I like to think that everything that happens to us, happens for a reason. And sometimes,one thing leads to another. Instead of locking yourself away in a dark room and crying over past heartaches, embarrassment and failures, treat them as lessons of life and they will become your tools in both self improvement and success.

There is a fantastic, uplifting movie called "Patch Adams". It's a film that will improve you life. It's about Patch Adams who is a medical student but fails to make it through the board exams. After going through months of suffering, depression and suicidal attempts, he
decides to get medical help and admits himself to a psychiatric ward.

In the psychiatric ward he meets up with different kinds of people. They are schizophrenic, mentally retarded and catatonic, but Patch finds a way of treating his ailment and notices that he must get back on track. He wakes up one morning and realizing after all his failures and pain he still wants to be a doctor and keep a positive attitude to bring him self improvement and success.

Not only does he improve himself, but he also realizes the lives of people around him and the whole quality of life. Do you want to know how this ends? Of course he becomes the best doctor his country has ever known.

So, when does self improvement and motivation become synonymous with success? Where do we start? Take note of these tips:

1. Stop thinking and feeling as if you’re a failure, because you’re not. How can others accept you if YOU can’t accept YOURSELF? What has happened in the past is exactly that, the past. Forget it and look ahead for a bright future.

2. When you see hunks and models on TV, think more on self
improvement, not self pitying. Self acceptance is not just about
having a great body or big muscles. Concentrate on inner beauty. Remember, beauty is only skin deep.

3. When people feel so down and depressed about themselves, help them move up. Don’t go down with them. They’ll pull you down further and both of you will end up feeling inferior.

4. Just because you've failed an exam you should never feel stupid and doomed forever. You can always improve next time and make room for self improvement.

5.Take things one step at a time. Don’t expect miracles to happen
overnight, keep plugging away and you will start to notice things change for the better. Self improvement is a one day at a time process.

6.Self improvement results to inner stability, personality development and dig this. SUCCESS. It comes from self confidence, self appreciation and self esteem.

7.Set achievable and meaningful goals. Self improvement doesn’t turn you to be the exact replica of Cameron Diaz or Ralph Fiennes. It hopes and aims to result to an improved and better YOU.

8. Small things mean a lot more to other people. Sometimes, we don’t
notice that the little things that we do like a pat on the back, saying “hi” or “hello”, greeting someone “good day” or telling Mr. Smith something like “hey, you're doing a great job” are simple things that mean so much to other people. When we’re being appreciative about beautiful things around us and other people, we also become beautiful to them.

If you start to accept change and go through your process of self improvement and motivation, it shouldn't mean everybody else is. The world is a place where people of different values and attitude hang out.
Sometimes, when think you and your best friend always like to do the same thing together at the same time, she would most likely decline an invitation for self improvement.

I'm sure you're aware that there is no such thing as an overnight success. Apart from some of these reality tv programmes. It is always great to hold on to things that you have now, but realizing that in the past, there were a few of the things that you strived for. There is a quote that says "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear." Everybody is here to learn our lesson. School teachers, parents, friends, colleagues are all in one way or another are our teachers. Open your door to self improvement and you will increase your chances to get the success you strive for.