Self improvement is a journey that anyone who wants to excel in life must take. It does not matter in what area you want to excel and progress, whether it be in your business, in your work, in your studies, in your marriage or in your spirituality.
All aspects of our lives can only truly improve if we take responsibility for their improvement. The greatest area of such improvement that will impact all other areas of our lives, is improving ourselves.
This can be at several levels:
Improving your KNOWLEDGE
Improving your SKILLS
But is it clear from this that even improving your skills first requires improving your knowledge. Therefore we can conclude that all self improvement begins with self growth in the area of our knowledge.
"Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions." -Oliver Wendell Holmes, US author & physician (1809 - 1894)
The mind is the thing that we must stretch in order to broaden our reality and capabilities. Without a stretched and open mind that is receptive to new ideas and information, self growth is impossibility. But with such openness and receptivity to new ideas comes great responsibility. This is because not every idea or theory is correct. Some things are wrong and some things are dangerous and can be destructive.
Therefore, we must use our judgement and discernment in deciding what ideas to accept and what ideas to reject. Accepting correct ideas and information will lead to success. Accepting wrong ideas and information can lead to failure and frustration.
Here also the circle is completed, because having such judgment and discernment requires that we first have the right knowledge by which to make such judgement and choices. So again, knowledge comes out on top.
You need to have the right knowledge in order to navigate the unpredictable terrain of life.