The importance of self-projects

 So I’ve already talked about my take on self-care. One thing (I think) I mentioned was having something you do for yourself. A self-project. For me, one of my projects this year was this blog! And I’m here, I have it, I finally made a blog! I have so many other self-projects in my head that I also would like to get started on sometime in the near future after I get this blog really going. Today I wanted to talk a little bit about what I mean by a self-project and why I think they are so important to have. 

We all (hopefully) have goals in life, and those usually fall into one of these categories; career, relationships, financial, or personal. Maybe your goal is to finish your degree to get the career you want, or you want to save up enough money for a down payment on a house, maybe you want to move in with your partner. Those examples cover the first 3 categories, but what about personal goals? 

See, from my observations and experiences, we all have personal goals. We talk about them all the time. We want to start working out more, we want to travel, read more, etc. They usually include things that will better ourselves or make us happy. What most of us don't do though, is act on these goals. Mainly due to the fact that we prioritize one or all of the other three categories. 

See, the thing with personal goals is that they help us discover who we are as a person. They help us to discover our strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes. They are so much more than say, chasing a promotion or buying a new car. I've noticed throughout my life that I am at my lowest mentally and emotionally when I am not working towards a personal goal, or when I don't have a self-project I'm currently working on. 


But what makes them so important and necessary? 

If you aren't working on something for your own personal enjoyment or benefit, then you probably aren't growing a lot as a person. Personal growth is so important for our happiness. I read an article a while ago that happiness peaks at an income of $75,000 a year. Any raise/promotion past that won't add to your happiness [1]. Working towards our goals, our personal desires, increases our happiness. It makes us feel accomplished and allows us to grow. We learn and become open to positive changes in our lives; embracing it [2].

When we aren't open to change or growth, we become defensive, stuck in the same routine, and we are left always wanting more. And that's why it's so important to always have something that you are personally working towards; self-improvement. 


How do you choose a self-project?

A self-project or a personal goal can mean many different things to different people. For some it might be a fitness or health goal such as growing muscle or hitting a new gym PR. For others it might be to finally work towards something they've always wanted to do, for example: starting a blog. Something you choose to do for you. Some of my personal goals right now are to grow this blog and write consistently, travel the world, and overcome my social anxiety to become more open to meeting new people and making friends. The world has so much to offer and I want to experience as much as I can. 

I recently watched a YouTube video by Life of Riza and her one mindset change was this; say yes now, figure it out later, trust yourself. This is exactly the mindset that I want to adopt. Being open to change and open to new experiences, saying yes to things I want and then figure out how to make it work [3].

So think of something that you really want to do or work towards. Write it down, make a list. Figure out how you can reach that goal and then start working towards it! Maybe you'll reach that goal and maybe you won't, maybe your goal will change along the way, but as long as you are working towards it, you'll feel the progress you are making. 


I know this was a little all over the place, so I hope you understood my point. I guess one of my personal goals should be to properly plan out and structure my blog posts before I start writing them... Nonetheless, I love writing posts like these. Not only will they hopefully help other people, but they tremendously help myself and my own mind. They allow me to get my thoughts out into words and talk myself through a problem I am having or have had. Like I mentioned earlier, I find that I am at my lowest when I am without a personal goal which I am working towards. I fell off of my self-improvement track for a while there, but now it's time for me to hop back on and continue to work towards my goals for me!


Happy self-improvement,

Mckenna <3


Sources:

1. Money and Happiness Study: https://www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10.1073/pnas.2208661120

2. Growth-Mindset Article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/chrismyers/2018/10/20/if-you-want-to-achieve-long-term-happiness-embrace-the-growth-mindset/?sh=5fbd3b4130d3

3. Life of Riza Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9m-PZM7SsI&ab_channel=LifeOfRiza


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