I was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Toronto, Canada. A theme that was prevalent during that time was “Always Seek to Improve.” I became borderline obsessed with this idea, and as a result I constantly evaluated whether or not my efforts were sufficient.
Since that time, my obsession with improvement has diminished. One could be upset about this (I kind of am), but in my situation, there are pros and cons to it.
Pro:
This “seek to improve mindset” enabled me to become a better person and feel like I am working to achieve my goals. I love that feeling. I would focus on what is good in my life, and continue doing those things. On the other side, I would focus what was bad in my life, and strive to eliminate them from my nature. Through prayer, faith and divine help, I was able to accomplish many things that would have been impossible on my own.
Con:
When I was hyper-focused on improving as a missionary, I was in a constant state of stress and worry - always wondering whether or not I was good enough. This worry and anxiety really weighed on me and has carried over to other aspects of present life.
Solely based on the lengths of the previous two paragraphs, it seems like the “pros outweigh the cons” and all is dandy, I can just continue being hyper-focused on improvement. But to me, the negative aspects of my mission improvement mindset far outweigh the benefits.
I know that improvement is a good thing and that I should be focused on it. HOWEVER that focus needs to be at a level that does not cause unneeded stress and anxiety to my life.
How am I going to have an improvement mindset, and what can I do now to ACTIVELY work toward achieving a goal?
Well, I am going to pick an aspect of my life that I feel I need/want to work on and develop. Then will set goals and make plans, and act. How do I see myself? Where will I be in five years? What goals can I set to help me work toward that vision? What plans do I make to accomplish these goals? And finally, how do I account for/measure my actions?
Here is what I will do this week - sit down and write down my “2020 vision.”
I have the same problem! Sometimes it seems like not caring about improving is easier because it means you can ignore what you are doing wrong and you don't have to stress out about it. But at the same time it is really important to keep progressing and improving yourself. I really like your goal to choose one aspect to work on a focus on that so you don't overly stress yourself and can feel good about improving.
ReplyDeleteI noticed this with myself as well. Sometimes we have to recognize change is a process that happens over time, and that the purpose of life is to change. Change and improvement come in baby steps over a life time, not just in a day, week, or semester. If we focus on small aspects of our life we want to change, we will also recognize our progress, which motivates us to continue.
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