5 Great Self-Improvement Principles

#1 Never Give up on what Matters — Do not settle, do not compromise and do not give up on what really matters to you.

If you want to own a multi-million dollar mansion, if you want to become a world-renowned leader, if you want to visit a hundred countries and meet thousands of people in each, if you want to change others lives, or even if you just want to get a six-pack do not give it up if it is important.

You want what you want, and there is nothing to be ashamed for or to compromise on. You may not get it straight away, it may take a lot of time, but if you give up on what matters to you, you will not get it. And no compromise will feel good enough.

The only way to lose in anything in life is if you surrender. Everything else is merely a setback.

#2 Don’t take it So Seriously — Life is only as serious as you make it out to be, nothing more.

Most things that happen to you are not life-threatening and they are not nearly as horrible as you make them out to be.

Yes, your life will turn to crap sometimes, yes, it will be awful, and yes, you will definitely get unlucky… but it will go on! The situations will not suddenly end your existence.

Life will go on, you will still get plenty of chances to smile, succeed, love and do everything you wanted to do. Take a breath!

At the end we all die anyway and we all will be forgotten sooner or later, so why do we worry so much about every little thing that happens to us?

We won’t always be alive so we might as well make the best of it now!

#3 Do it Consistently — If you want to improve in anything at all, you have to do it daily.

Once a month is not enough, once every other week is not enough, not even once every other day is enough.

Either you do it every day or you might as well not do it at all, for it will not get you what you want.

If you want to improve you have to make it a regular, daily occurrence or you will forget it!

Nothing will stick if you do it any less than that.

#4 Be Successful Now — You are who you think you are. Period.

If you think yourself to be successful now, you will start to feel it.

Don’t believe me? Then let me ask you this:

Imagine you woke up in a hospital bed and you don’t remember anything about your past.

As you wake up a high-ranking military officer walks in and says “Major, I know you may have lost your memory, but we need you back in the field as soon as possible.”

Would you act differently than you are acting now? Would you be someone different than you are now?

You are who you think you are. If you want to be someone different or better you have to think of yourself that way first!

#5 Do not React to Life; Act on it — Too many people walk around with fingers-crossed, hoping, wishing and praying that their life will magically get better.

They hope to be found by a talent scout, to win the lottery without playing, or to get that one break just gifted to them by chance. They do this to justify doing nothing, and therefore prevent them from taking responsibility over what they have to do.

If you want something you have to act on it yourself! You are too old to keep waiting for everything to magically turn out the way you want! You can have anything you want in life if you only act on it! You already know what to do, but you hide from those things because they are too difficult or uncomfortable, yet, only when you act on those difficult and uncomfortable things will your life change! “Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.” — Michael Jordan

So few people actually go out and put in the effort anymore.

Originally published at http://quora.com.