Do you remember that line from T.S. Elliott: "April is the cruelest month"? The poet
commented that the springtime mixes memory and desire. After a long cozy winter indoors, April is an awakening, a challenge to get off our proverbial lazy tushes and create something.
If you're contemplating a self-improvement project of any sort, you can probably relate well to this tug-of-war between your old self and the effort it will take to become someone new. It's as if we need our own personal April to tease us into action.
We want to be better, but so much interferes with our convictions. We need something beautiful, like spring's blossoms, to motivate us to begin.
If you want to improve, you'll need inspiration. It's essential that you have a sparkling clear image of what the improved You will look like.
You can use your journal to make a blueprint or the long list of specifications that describe where you're going, embellishing it to become a brilliant image of tomorrow that will inspire your todays.
So you might start with an actual picture – one you draw or paste in; or it may be a written description or list. Maybe you scribble and doodle for days before you know how to shape your goal; or maybe your vision takes just a few minutes to flesh out. However it happens, the picture must be as complete as you can possibly make it; and, most importantly, you must Love it. Yes, Love with a capital L. Love it up and down and inside out with all your heart.
Next, you allow the image of the self-improved You to influence your thoughts. Using its inspiration, you begin the work of attaining your goal. Keep notes in your journal.
As regularly as you wish, return to the vision page(s) in your journal and add more details or just look it over again. The more you can explore your dream, the more you know and love it, the closer you will come to achieving it.
It's not easy to fall so deeply in love, especially with an idea. Many people are jaded by disappointments, and have forgotten how to love other people, much less themselves. But here's the cool thing: you can get better at falling in love the more you do it!
So try setting small goals, at first. If you want to lose weight, for instance, don't start with the goal of 30 pounds gone by next month. You haven't built up enough love for that big an accomplishment yet! Instead, try setting the goal of skipping your afternoon ice cream snack. Spend all the time you need to create the vision of the new You, who will be someone who munches raisins for a late-day pick-me-up. What are all the details of that picture? Add to them until you realize you want that vision with the longing of a lover. Now create it, with ease.
How have you been able to energize for self-improvement? Your experiences may be a big help to others, so please comment!
Need some inspiration? Here are 143 Journal Prompts free just for You.
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