Self-improvement or Self-Acceptance

Image Credit - Living in Bliss

“No amount of self-improvement can make up for any lack of self-acceptance.” ~ Robert Holden

There is a great deal of self-improvement literature out there.  Walk in to any book store and you can find an entire section of the store on it.  Search "self-improvement" in "books" on Amazon.com and it reveals 64,566 results (self-acceptance has a paltry 26,801 by comparison).    The basic premise of self-improvement is to focus on your strengths and build them up or freeing yourself from negative habits.  The folks that have written these books have done so with the best of intentions and I do not mean to devalue their work, but they have missed a critical piece of the equation.  How can you start to improve yourself, if you do not know who you are at your core.  Think of it this way, if you decide to renovate a building, but you never look at the substructure of the building to identify the strengths and flaws in the foundation of the building, you have made the building look prettier, but you have not improved its structural integrity...it may still fall down...maybe not immediately, but far sooner than if you had taken the time to improve the foundation.

This is the heart of Holden's quote.  Self-improvement is futile if you do not take the steps to Cheerfully Accept who you are first.  In order for self-improvement to be truly effective, we need to have a complete understanding, a oneness with who we are.  When we accept who we are. we have built a strong foundation with which to make the necessary improvements to our life's structure.

Take 5 minutes today to look deep at who you are.  If you are truly interested in improving yourself, what parts of you do you need to Cheerfully Accept to move forward?  Have a GREAT day!