Self-improvement epitomizes itself in integrity — the essay attempts to map it out.

In the new era, self-improvement (SI) is no longer a self-effort. Although we were mindful of it, we looked the other way; COVID-19 reminded us of it.

Self-improvement entails self-awareness, self-management, social competence (EQ), and intellectual competence. It uses complex and reticulated concepts and processes to grasp the meaning and a brutal way to thrive with pain, stretch, and struggle of self [1].

The elemental human efforts aimed at self-improvement manifest themselves in empowerment concerning the intellectual and societal idiosyncrasies and ethical mannerisms that are described below:

A. Self-improvement's Operating system is 'good governance' concerning self, business, society, nature, and politics -managing relationships ethically within our ecosystem, society, and nature. The way to improve the quality of life is to adopt a culture of good governance from childhood. [2]

B. Key concepts: SI requires internalizing basic progression concepts (Conceptual Foundation.) These are:

1. Knowing Maslow's hierarchy of needs, [3]
2. Awareness that choices are the central part of life progression [4]
3. Managing our subconscious mind to bring it to be supportive of positive thoughts [5]
4. Becoming a unique self-exploring person, unearthing and improving your unique potential, and building your true self,
5. Learning self-learning to become an autodidact [6]
6. Acknowledging that life is difficult, "self-discipline is the basic set of tools we require to solve life's problems" [7]
7. Discovering that everything about us seems secondhand (copied from others), even emotions; quite the reverse, we need to develop wisdom and philosophy of life distinctively, built within us. [8]

Sartre's famous dictum supports it by saying, "Existence (being) comes before essence (meaning)" (l'existence précède l'essence,) which means first we popped into existence, then explore "Why we are here," "What life is all about." Coincidentally, the adage "You don't know what you don't know; this is an endless discovery journey of life" [9] is attributed to Elon Musk, which means life is a mission of self-discovery.

C. A draft version of self: Reconstruction wisdom beyond identity and personality is the key to achieving mental and spiritual fitness with discipline (forming a finer and authentic self.)

D. Content and process definitions:

• Learning to become an autodidact is a vital attribute [10], and
• Grit, rhythm (regular repetition), and simplicity (process definition) are the elements that support learning methodology. [11]

E. Improving self: A strong link between literacy and learning manifests itself in self-improvement; hence, the creation of the true self is supported by reading and learning selectively. (excution and action)

The graphic reads bottom-up, and there is a loop from E to C to strengthen a better self after acquiring knowledge and building a newer foundation for the true self at level C again, which requires going up again.

PS: Please visit my website for project documents and additional articles. https://www.strategyzerlab.com/knowledgelab

NOTES ___________________________________

[1] Cündio?lu, Dücane, (2020) "What are identity, personality, and true self?" (Turkish) MATRIX (film). Internet link: https://tiny.cc/o4pyoz, Access date: 15.06.2020

[2] 12 Principles of Good Governance: https://www.coe.int/en/web/good-governance/12-principles

[3] Saeednia, Yadolla, (2009) "The need to know and to understand in Maslow's basic needs hierarchy," US-China Education Review, Volume 6, ISSN1548–6613, USA

[4] Blue Pill or Red Pill - The Matrix, the movie trailer https://youtu.be/zE7PKRjrid4?t=80

[5] The Potentials of Subconscious Mind, article on Research Gate- https://tinyurl.com/57x8tknb

[6] The Physiology of Learning and Memory: Role of Peptides and Stress, Gülp?nar, Mehmet Ali and Ye?en, Berrak — Internet link https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15581416, Access date: 13.06.2020

[7] Peck, M. Scott, MD, (1978) The Road Less Travelled" p.15.

[8] Peck, M. Scott, MD, (1978) The Road Less Travelled" p.194.

[9] Book: Elon Musk: Tesla SpaceX and the Pursuit of the Great Future, By Ashlee Vance

[10] Wikipedia, (2020) "Autodidacticism" Internet link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autodidacticism, Access date: 15.06.2020

[11] Duckworth, Angela, (2007) "Grit: Perseverance and Passion for Long-Term Goals," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 92(6):1087–101D