Self-improvement without direction is messy in itself.
It is indeed true that the "evangelicals" of self-improvements with their cults seek to enslave you in a cult of their making. In these cults you often lose perspective of where it is that you want to end up because of the constant barrage of bigger, better, wealthier, slimmer, happier, and more successful. Inevitably, all you can do is burn out.
If you believe in self-improvement, there is another way. A way that is gentler, patient and aligned with your personal learning curve and abilities.
It starts with knowing who the best version of who you are. We all know who we are at our best.
From time to time we experience moments of peak performance, when we are in the state of flow. Self-improvement should focus on experiencing these states more often. It is about connecting to the best version of who you are already, instead of becoming an empty inflated version created by the expectations of others. The hard part is letting go of the expectations of others.
The second step is knowing your purpose. Purpose gives you direction, a point to grow towards that defines what you value and how it brings benefit to you, the people close to you, and ultimately the whole world as you perceive it.
With self-knowledge and direction, growth can happen as quickly, or as slowly, as is good for you. This is your choice.
Growth is important as it teaches you change, adaptation and fulfillment. It can be as simple as learning one new fact in a day, starting a work of art, writing a blog entry, or it can be as ambitious as enrolling for a degree. The Japanese philosophy of Kaizen supports this way of improvement, where small changes every day adds up to big change over time.
The only aim of self-improvement should be to choose to be better in some way every day, than you were the day before. Sometimes your energy will enable big change, other times it will limit you to small forward movement.
Find your rythm of change and leverage it for your self-improvement gains. Ultimately it is your choice.
