by Katherine Miller

Created on: April 20, 2009

Self Management is a tool that anyone can embrace. It defines who you are and how you can take charge of your own set of circumstances. It does not cost anything, it is relevant to every individual and it can be utilized with the simplest of associations. It cannot be taught as it is as relevant as developing your own daily routine, and this is why it is called self management.

The key to success of Self Management is to take charge of what you believe in, set key examples to yourself in all areas of your life. So many of us are constantly waiting for the prime time to take charge, we procrastinate over dieting, exercise, the right job, meeting the right person, joining a club, buying a house, selling a house, buying a dog and so on, that we forget to live our lives and enjoy what we have here and now. It is these times that we need to understand how to self manage our lives to reap the benefits of living our lives to the fullest with what we have at our disposal.

Too many of us are so ready to change our lives without taking the time to manage our lifestyles that we miss what self management is really about.

A common example is, every day you hear about a new diet or exercise fad, but dieting and excersing are only as good as your will to succeed. If you do not take the time to understand why you need to diet and exercise, apart from wanting to get thin, then the likely hood that you will regain the weight is much greater as you didn't really understand the reason why you gained weight and needed to diet in the first place, if the reason is not for you, then no other reason will be good enough.

A tip to self management is to start with the why's rather than the final solution you want. If you start with a solution then you will not establish basic goals for yourself, and these goals are what you need to achieve your solution. It sounds simple enough but it is never simple to create change. Self Management means creating some guidelines that you can live by and that will make a difference to you!

It is important to encourage self management in your children, peers and employees. It strengthens their self esteem, their involvement and their performance, and you may be surprised how it strengthens you.

One quick and effective step you can take to self management is to simply buy yourself a small notepad that you can keep in your pocket or in your purse. Every time you think of an idea, or something pops in your head that you think wow that seems like a good idea or I'm going to forget that, then write it down in your notepad. If nothing else, when you take a look at your notes later in the day, night or week, you may be surprised by what you wrote, then ask yourself why you wrote it. Maybe it is something like, I need to put air in the tires of the car, this may be something you never take care of because you constantly forget these kind of chores, and your always waiting for say your husband to take care of them, won't he be surprised if you took care of it, and more importantly won't you surprise yourself and feel empowered.

Go ahead take charge today. Self Management is Key.

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