Many people say that self-help is about finding the empowerment to go out and become a different person. To an extent, this psychological mindset is a true model; by becoming a better person you raise your self-esteem by preset goals that you plan and achieve. This behavior is reinforced by positive results and consequently sets up a person to succeed in more areas, given that they have enough talent and drive to succeed.

A great self help tip is to force yourself to be social even when you don’t feel like it. It’s common for depressed people to isolate themselves and become a bit antisocial. This can ruin your friendships. Even though it might be uncomfortable, forcing yourself to be social will help you fight your depression.

One way to help yourself is by making your mind more open. An open mind allows you to fully experience the world in a way that you could not if you were more narrow or closed minded. Be curious. Ask questions and broaden your horizons. If you don’t try to find out about life outside your scope, you are really missing out and only looking at the world through a “bubble.”

Work on discovering your personal strengths. Try making a list of the ones you know and try making a list of your weaknesses that hold you back from being the strong person that you think you are or could be. Even opinions from others, like friends or family, can give you some insight on how to better yourself.

A good way to achieve personal development is to practice selflessness. As you sacrifice the things that are important to you by helping others, you will begin to notice your true self. Caring and helping others makes you understand your true self and the more you sacrifice, the more you will realize yourself.

In order to be properly motivated toward personal development goals, it is important to admit how much you do not know. If you admit that you are simply a tiny part of this world, you will begin to recognize how much you still have to learn. After accepting this fact, you will have a desire to seek out knowledge, which will cause you to grow and develop as a person.

Learn to recognize your negative thinking patterns — then reroute them to a more positive or realistic mindset. Do this with the help of a simple daily log, or work with a therapist to learn cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT has been proven to help people change their automtatic negative thinking into a more positive, realistic thought process.

Self-help is truly goal based. By breaking up the ultimate goal into little portions or pieces, people are able to achieve minor goals in their life and work up to the overall change. Turning into a self-made millionaire isn’t an overnight process, but the key to starting is to start. Like the pyramids, every great work takes effort, and in this case, change is best done one brick at a time.