How to be Better at Self Improvement & Change

Stuck in a Rut? Need to Find the Way Forward in Life?

Sep 18, 2009

When people are bogged down in life, it is a sign that something needs to shift. Read here about how to move forward in life.

Life is a journey of learning. Most people start out with low level of self-awareness and may lack self-confidence, self-worth and self-esteem. According to Carl Rogers (father of Person Centered Therapy), all people have the innate capability to become confident and fulfilled human beings.

However, many people find that they are a rut and unable to forge ahead. This can manifest itself as general unhappiness or frustration – a feeling that life is not all that it should be. It can also be the cause of physical illness and symptoms like insomnia and stress.

How Can One Get Out of the Rut and Forge Ahead?

The process of moving forward can be helped in many ways. One can study psychology, learn interpersonal skills, study spirituality or even hire the services of a life coach; these are just a few of the ways that one can move toward self-actualization, to use Maslow's terminology.

However, none of the above will help if the ground where the seeds are sown is hard and stony. All seeds, including the seeds of wisdom, need a fertile ground if they are to send out roots. Only then can one draw nourishment and flourish in life.

How to Improve Fertility and Learn More in Life

One of the biggest problems is that people have become harder to teach. Lesea Broadcasting's Harvest show which aired on Friday, September 18, 2009, featured an interview with a life coach who stated that she only agrees to coach a portion of those who come to her for help.

She explained that she only accepts people with a "humble, teachable spirit." The individuals she rejects don't have the ability to learn because of their closed-minded attitude and inability to be honest with the self or with a life coach.

What is a Humble Teachable Spirit and How Does that Help in Learning?

A humble teachable spirit is somebody who acknowledges that they don't "know it all." They have sufficient respect for the teacher to keep an open and positive mind, seeking the pearls of wisdom that are being offered to them. They realize that it is important to be honest about their feelings and experiences.

Being arrogant or secretive are character traits that are not conducive to the process of becoming self-aware. They create barriers to learning – the "stony ground" that will not enable seeds of new ways of thinking to germinate and take root.

Being closed and secretive is usually caused by fear of judgment. Moving towards self-awareness and freedom means letting go of the fear in the knowledge that everybody has a shady side, but that this is not what defines a person.

The copyright of the article How to be Better at Self Improvement & Change in Self-Awareness is owned by Christine Fadhley. Permission to republish How to be Better at Self Improvement & Change in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.