Self-Improvement Archives

Emotional Self-Awareness: Definition, Benefits, Tactics

Can you improve your emotional intelligence? According to Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves, authors of Emotional Intelligence 2.0, the answer is yes—and the foundation starts with emotional self-awareness, your ability to recognize your emotions as they happen and understand your patterns over time. Bradberry and Greaves argue that self-awareness is a skill anyone can develop, but research shows that people experience and express emotional awareness differently. Here’s why you need it and 15 tactics to help you develop it.

The Focusing Question: Your ONE Thing for Uncommon Success

The Focusing Question is a powerful productivity tool from Gary Keller’s book The ONE Thing that helps you identify the single most important action you can take to achieve your goals. By asking “What’s the one thing I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?”, you cut through distractions and focus on what truly matters. Continue reading to learn how to ask the Focusing Question effectively, find powerful answers at different time scales, and make it a daily success habit that improves how you work and live.

Emotional Self-Management: 16 Tips to Develop It

Ever said something in a heated moment and regretted it after? Emotional self-management is your ability to create space between feeling an emotion and acting on it. According to Bradberry and Greaves in Emotional Intelligence 2.0, this doesn’t mean suppressing what you feel. It means channeling those emotions productively so you stay in control of your behavior.

How to Build Willpower: Treat It Like a Battery

An orange AA battery on its side illustrates how to build willpower by treating it like a battery that drains and charges

Many people operate under the belief that willpower is an unlimited resource—a well of strength we can dip into whenever we need to push through a challenge. However, in The ONE Thing, Gary Keller explains that this is a dangerous misconception. The truth is that willpower is a finite energy source that depletes as the day goes on. Understanding this “battery” model of self-control is the first step in learning how to build willpower that actually lasts. Keep reading to learn how to stop blaming a lack of character and start managing your energy more strategically by recognizing that your

Emotional Intelligence & Self-Awareness: The Basics

Ever notice how hunger makes you snappy, or how certain people instantly put you on edge? That’s self-awareness in action—your ability to recognize emotions as they happen and understand your behavioral patterns over time. In Emotional Intelligence 2.0, Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves argue that this recognition forms the foundation of emotional intelligence, because you can’t manage an emotion you haven’t noticed. Keep reading to learn more about self-awareness and tactics for developing it.

Apply Discipline Strategically to Achieve Success

A man holding a checklist in a gym illustrates the importance of applying discipline

Many people fail to reach their goals because they believe success requires a superhuman, never-ending level of willpower. In reality, the secret isn’t being a naturally disciplined person; it’s learning how to apply discipline strategically to the right habits. By using the focusing question to identify the one behavior that makes everything else easier or unnecessary, you can move away from the myth of the “disciplined life” and toward a system of automatic success. Read on to discover why discipline is a short-term tool rather than a long-term personality trait and learn how to build sequential success one habit at

Badass Habits by Jen Sincero: Book Overviews & Takeaways

A woman flexing her bicep while looking in the mirror because she has good habits

Struggling to stick with new habits? The problem isn’t your willpower—it’s that you’re focused on doing instead of being. In Badass Habits, self-help expert Jen Sincero argues that lasting change comes from shifting your identity first, then letting your habits naturally follow from who you’ve become. Sincero, a life coach and bestselling author of the You Are a Badass series, offers a refreshingly irreverent take on habit formation that flips traditional advice on its head. This guide explores her identity-first approach to building better habits, walks through practical strategies for reshaping your environment and routines, and examines the psychological tools

The Fourth Agreement: Always Do Your Best (Don Miguel Ruiz)

The fourth agreement is also a simple concept, but it will allow the other three agreements to become more deeply ingrained and effective. After all, the first three agreements can truly work only if you do your best.

Doing your best frees you from guilt and shame. You feel great about yourself when you’ve given your best effort.

Focus on One Thing: How to Build a Legacy of Accomplishment

A woman holding up a hand with "FOCUS" on it illustrates how impactful it is when you focus on one thing

In today’s hyper-connected world, multitasking is often mistaken for productivity, yet true success comes from a much narrower path. Based on the principles of Gary Keller’s The ONE Thing, extraordinary results are not the byproduct of doing more, but of doing the right things in the right order. When you align your daily actions with your long-term goals, you create a powerful “domino effect” where each small win fuels a massive, geometric progression toward your ultimate vision. To achieve these life-changing breakthroughs, you must learn to ignore the distractions and focus on one thing at a time. This sequential approach

The Third Agreement: Don’t Make Assumptions

Making assumptions is dangerous because we often have no idea what is really going on in a situation. We fill in the blanks in our minds without enough information, and then we’re pretty convinced we know what’s going on. Spoiler alert: We don’t. We’re prone to mistaken beliefs, and acting on these mistakes will cause more trouble.

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