Good habits for personal development

We are creatures of habit. Everyone has them. Some of them you acquire by emulating your peers or parents, others simply just develop.

They can be categorised into two groups: good and bad habits. Generally speaking, most people have more bad habits than useful ones. It is all a mind game, but fear not. With discipline and practise you can develop new ones and replace the ones that hold you back.

With that said, let me give you a list of habits that I consider very fortunate to have:

1. Reading
Reading is not only fun but it expands your views and your vocabulary. Make sure you read a wide variety of books, not just fictions or novels. Aim for two books a month, at least. The more you read, the better.
I personally like to read on public transport, it helps me pass the time with something useful.

2. Keeping journals
I find it helps a great deal to keep a notepad and a pen on me at all times. I just write down my thoughts and ideas when they come to me. The more you write the easier it gets and before you know it, your journals will be your most important resources.

3. Reflecting
Take time to think about what has happened. It is always a good idea to go over things once more, just to make them stick better. Often you notice some things you have missed the first time.
I try to take 10 minutes in bed before I fall asleep to think my day through: who I've met, what I've done. You should probably do the same thing at the end of the week, and at the end of the months. It helps you remember better.

4. Listening
I know I have been guilty of not focusing enough. I found myself in the situation of meeting someone new and I focused so much on saying my name first, often I did not even remember theirs. Take your time, let them speak, listen to what they say. When you are introduced to someone, say their name right back. Everyone likes a good listener.

5. Goal setting
You did not really think I would leave this one out, did you? It is one of the best habits to have. If you get good at it, you will soon see your life change around you.

How to set goals

Today I will teach you how I go about settting personal goals.

As the very first step of the process, we have to realise where we are currently and what direction we want to take.
It is a good idea to take some time for yourself where nothing and nobody will distract you. I like to go to the nature when I can, but a quiet room will do just as well. I take a notepad and a pen with me and write down anything that comes to mind. It helps you remember things and it is interesting to read back your old journals.

I get into a daydreaming state where I fantasise about my future. There are no limits here, it is your life and you are the star of the show. Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise.

I try to be as honest with myself as possible and answer simple questions. Like what things I enjoy, what I am good at, what matters to me. They often lead to realisations and good ideas.

Once I have a vision in front of me, I compare the dream state to my current state. How are my circumstances different, how am I different from my current self. I try to take it into smaller portions to make it more manageable.

Depending on your goal, they might be bigger or smaller things. It is important to set your goals properly. You should not expect too much from yourself and risk getting frustrated with it, but you should also not set your sight too low. Try to shoot for things that make you to push yourself a bit.

Set a few easier goals and give yourself a reasonable time frame. Then set a few mid-term goals, that take longer to achieve. And lastly set a long-term goal.

To give you an example:
Short term:
- I will drink one less cup of coffee every day for the week
Mid-term:
- I will practise Photoshop an hour a day for a month
Long-term:
- I will save up X amount of money, for Y by the end of the year.

As you can see, it's important to start small but see the bigger picture as well. The idea is to develop good habits and improve yourself in small bits. As they become your second nature, you can add more. They will help you get closer to your long time goals.
Having a time-frame is crucial. It will help you track your progress and give you a bit of a push as the dateline gets closer.

To wrap things up, here are the steps in order:

1. Record where you are
2. Visualise where you want to be
3. See what steps you have to take
4. Set short, mid- and long-term goals
5. Work towards achieving your goals

I hope I provided you with something useful.

Good luck with your goals and don't forget to reward yourself for major milestones!

The importance of goal setting (for personal development)

I don't know about you but I always disliked studying. Don't get me wrong, I was a pretty good student but that never came from sitting over books and getting everything in my head. Mostly I just listened during class and if the topic was of interest to me, it stuck.

If something is forced, it usually does not lead to good thing. So it is important to deal with things that are relevant to our wishes and interests.
Everyone is different and it is up to you to find what works for you, with trial and error.

I am not going to go into various learning techniques, but generally it's a good idea to do small amounts of intense work rather than longer sessions. You should also reward yourself if you reach certain milestones.

How do we know when we hit those milestone, though? This is were goal setting comes in the picture. In a previous post I have briefly mentioned setting goals as a useful way to motivate and monitor our progress.
Setting goals gives you a clearer picture of where you want to be within a period of time. Not only that, but it is a natural way of boosting your confidence. When you see that you are making progress, you will feel better about it and makes you want to do more. It is a very rewarding habit that I think everyone should practise.

