that, you want to create a movie in your mind by thinking of who you want to be in a week, compared to a year, then five years. Take some real time with this, making sure to imagine every single detail of who that best self looks like, acts like, sounds like, IS like. Once you have a clear picture, take the time to write down what that looks like. When we write things down, it gives us a clear picture of what we want to achieve. It also helps to make our goals more tangible.
Now that you have a clear image of your best self in mind, it’s easier to see what changes you need to make in order to BECOME that best version of yourself. It’s important to understand that you can’t just snap your fingers and all of the sudden become that person. It takes time and it takes work. So set a clear path by setting some goals. For example, if you see the best version of yourself as someone who is more empathetic the next step is to write down what specifically you can do to make that happen. That might be learning about empathy, or practicing imagining yourself in someone else’s shoes. Maybe you can do more volunteer work so you can better connect with others who need empathy.
My biggest encouragement for you, if you truly desire to become the best version of yourself, is to NOT WAIT. Start now, today. Because if you put if off for tomorrow, chances are some other distraction or problem will cause you to put it off again. And again. Until you realize that you have not lived your life as the best version of who you are. If you start today and take small steps, you’ll still be a better version of yourself even on the days that you falter. Because we all falter sometimes. But what you’ll find, and what will encourage you to continue, is that even those small steps have moved you towards that better self. And that creates a better life.