- Geekmaster
- 2020-06-28 11:42:24
- 10 minute(s)
Five Ways To Raise Your Standards
Standards are the behaviors you hold yourself to. As you raise your standards, your health, your work, your relationships, and your self-esteem improve.
Your life is a direct reflection of the standards you hold—both for yourself and for others.
WarningMore and more individuals from all walks of life are recognizing that they’ve adopted unhealthy behaviour patterns and they’re desperately searching for a way out.
Being poor is a mentality. It’s a choice to live a low standard of life.
Most people will find that their identity is based on a set of standards and a set of beliefs they created many years ago. In fact, many of us made decisions when we were kids about what we are capable, and who we are as a person, and that became the glass ceiling that controls us.
You have to demand excellence from yourself. Don’t be mediocre. Be world-class. Don’t settle for status-quo, be relentless.
ImportantStandards are the actions and behaviors we hold ourselves to. When we raise and honor high standards we feel very good about ourselves and it increases our ability to attract high quality people and opportunities.
The higher your standards, the better your life is.
If your life right now is less than you’d like it to be, it is most possible your standards are too low. Are you ready to raise your standards now?
Leave Your Comfort Zone
As human beings we love patterns, our brain loves patterns because we are creatures of habit. Many of these patterns are things we’ve done for a lifetime, and it’s hard but not impossible to change them.
When you raise your standards and turn “should” into “must,” you are making an inner shift to take control over the quality of your life.
When you have deep-seated behaviors that you want to change, interrupting or breaking the pattern needs to take place for you to grow and expand — to be that very best individual that you aspire to be.
A ‘pattern interrupt’ is a term and a technique you can use to change particular thoughts, behaviours and any kind of situations.
To change, the process itself is relatively simple. The difficult part is making a commitment. Once you can connect with your particular pattern, then you need to think about a way that you can replace it.
A ‘pattern interrupt’ takes patience and support, so it’s important to get your friends or family to help you out.
ImportantSuch a pattern involves you to be brave and committed because an interruption to your schedule can be an inconvenience, especially to that part of your brain whom is comfortable in doing those old patterns over and over again.
You can raise your standards at any time. Your standards are entirely up to you.
If you find it challenging, that’s normal especially if you have been doing this pattern for a very long time, it does require a bit of effort on your part to ‘let go’ and ‘accept’ that you can’t control every situation and outcomes all of the time.
You have the right to thrive. You weren’t put on the planet to just exist and scrape by. Determine your own destiny.
five ways to Raise Your Standards
Spring Clean Your Relationships
Meeting new people is great. But, if you’re not careful about people who you surround yourself with most of the time, you may get stuck in a mediocre or stereotypical thinking pattern.
Don’t lower your standards to fit in with other people. Find people who raise the bar and help you improve.
ImportantSurround yourself with people who accept you, respect you and inspire you to become better. These people will not be perfect but they should inspire you in one way or another.
Every person is different and has flaws. Learn to accept them if both of you help each other grow and are compatible with each other.
While your standards are personal to you, you may see behaviors in others that you admire and want to emulate. You may decide to adopt these as standards of your own.
People are so driven and distracted that they’ve often lost the awareness to be kind to others.
WarningThey might call themselves compassionate, but they are not kind. Kindness is compassion activated – you actually show you care through your actions. Raising your standard here will help you reach higher levels of happiness, service, and humanity.
Raising your relationship standards means connecting with each other by giving your full attention, love, and effort.
Are you willing to tolerate being late again? Procrastination? Letting your family down? Making changes in this area will have the greatest impact because all aspects of your life are influenced.
Your most important standards deal with your own conduct. Become a more effective person by raising your expectations of your behavior.
five ways to Raise Your Standards
Start Small, Think Big
Your standards determine the lower level of what’s acceptable to you. What’s the least you’re willing to accept in your life? What do you really want? You won’t sink below your standards, but you won’t rise too far above them either.
When your standards have been violated, you’ll get busy in a hurry to change your situation.
ImportantIf you raise the standard of your mindset, you will not be shattered by the failures or setbacks. You will see obstacles as an opportunity to learn and grow. You will get inspired instead of getting jealous.
Most people never recognize what they are capable of because they think too small and lack self-efficacy.
Let’s say you live in an apartment, and some things need repairs but you haven’t gotten around to asking your landlord and instead just got used to working around the broken items. Start there.
If you can advocate for better standards in small day-to-day functions, you can build momentum toward bigger, more impactful things.
If you decided that you were the best money-saver in the world, you would achieve your savings goal and your standards would raise. Now you identify yourself as an awesome saving machine instead of a person with the inability to save.
Distraction is stealing your life. Get more focused on what you desire in this hour, this day, this life.
