Self-Development vs Self-Improvement vs Self-Education

I started out my PolyInnovator journey actually with 🎓 Self-Education. As the life I had, was not the life I wanted, and I knew I didn't want to pursue an official degree from university.

Then what do you do? Well you do what anyone would do right, that you build your OWN diy degree. Not to mention self-education Modular Degree framework! haha

Prior to that I had spent a ton of time working on my Self-Development. Really aiming towards learning new skills, practicing Spanish, exercise, habits, and systems. I think throughout the whole process however, in my adult life, that I've slowly been working on Self-Improvement as well.

They aren't simply 1, 2, 3, and they aren't necessarily all at once either. Sometimes its both, sometimes they are linear, and sometimes you need to just focus on one of them. That is what I wanted to discuss today.

Let's Talk Holistically - Self-EduDevMent

In my visualization I think Self-Education acts as the foundation for all that comes after. This is because if you are to improve your life, let alone develop it further. You first need to learn what the skill you are trying to use as that spark of change even does. Let alone how it works. Prime example being Exercise.

You first learn what the skill is, why we do it, and then how. Not always in that order.

From there you work on your consistency factor, which is the continuous progression model. You want to aim for 1% better every time, every day, and that is what leads you towards leveling up in the first place.

Finally, there will be times where you might take a more strategic approach. Perhaps even a more dramatic or extreme approach, to expedite the results. Generally this would be done with a professional, like personal trainer or nutritionist, doctor, etc. This is the Self-Development phase, the exponentiality, as it compounds on the first two.

Together or Separate?

Each one can happen individually, but they work best when compounding. Perhaps it is simpler to do them linearly, so that they then compound.

Although I could see situations being where you focus on the Self-Development first. Really not needing to learn, as you have the trainer keeping track of the details. Just telling you what you need to know in the moment, they may even be taking care of your diet too. You are simply following it.

Conversely, my situation with my diy Modular Degree. I rather postponed development and improvement. To focus purely on information acquisition.

Other people may not have the literal time in the day or week to learn, and they don't have the energy to spend on exponential changes. Thus the only thing they can possibly do in that time frame... is simply improve.

Using prior knowledge learned, like "walking is good for you", they then add a consistent daily habit to walk.

Self-Education

I'm not going to spend much time on the Modular Degree, as there are plenty of posts on this site about that. Rather I want to focus on the act of being a self-learner or autodidact.

When you become curious about something, then it is only natural for you to want to learn about it. It only takes about 20 hours to get good any field, to understand a basic level of that skill. From there the plateaus start to form, and you have to push through them.

This is where consistent daily training can often help too, so that you push more times though the challenges.

Self-Improvement

I'm talking and thinking "Daily", but in actuality you need to focus on more than that. It is too: Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Yearly, etc.

Each part of the scale is important, especially on how you plan your habits. Scheduling them week to week, before you push yourself on the daily, and then seeing the results Quarterly even more so.

The scalable structure that is improvement, is like a step ladder. You can skip a step, and climb two steps at a time. However is it worth it?

Self-Development

Speaking of skipping steps! If you want to jump to the next level, or the one after even. Then you have to have some sort of major boost in your overall progression.

Hence why getting a coach or some sort of trainer will help a lot here. Although there are ways of doing it yourself too. This is usually however those who have been doing the basics for a long time, think like a decade. Thus they have tried out various strategies. Then they themselves put together a new strategy, with bits and pieces from all the ones that worked.

This is how actors get into shape quickly for a role, they get the most optimized meal plan, exercise routine, supplementation, and everything right away. You can make that for yourself too, it just takes expertise (education) and practice (improvement).

The End Results is the Focus

I don't care if you anchor to one of these, and that is what motivates you. Just as long as you're doing something.

I often take the Self-Improvement philosophy to my own life. Where I constantly am thinking, how do I make 1% progress in this, and when I have clients or classes that I taught. That was the only thing I ever cared about, which was if they were making that 1% progress themselves too.

Each part is important, and you should cultivate all three.