Living in the hustle and bustle of modern living can be difficult even confusing at times. We are often in so much of a rush to get things done that a day passes by in the wink of an eye. There are so many things outside of our control that it can seem like we don't have much of a say in the running of our own lives.
When we are not following orders at work, we are coping with a variety of different reliance's such as relying on public transport, relying on public services, relying on friends or family. Wouldn't it be nice to be feel self reliant about everything for a change? Well, the truth is that this is not possible because we are reliant on others to an extent, that's just how the world works.
What we can do is to take stock of our current position and assess how happy we are with it. If you feel like you are caught up in the rat race but can't think of a way out, then do not despair; for there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Through a process of self-empowerment you can wrestle back more control over your life than you thought possible. Becoming more than you are at present means not accepting second best from your-self. In order for you to do this, you need to learn as much about yourself as possible from your desires, motivations and values.
The art of introspection has been recognised as useful for countless generations of thinkers. The earliest proponents of self-improvement had the wisdom to know that true change comes from within. Self-awareness is the process of understanding everything about yourself - warts and all.
Try this little exercise to begin with to understand a little more about yourself: Take a piece of paper and a pen and find a quiet room somewhere. Now draw a spidergram with yourself in the centre and all the branches coming out representing different part of your life ; for instance, job, personal life, money situation, overall happiness etc. Now rate your levels of contentment with each one of these things on a scale of 1-5. Look at the results and see what you have found. What you have done is to draw a mental map of your current happiness with life from which you can draw up an action plan. This mental map of yours is the foundation stone of your self-improvement. It is time for you to take this information and turn it into positive action.
Agenda setting is all about having a clear goal in mind. If your agenda is to take control over a certain part of your life, it's necessary to develop an action plan to tackle it. Let's use the example of financial insecurity to test this theory. Imagine that in your mental map you realise that a lack of control over your finances is at the root of most of your anxieties. Well, you have identified a problem now let's deal with it.
Your action plan should include things such as a list of all your monthly outgoings, a list of all your income and a list of necessities. However, you also have to think about what you could sacrifice in order to get your finances back in check. Honesty is essential for any form of self-improvement. If you have unrealistic expectations, do not expect to make any headway in improving yourself. Of course, if you are unhappy with having to make sacrifices, you can use you unhappiness as a drive to getting you another job or promotion that will enable you to afford them.
That is the great thing with asserting control over your life : agenda setting provides you with so many unexpected benefits in other areas of your life that you quickly gain confidence to tackle all things you are unhappy about.