A word of warning: You may easily find yourself daydreaming about your future and goals. There is nothing wrong with that, as long as you focus on actually doing something to make it a reality afterwards.

Setting personal development goals is one of the better tools in a person's arsenal and works quite well when used properly. You may think it is obvious, but surprisingly a lot of people do not have an idea of where they life is going. Many of them just go with the flow.

In a follow up post, I will give you guidance on how to properly set goals to get you motivated.

Hungary – The Heart of Europe

A new guest post about my beautiful home country.

Hungary is a fairly small country located in Central-Eastern Europe. Due to it’s location it has a number of natural resources that makes it the perfect destination for travellers who enjoy the outdoors or a bit of getting in touch with nature as opposed to the urban jungle that makes up many places where things are just a networked series of grids and paved highways. One of my favourite things about my home country are the natural thermal waters. Hungary has over a 1,000 of them. The Romans, no strangers to the good life, were the first to take advantage of this naturally occurring phenomenon, but Budapest also offers some of the finest examples of the “Turkish Bath” found anywhere, with public baths scattered throughout the city

Read the rest of it on Marginal Boundaries.

Transportation in London

I just published an article on Marginal Boundaries about the transportation options in London.

London is a huge metropolis. The streets are all alike, the underground is a big maze. It is easy to get lost here. I can’t tell how many times I have found myself walking down a street, not knowing where I am only to find a building or fence that I thought I have seen before. I could not have been more wrong. 

When you arrive to the city, I strongly suggest you pick up a copy of London A-Z, it has all the underground lines and all the streets and districts (boroughs) listed in a clear and concise manner. It is a tremendous help. The book is not expensive and it will save you a lot of time. 

There are a few options to chose from when it comes to moving around the city. An obvious one would be public transportation. Let me warn you though, public transport in London is expensive. The city is divided up to zones; the more zones you cross in any one journey the more expensive the fare will be. This is not true for buses, as they have a fixed fare no matter how many stops you take.

You can read the rest of this entry on the Marginal Boundaries website.

The basics of your success

Everyone wants to be successful, yet only a handful manage. Why do you think that is? Are they more intelligent, do they have more money or are they just simply lucky?
Perhaps they are, but let me tell you a secret. Success has nothing to do with those things. Sure it helps if you got them, but what really matters is your mindset.

Simply put successful people think differently than the rest. They have good habits and the discipline to stick with them. It takes effort to get there but the good news is, anyone can get there. I have seen people who had businesses that provided them with a good income, and they were not extraordinary.

Often I hear people say: 'I could do better than that, they are doing this wrong.'. So why don't you? Who is there to stop you? That's what separates them from the others. They did not just talk about it, they acted on it. Believe me, most ideas can be made profitable, if only you had the discipline to make them more than just fantasies.

So it all comes down to you. If you want your life to be different, you need to change your habits first. Once you have changed yourself, the rest will follow.

How many people do you know that have bad habits? Perhaps you don't even have to go far to see it, they may be your friends, family members, or even yourself. I know I am guilty of a few, but I am constantly working on them. Trying to find ways to get better.
Small things, but if you do enough small things they will contribute a great deal to your quality of life. Get just a bit more healthier, just a bit more well read, learn just a simple new skill.

In time you will have completely changed yourself. And the best thing about it? It is super addictive. Once you start improving yourself, you will want to see how far you can go. Next thing you know, you are one of the successful and people are asking you what did you do to get there.

It is so simple, yet most of us are too lazy to do anything about it. It is not our fault, we are conditioned to be this way. In this day and age everything is just a press of a button. We came to believe that we deserve everything, it is our right. The sooner you wake up from this dream, the better off you will be.

It is important to know if you are making any progress. Not only will you see how far you've gone but it's also a powerful motivational tool. You need to stay motivated. It does not matter how, as long as it works. We are all different and what works for some, might not works for others.
This is where goals come into the picture. Set reasonable goals to achieve and give yourself a time frame to make them happen.

To recap on things:

1. Realise the things you do to set yourself back
2. Come up with small things that move you the right direction
3. Keep doing them until they become a habit
4. Set realistic goals to achieve
5. Find ways to stay motivated

Hello and welcome to my blog!

I invite you to follow me on my journey of personal development.
It is one part a journal for me to record my experiences and one part a collection of resources. Expect to find a lot of useful articles and tutorials on travelling, IT, design, self-development and more.
I hope you will find it interesting and perhaps pick up a few skills on the way.