Personal standards are a set of behaviours that we choose for ourselves. They are reflected in how we treat ourselves and how we treat others. If we have high personal standards we will always expect to be treated with the highest regard. If they are low we will accept things for how they are and may even allow others to walk all over us.
Always set high personal and professional standards for yourself. They are important in your relationship, the quality of your work, your family values and even your health. For example, if you are messy or disorganised at home or work this reflects the standards you have in that area. Lowering your personal standards can cause frustrations, especially within relationships. Of course it can be more difficult when 2 people are involved, but these can be discussed and agreed upon to avoid conflict. Don’t let other peoples lack of standards try to persuade you to lower yours – it will make you miserable.
If you think your personal standards are either too high or too low, start paying attention to people around you who you respect. Then ask yourself the following questions:
1. What are their personal standards?
2. How do they respond to the challenges they face?
3. How do they react when something doesn’t quite go to plan?
4. Do they give up at the first sign of failure?
Have a think about your own answers to these questions and compare them to the person you respect. Adopting appropriate standards for yourself will increase your quality of life. It will force personal growth, and will help you live up to your potential day after day. It also means you live your life fully, on your terms alone.
Think of it like this, you’re at the bottom of a huge tree. You can see some amazing fruit on the higher branches which you want to get to0, but you need to climb the tree in order to reach it and reap the benefits. You need to set yourself a goal (or standard) to get what you want. It won’t be easy but the higher you climb, the tastier and juicier the fruit becomes. However, occasionally you may go down the wrong branch and settle for less juicier fruit, but it won’t make you happy. It’s at this point you need to take stock of where you are, accept you may have lowered your standards, redirect yourself and have the courage to climb higher to reach that goal (or standard).
When it comes to change, there comes a point in everyones life when enough is enough. You need to be brutally honest with yourself if you want to make the changes needed to get what you desire. Never stop trying to reach those personal standards, keep going until you’re happy with where you are.
Make the Change.
Chris.
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