Bring your awareness to this moment and what you want to be doing and experiencing now. That will help you be more conscious and more easily spot distractions.
Raising standards is about who you are at your core, or perhaps who you think you are at your core.
What is it that would make your life better? Start there; otherwise, your quest for quality will lose meaning and momentum fast.
Recognize when you’re living up to your new standards.
If you’re trying to save more money, make note of all the times you’re behaving congruently. You might buy less expensive food at the store, skip your morning latte, or carpool to work. Point out your progress to yourself and feel excited.
Daily small choices set the foundation for your standards. Stop reacting to temptations.
five ways to Raise Your Standards
Health Leads To Wealth
Improve your health and becoming happier and more energized and effective happens almost automatically. Clearly, an average person is a not a healthy person.
Have you ever said, “This is going to be the year I get in the best health of my life”? If not, this is the year to do it.
WarningGetting diagnosed with diseases has become a common thing. Raise your standards by eating healthy foods, training your body, sleeping well and relaxing on purpose.
See your new standard as a fundamental shift, rather than as a goal.
See yourself as the person that makes health a priority. This is much more powerful than having a goal of losing weight. When you change who you are, many of your results will change, too.
If you want to raise your wealth standards, learn to manage your finances.
ImportantYou can live a frugal life without being a miser by buying things, services or experiences that truly enhance your life. Avoid impulse shopping for yourself but don’t hesitate to spend money on the people you love.
Consider what could happen if you fail to live up to your new standards.
Keeping with the money-saving example, you might not be able to pay your bills on time or you might have to work at 65 instead of retiring. Make a list and understand the pain you face if you don’t stay on track.
Again, the only way to raise your standards is to have an internal breakthrough where you feel compelled to change, no matter what.
This feeling of total conviction coupled with a strong emotional desire behind your reasons for raising your standards will to make it impossible for you not to do so. You’ll know when that really happens because when it does, you can’t go back without losing a part of yourself in the process.
five ways to Raise Your Standards
Be Disciplined
Where you are in life right now is a direct reflection of how bold you’ve been up to this point. How boldly do you share yourself, your ideas, your needs and dreams with the world? How courageous have you been to fight after you’ve fallen down.
Demand of yourself to be more bold and you’ll feel more confident and influential over time.
ImportantSome degree of self-discipline is required in order to stay committed to your standard-raising pursuit. If you know you’re not the strongest at self-discipline, consider calling in some support.
You raise your standards every time when you —ignore the lizard brain, say no to distractions, delay gratification or choose voluntary discomfort.
The urge to open social media, check notification, eat unhealthy foods, skip workouts, buy unnecessary stuff, dwell on the past, or waste time will always be there. It is your duty to recognize them and kill them before they kill you.
Make your commitment huge and take full responsibility in raising your standards high enough so the “energy drainers” don’t reappear.
A strong mind and discipline are important, but since you’ll be learning about yourself throughout the process, be sure to show up with a willingness to adapt to new information.
Perhaps the dream you’ve been chasing isn’t actually what you want. Go with what feels right.
WarningYou’ll know when your new standards have taken hold because your behavior will change. If you’re still stuck, your standards haven’t changed enough.
You don’t have to give up all the pleasures in life.
You can enjoy pleasurable experiences in moderation. Find a healthy balance for yourself but don’t indulge beyond your allowance.
Identify where your standards are lacking and commit to raising the bar.
ImportantThink about the cost and consequences of not raising your standards. Change your limiting beliefs and take action to silence self-doubt.
Raising your standards is not about being an egomaniac. It’s about having a healthy level of self-respect.
Final Thoughts
Tony Robbins has said that raising his standards was the most important factor in turning his life around. It’s important to set a baseline for what you’re willing to accept in life.
You don’t get what you want in life, you get what you’re willing to tolerate.
ImportantWhen we raise our standards, our personal foundation gets stronger, we feel a lot happier, we are more focused, more productive and life seems to get a whole lot easier.
The process of raising your standards is a kind of evolving. Have high standards and your life will rise to meet them.
WarningYou won’t necessarily become a paragon of virtue overnight. Raising your standards should be a stretch, one that takes you just outside your comfort zone. You mustn’t make them such a huge jump that you set yourself up for failure.
It begins with a decision.
Decide on the person you want to be, then lift your standards for yourself to become that person. When you raise your standards, your life improves.
Run your own race and continually create, learn, reflect and improve. Eliminate all the excuses. Take full responsibility for your life.
Will you make the decision to stay in the norm, or will you decide to hold your life to higher standards and become an exception?
If you enjoyed the article or have any comments, recommendations, or tips for improvement please do comment below.
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