What does it mean to work on yourself?

Well, I’m here to tell you it's actual effort! Some people have it quite confused... working on yourself does not mean burying yourself in your workout routine for physical change or drowning yourself in a job or the money chase or getting more involved in things outside yourself! It’s a journey within, actually enriching your mind, your body, and your soul. Do you have more than 6 hours DAILY dedicated to the betterment of your mental and physical well-being?

Just to give you an idea, here is a rough breakdown of my daily routine. This is outside of working a job or nurturing a relationship with family or friends outside of myself.

• 2 hours a day in meditation where I try to quiet my mind, thinking about absolutely NOTHING.

• At least 1 hour a day of journaling and reflecting on my thoughts, actions, and events within my day.

• At least 1-2 hours a day educating myself to broaden my own horizon, become more versatile, and understand myself and the world around me.

• At least 1-2 hours a day doing an action that improves my physical well-being: making my body stronger, gaining endurance, flexibility, or simply moving more efficiently.

• At least 1 hour seeking counsel from someone I can confide in, engaging in intentional communication with a goal of gaining insight into myself or hearing the perspective of someone (I recommend this person be a professional, such as a Therapist, or someone very close).

• At least 1 hour a day in practice (putting to action) whatever new insight I gained about myself in any of the above tasks.

And this is just the start of very specific work that I do, and I truly believe everybody should be doing on a daily basis! If you are not doing this… you are NOT working on yourself… you are merely wishing you were better. No, you don’t need to spend 8-10 hours working on yourself, but you do need to recognize that WORK means WORK… you don't coast to betterment the way fairy tales or storybooks have us believing. You don’t magically improve. You must put the work in and punch the clock of self-improvement day in and day out.