Three Things You Need to Do to Improve Yourself

1. Experiment and make mistakes

Especially before you graduate and start getting paid in money.  Take the opportunity to fail often, so that you can succeed more. Michael Jordan said, "I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

2. Challenge yourself

If you don't challenge yourself, you aren't learning and growing.  One way to challenge yourself is to look at the work of someone you admire, and imitate it.  Do this with several people.  In music, the more variety of music you listen to and create the more well-rounded your voice gets.  Or you can at least pick and choose what you like and don't like.  It's the same with whatever else you want to do.

3. Love what you do

If you don't love what you do, improve something else.  If you're stuck in a dead end job, do something you love on the side.  Preferably something that gives you fulfillment.

Reality is What You Make of It

Depend on the Lord

But He That Doeth the Will...

Trusting in the Lord

Recently I received a prompting to not go back to school this semester, to stay home and take classes online.  I wasn't sure how it was going to work out, but I knew it was what I was meant to be doing.  I took some risks.  I made my decision and would not be able to turn back.  I sold my housing contract.  Recently I've seen dividends.  While planning my classes I found that not only would I not be behind, but I would be ahead! It would also be cheaper.  There are several other things that are beneficial.  This experience has strengthened my testimony of the Lord and that He knows best.

I got the picture from here.

Goals

I wasn't perfect, but I feel like I did significantly better.  I've been making scripture study a bigger part of my life and I've found scriptures come into my head more.  The scripture that came into my mind is Alma 48:17 It's about captain Moroni, how if every man was like him, Hell would be closed.  I want to be like that, so I figured I ought to study him, his life, his choices and his character.  I was also thinking about the scriptures where it says that God "giveth liberally" to those who ask.  that has a lot of implications to me.  I have to figure out what it is that I need to ask for.  More importantly however, I need to "pray in faith"  I've been thinking about faith and what that means for me.  Faith is an action (not an inaction). Which means I need to do something.  I figured out the things that would really help.  (Also I was thinking that personal progress really worked for me so I wanted to create goals that mirrored the program)1. being geneology and indexing because the general authorities in the last conference said it strengthens and protects us against temptation (10 hour project). then there were some other ones that were less important.  I had an interesting discovery, I came to the "avoiding bad habit" part and realized that it wasn't an action, it wasn't something I could do.  I decided I needed to find a replacement activity.  I decided that When I get in the mindset that I end up in bad habits, it might be "easy" (with some practice) to divert this mindset into a good channel by writing letters.  

Back to the "giveth liberally." It gave me a different picture of Heavenly Father.  As if he is just waiting to give me these blessings and he's not going to skimp on them either.  He is generous in his gifts. This is a huge perspective change for me.

I figured all this out by reading and keeping a journal.

loved this quote