I’m yet to meet the person who achieves all their goals in life. The person who completes every entry on their to-do list every single day. The person who sticks to their word 100% of the time and does everything they say they’re going to do, when they say they’re going to do it.

I doubt I ever will meet that person. Do they exist? I doubt it.

Truth be told, life is hard. Ridiculously bloody hard. Especially in this day and age, when people seem to be facing more challenges than ever. And none of us are robots – the perfect human being doesn’t exist.

So, if someone you know is trying to improve themselves in any way, support them. Encourage them. Be a cheerleader for them and let them know you’ve got their back. The scope of self-improvement is huge, but do you know anyone who is trying to do any of the following?

• Get fitter and healthier.
• Stop a bad habit, whether that’s alcohol, eating unhealthy food, smoking, social media addiction, swearing or anything else you can think of.
• Trying to learn a new hobby. This could be anything – writing, learning to play a musical instrument, learning a language, painting, cooking, gardening, home improvement, crafting – the list is endless.
• Find a new job.
• Start a new business or a side-hustle.
• Change how they look.

The list could go on for pages. The important element of this is to look out for when a friend or family member might be trying something new and supporting them. It doesn’t matter if the steps to success are incredibly small, there are many of them, and it takes months or years rather than days or weeks for people to get to where they need to be. Just recognise this and support them every step of the way.

It’s also worth remembering that we never know what people are truly going through; what battles they’re facing on a daily basis and what factors may be preventing them from progressing. So, before we sneer and make snide comments, wouldn’t it be much better if we all stopped to think for a few seconds before casting judgement on others? If we all tried to show a little more empathy in day-to-day life?

There are far too many critics around these days, especially in the UK, where the more despicable elements of the media industry love to build people up from scratch then, once they’ve achieved some form of success, place them on a pedestal and hurl rocks at them until they crumble and fall. Don’t be one of those critics. Be that friend who others feel comfortable turning to and confiding in. Be that friend who is always a cheerleader, whether that’s subtly or shouting it from the rooftops. Be that friend who gives nothing but support and positive feedback.

The image this week is one of my absolute favourites which ties in nicely with this post.

As always, thanks for reading and take care.

Best wishes.

Mick