The first draft of Chapter 7 – Principles of self-improvement has been posted and is now ready to read.
When I was writing the chapter I had the mental image of a coach giving a team a pep-talk before the big final. The pep-talk isn’t about tactics. It is about reminding the team of their core values and the spirit of play. It is about motivating them to do their best and play according to what is best for the team and the game.
Chapter 7 is the pep-talk I want to give people about to set off on their journey of self-improvement. It is the core things I want people to remember as they get started.
My original list of ‘principles’ was in the 20’s – wwwwwwaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy too many. I managed to whittle it down to 8.
- modifiability
- taking charge
- practice for life
- habits and routines
- willingness, not motivation
- self-as-reference
- self-compassion, not self-criticism
- macro and micro goals
I’m sure this pep-talk will change over time, but I am at present, quite happy with the selection. I think it covers neatly some of the things to consider as one sets off to improve themselves.
This is the lead-in chapter to what is probably the most important chapter overall – Chapter 8.
In Chapter 8 my goal is to outline a process for self-improvement that can form the basis of any kind of self or life improvement that you want to make. I suspect that goal is a little ambitious but I have been thinking about that process for a while and have something in mind that I think is at least fairly coherent and relatively simple (given how many scenarios it has to cater for).
I’m battling with that Chapter at the moment, so wish me luck 🙂
Dr Gareth Furber 