Brent P. Newhall's Blog
Self-improvement – Nov 2008

26 Nov 08 – What To Do When You Don't Feel Like Improving Yourself

I write a lot about self-improvement, and the importance thereof.

So, what do you do when you just have no energy for self-improvement? When you just don't feel like improving?

Take a break.

Really. Stop working at it for a while. Watch some movies, read a few books, and just relax.

Don't rest forever, of course. But I believe that a properly balanced person will instinctively know when it's time to start improving again.

Breathe.

Posted in Self-improvement - Permalink - comments

10 Nov 08 – Benjamin Franklin's Self-Improvement System

[IMAGE]

Just finished reading Frank Bettger's excellent book How I Raised Myself From Failure to Success in Selling. Bettger was a friend of Andrew Carnegie, who encouraged him to write this book after hearing Bettger's life story (a former baseball player who applied himself to self-improvement as a salesman until he became incredibly successful).

Besides explaining the principles and ideals that he began to follow, Bettger describes following Benjamin Franklin's self-improvement plan. When Franklin was still a poor baker, he decided to improve himself by writing down 13 "subjects," or aspects of his personality that he wanted to improve:

Franklin then focused on one subject each week. He'd reflect on it, observe its use, and try to live it out over the course of the week. After the 13th week, he'd return to the first, thus covering all 13 subjects 4 times each year.

Bettger chose six of the same subjects, and added seven of his own. He writes, "At the end of one year, I had completed four courses. I found myself doing things naturally, and unconciously, that I wouldn't have attempted a year before. Although I fell far short of mastering any of these principles, I found this simple plan a truly magic formula....Remember Franklin was a scientist. This plan is scientific. Reject it, and you reject one of the most practical ideas ever offered you." (emphasis mine)

I've decided to follow suit. I've been collecting "subjects," and while I only have 10 at the moment, I'm sure I'll find another 3 in the coming weeks. Here's my list:

I'm planning to write up an index card for each subject, with inspirational quotes and such, to carry with me and pull out at odd moments.

Wish me luck!

Posted in Self-improvement - Permalink - comments

3 Nov 08 – Why I Host a Halloween Party Every Year

[IMAGE]

I want to explain just why I host a Halloween party.

I mean, I do love Halloween. It's my favorite holiday. It's one of the few times in the year when fantasy and a belief in unexplained phenomena are socially accepted. It's a time when we can all believe that the world contains at least a few things that science can't completely explain.

But I don't love parties. Oh, I enjoy myself at them, but I've always been a shy person. Social interaction requires an effort for me. It's much less of an effort than it used to be, but I still groan inwardly when I imagine going to a party.

Nevertheless, the longer I live, the more I realize that we live in a social world. Our relationships matter, not just in a deep spiritual sense, but also in a hard-nosed practical sense (how many people do you know who got their jobs because a friend recommended them?). Our connections with others not only net us valuable friends and business associates; it satisfies a deep inner need to be heard and be important to other people.

So, every year, I host a Halloween party with as many of my friends as I can invite. It grows every year, and I get better at hosting parties each time I do it.

I also grow closer to friends that I rarely get a chance to talk to, and they get to talk to some of my other friends.

It's a win-win-win. Always well worth it.

Have you thought about hosting a party for a few friends? Something informal, just a chance to get together and chat. Please reply with your experience. Hasn't it always been worth it?

Posted in Self-improvement - Permalink - comments