By Pat Meehan

Each person has many opportunities for self-improvement that fall in line with his/her self –awareness, or “realized, developed skills.” The recipe for effective self-improvement is as follows: “A person’s developed skills must be realized through becoming accountable to himself/herself, which leads that person to self-awareness. Once self-awareness is ingrained in habit, the search for self-improvement becomes an ever evolving natural course.”

Here are a number of examples of how people become self-improved:

1. The General Ledger Accountant has defined her Bachelors Degree in Accounting as one of the specific requirements she already has in her current job. Through accountability, and by evaluating the skills that she has already developed in her job thus far, she has devised a plan for self improvement to start working towards pursuing a CPA (Certified Public Accountant), CMA (Certified Management Accountant), or MBA (Masters of Business Administration). By evaluating where she wants to go from here in her career, and through discussions with her boss and other mentors, she will collect the necessary information needed to choose which one of these certifications fits best in her chosen career direction.

2. The Manufacturing Shift Supervisor has completed one year of college. By evaluating his current skill level, and his drive to move upward, he will choose to start taking classes to complete his Associates Degree. He has also volunteered to co-facilitate some up-coming training classes that his company will be sponsoring. This requires his accountability to learn the material well, and then, to teach it to others. He improves himself by helping others improve.

3. An hourly Warehouse Associate wants to add to his present list of skills and signs up to take a course to become a Certified Fork Lift Driver. This may later lead him to become an instructor in the fork lift certification program. Success is a result of a person’s sense of direction, which comes from self-awareness.

4. A grocery store Cashier takes a course to get a management certificate and becomes the Assistant Customer Service Manager, along with continued cashiering. By doing this, she has improved herself and is being noticed, and she will be ready for other advancements, especially as she continues her self-improvement activities.

5. An unemployed Engineer takes free classes offered by the Employment Office in his county, and he learns a great deal on how to market himself more effectively in his job search. Taking on this self-improvement activity will help him land more job interviews, and to become a better interviewer because of his accountability to self-improve.

6. A Distribution Center Associate has just realized the value of being accountable and has taken a new employee under his wing to mentor that employee. This is an extremely powerful action! The process of realizing self-worth and self-awareness, and wanting it for others, and giving it to others through mentorship, is called LEADERSHIP.

So, what are you waiting for?