Five Ways I Improved Myself During The Pandemic

This past year has been a tough one for all of us. It is something that we have never seen before and were clearly not prepared for. Everything we knew to be normal ceased to exist and we had to adjust accordingly. Plans had to be cancelled and our lives as a whole had to be adjusted. This can kind of change can cause people to go one of two ways. You can sit around and wait for it to get better . Or you you can use this time to improve yourself and be better when things turn back to normal. I chose to improve myself and I am going to tell you five ways that you can do the same. Just choosing to do one can have a positive, lasting impact on your life.

1. I learned new things. The great part about this is that it can be done in a variety of ways. Obviously you can start off by reading more. Books, articles, manuals, magazines are just a few of the things that you can read. I have always been a reader, so I just read more books. If reading isn’t your thing, try podcasts and anything on YouTube. There is accessible information about everything and anything on the internet. Just find what you are looking for and listen away. Take a free online course. Websites like www.edx.org offer free courses on a multitude of subjects. You can go at your pace and learn just about anything. All of these options are available with just some time and an internet connection.
2. I started thinking differently. This has had a great impact on my life and still does. Since I had a little extra time to think, I might as well use it to change the way I think and improve my thoughts. This process started about five years ago after reading the book Think and Grow Rich but I just got more into it during the pandemic. I realized that just by my thinking alone, I was holding myself back from getting the outcomes that I desired. I realized that anything is possible but I had to put in the work and that sacrifices had to be made.
3. I became a better listener. In the words of best selling author Stephen Covey, “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” This was something I always practiced but I took to the next level during the pandemic. Since socially I was cut off from people, I had to make every interaction count. I wanted to make that with every conversation, I got some joy out of each one. So in order to do that, I had to be a better listener. I also had to remember that others were going through the same thing and sometimes they just needed…