6 STEPS TO BECOMING THE BEST YOU

The greatest achievement in life is simple – Just be the best ‘you’ that is possible. It is, honestly, the greatest honor we can give to ourselves, to our creator and to those we love and respect – to simply live the best life we possibly can by being the best version of ourselves.

Why is this so hard for most to live out in reality, though? It is because we have not made it a part of our lives. We have not made it a core goal & mission of our lives and we have not made a plan to achieve it. Success in anything has a method and a process. The journey is what crafts us and steels the fiber of who we are. It is designed and executed day after day.

So how do you go about becoming ‘the best version of YOU’:

Step 1: Create a vision of who the best you really is

The core of any goal setting program is not about what you get, it is about who you become. So, it’s time to create a vision of what that really looks and feels like.
• What does the best you really mean?
• What are the standards you will hold in your life?
• What results can this person who you will become create?
• How will you behave on a daily basis?
• What are the values which are the most important to you and that you commit to live to?

Key points to bring up here:

1. Being the best ‘you’ does not mean you have to be the best at everything; trying to do that is just going to lead to stress and overwhelm and underperformance across all areas. You need to decide what the core things which you are going to master and who you are going to be known for. Then, go to work.

2. Don’t try to be everything to everyone. Remember this is about the best ‘you’ not what anyone else wants you to be. Success and being the effortless best you is only going to come from living authentically with yourself.

Go ahead, construct in your mind and on paper who the best version of you really is. Everything starts from here.

Step 2: Start Being Nice to yourself

We are our own most brutal critic. It can be easy for us to find all of the ways that something won’t work out, why they can’t change, why they are not good enough before anything else. We can easily give up at the first sign of resistance or even before they have even started.

Every time you catch yourself in a negative space, notice it and catch it. Immediately change the belief to something positive and empowering.
This is where the power of affirmations comes in. It is a single phrase you create to affirm and empower you to be the best you possible in various areas of your life.

Here are some examples:

“I am unique and special and have been gifted with talents which I will begin to utilize starting now.”

“I acknowledge my self-worth; I am confident in who I am and who I am becoming. I know I can handle any obstacle placed in my way”

“I am the architect of my own life and have the power to design and create any result to which I am committed.”

Use these or create some more of your own and try saying them to yourself literally every day. I recorded my affirmations myself and stored them on my iPod. Over and over I would listen to myself, telling myself exactly what I needed to hear. Affirmations program a new identity into your mind through the power of suggestion.

Step 3: Act as if

Sometimes the changes we need to make in our life are massive shifts in our identity and we try to fight it tooth and nail. Our identity is everything to us and we will do anything to try and stay consistent with who we believe we are. This is why often change can be so difficult because we are challenging our own internal belief systems from which we source our sense of self-worth and certainty.

The good news is that we can trick ourselves to change through the concept of ‘act as if’. When you consciously change your behaviors and thought patterns and focus on acting like someone else or an improved version of yourself then, your mind will start believing that this is normal for you. This may feel out of character for you right now but if you embody this trait or belief system or thought process or habit, it will have a massive impact on your overall life. Make sure you are selective on what you act out as it could become a permanent part of you.

Step 4: Live by a Code of Conduct

I mentioned earlier that success is seldom one giant thing that occurs. It is the small things repeated day in and day out, created from our habits. Now these can be thought of as day-to-day habits of things you do; but that is not the point of this article. It is not about doing things, it is about being. So instead establish a code of conduct for yourself, a set of behavior patterns and standards which you commit to living by every single day. This could be things like:

The energy you choose to bring home where you don’t let the stresses of your work come home and that you commit to giving your best energy here; or

It could be when you are with your partner or kids to be totally 100% present; Or

That you always dress, walk and shake hands as the ultimate person you want to be; Or

It could be living in your values of integrity, honest, honour or whatever it is to you in every moment. Get the picture? Codes of conduct are your rituals around the person that you will be on a daily basis.

Step 5: Take Care of your vehicle of life

I could absolutely not write an article about being your best self without referencing the need and the massive benefit of taking care of your vehicle in life called your body. That is what it is, your vehicle of life. Still, so many people are given a high performance machine yet neglect it, feed it with garbage, don’t take care of it and wind up driving an old beat up bomb.

To be the best version of yourself you need a vehicle which is going to take you far and take you there fast. Energy is life, so do the things you know you are supposed to do, eat good food (first learn what good food is. Hint: it is not what the government tells you as per the food pyramid), exercise regularly and take care of your mind through meditation. Give it a go. Once you are there and really experience how amazing you feel, how much more you can get done and be as a person, you will become addicted. I promise.

Step 6: Get on a strategic growth journey

Being your best self is synonymous with personal development and it always starts with becoming more aware of who you are and what patterns have been running you to date. Here is the truth; you cannot expect to become the best version of yourself while you are still running all of the same old thought and behavior patterns, which have gotten you to where you are now.. It all has to change and if you are truly committed to becoming the absolute best you, then this change has to be deliberate. In fact, it cannot just be change, it must be transformation

“Be willing in any moment to sacrifice who you are for who you are going to be”

Ask yourself:

• How do you need to grow as a person?
• What skills do you need to learn?
• What belief systems are serving you?
• What will not serve you to get to your next level?

Then ask

• Where can I get this information? Is it through a role model or through a mentor?
• What standard of person do I need to hang around?
• What do I need to do and when? (Now schedule it in)
• How am I going to make this happen?

Ultimately, what we want is that being the best we can be becomes an effortless part of our day-to-day lives where we do not have to ‘try’ because we just are. This is when we have now created a new identity and are living this identity and it is the identity of our best self, until we raise our standards again and move to the next level.

“Growth is not a destination, it is a journey”