The Science of Self-Improvement

I am extremely interested in ways of driving continuous improvement in my life. It is an integral part of who I am, a core part of my being. I am also a big believer in the power of science. But what exactly is science, and why am I talking about science when it comes to self-improvement? According to the Collins Dictionary, science is “the systematic study of the nature and behaviour of the material and physical universe, based on observation, experiment, and measurement, and the formulation of laws to describe these facts in general terms.” I am a huge proponent of thinking about my life as a science experiment, where I observe it, conduct experiments by implementing changes and then measuring the results. I like to call this the “science of self-improvement.” It means bringing the concept of data-based decision-making to our everyday lives. We expect that decisions in almost all other areas of life to be based on data, so I feel that it is entirely logical to apply the same manner of thinking to self-improvement.

I am sure that many of you have heard the saying by the famous management consultant Peter Drucker, that “you can’t manage what you don’t measure.” Not only is there a lot of truth to that saying, I firmly believe that this concept also applies to the management of our personal lives as well. Capturing meaningful metrics allows me to conduct little experiments and then compare the results to where I was, providing some insight into whether or not the change I implemented was successful. In other words, I apply the principles of science to my…