18 Best Self-Improvement Tips That Are Fun, Cool, and Underrated

Check out these 18 self-improvement tips to level up, glow up, and basically go all kinds of ‘up’ in your life.

As much as I love all things related to self-improvement, I can’t deny that it can be intimidating at times.

You can’t always be in the mood to read self-help books, start a fitness challenge, or join a new language class.

Your life sometimes doesn’t give you enough room to squeeze in all of it. This is why so many people struggle to improve their lives.

They wait for the perfect time to start their plans. And the thing about the right time is that it comes once in a blue moon, but never lasts long.

So, in order to really improve your life, you need to make changes that are not only doable, but also sustainable…and fun (because what is life without fun, right?).

So, in this post, we are looking at 18 self-improvement tips that tick all those boxes.

I am quite proud of these ideas, because they are that good.

And yes, I have tried all of them at different points in my life! I wouldn’t bring them to you unless I knew for a fact that they work.

Quickly pin this post before reading on!

Here you go, peeps!

18 Cool Ways To Improve Your Life

1. Romanticize the Tiny Routines

Hate them or love them, habits and routines are essential to improve your life. And the easiest way to get yourself to really love routines is to romanticize them.

Let me give you a couple of examples:

Put on your favourite soft playlist while folding laundry.
Light a candle while you clean your desk.
Make your tea in your prettiest cup, even if no one is watching.
Open your windows first thing in the morning and let the air in — it’s the simplest reset.
Do your morning skincare slowly.
Make your bed by tucking the corners properly and fluffing your pillows nicely.

By romanticizing your routines, you can make the ordinary parts of your day joyful. The cutest form of self-improvement ever!

2. Make Your Phone Boring

Yes, you can keep your cute aesthetic wallpaper (I could never do without my fall-themed desktop).

But to improve your time management and productivity, keep your home screen almost empty.

There should just be the essentials on there, and nothing else. No tempting icons staring at you, no colorful little traps waiting to steal your attention.

Most of the time, you probably don’t even consciously open apps.

Your fingers just run on the screen, and that’s how you end up in scroll rabbit holes that you don’t even enjoy.

But when your phone looks plain and quiet, your brain stops chasing the distraction.

If you have fewer apps on the desktop, you’ll have fewer urges and more peace.

Try it once — clean your home screen, tuck the unnecessary apps into folders, and just keep the one or two things you actually need on the front.

You’ll feel the difference the very same day.

3. Walk Like It’s Therapy

There was a time when I used to walk only to keep weight off. But now, it’s become a therapy for me, and I love it so much.

A walk can fix things that journaling, talking, or even crying can’t.

Your mind starts loosening those tight emotional knots the moment your feet hit the ground.

You don’t have to be fit. You don’t need a plan. And you don’t need to do it right.

You just put on music that matches your mood (slow, soft, sad, happy, anything), and just walk.

Walk until your shoulders drop a little, your thoughts stop racing, and you feel like you’ve come back home to yourself.

It’s simple, it’s accessible, and it works. Truly!

4. Choose One Identity Shift at a Time

Trying to fix your whole life in one go sounds inspiring, but it only lasts a day and a half. Alright, maybe two.

And then you end up exhausted, overwhelmed, and annoyed at yourself for not magically becoming a new person overnight.

If you’re tired of being in that self-improvement cycle, then maybe you need to choose one identity shift at a time.

Like, tell yourself:

For the next 30 days, I’m someone who hydrates well.”
I’m a person who goes to bed by 11.
I’m someone who takes a 10-minute walk every evening.

When you pick one identity, it becomes easier to show up and actually do that thing.

You’re not relying on motivation but acting like the version of you you’re becoming.

Just choose one thing you want to embody right now, live it for a few weeks, and let the change grow from there.

5. Do a 10-Minute Reset On Your Bad Days

We all have days that completely go off-track. Sometimes it’s an external reason, and sometimes you’re just feeling off internally.

On those days, instead of letting the bad day win, you can do a 10-minute reset.

All you do is set a timer for ten minutes and pick one thing, like:

Clean a small corner
Stretch your body
Fold a few clothes
Make your bed
Take a quick shower
Breathe with your phone away

I know all these ideas sound simple, but ten intentional minutes are all you need to pull back into yourself.

It’s like pressing refresh on your day so that you can stop spiraling and feel lighter.

It doesn’t fix everything, of course, but it gives you a feeling of control again.

And honestly, that’s usually enough to carry you through the rest of the day with a clearer head.

6. Change Your Environment, Not Your Willpower

One thing I’ve learned over the years is that willpower is honestly overrated. It comes and goes.

But if there’s one thing that can help you stick to your habits and routines, it’s your environment.

If you keep fruits on the counter, you’ll eat more fruits. Not because you suddenly became a healthier person overnight, but because they’re right there.

If you keep dumbbells in your room, you’ll pick them up more often.

If your journal stays under your pillow, you’ll end up writing a few lines at night without overthinking it.

When good habits are visible and easy, they naturally become a part of your day.

You don’t have to push yourself constantly, because your space will quietly nudge you in the right direction!

Must read: How To Create Good Vibes In Your Home

7. Make a Bare Minimum List for Your Hard Days

Some days, no amount of motivation quotes or productivity hacks can save you.

You’re tired or maybe emotionally down, and even doing normal things is too much.

On those days, I don’t push myself to be my best self. I just try to keep myself afloat kindly. So I follow what I call my Bare Minimum List.

Pick any three from this list on low-energy days:

Drink water
Take a walk
Eat one nutritious meal
Make your bed
Reply to one important message

Basically, do the minimum you need to feel like you treated yourself gently instead of abandoning yourself completely.

On your hard days, this list will keep your life from falling apart while you rest. And it will remove guilt that makes low-energy days even worse.

8. Keep Promises To Yourself

Self-improvement, more than anything else, is about showing up and doing, even if the things are small.

Every time you follow through on a small promise, like sipping a full glass of water, doing five squats, or finally putting your clothes back in the wardrobe, something shifts inside you.

You stop negotiating with your goals, and you stop breaking your own heart by abandoning the things you said you’d do.

And you finally start taking yourself seriously, knowing that you can depend on yourself.

So, yes, keep your promises to yourself. It’ll keep you in your glow-up energy.

9. Call Someone While Doing Chores

I don’t usually promote multitasking, but I think it’s a fantastic idea to pair calling someone with a chore.

It’s a cool wya to make chores feel like chores, fill yourself up, and save time too!

While folding laundry, washing dishes, or even walking, call someone you like talking to.

You get to catch up with someone you love and finish a task you’ve been avoiding. Your hands stay busy, your mind feels lighter, and the time passes without you even noticing.

Little pockets of connection like this add so much warmth to an ordinary day, and your chores get done almost effortlessly. Win-win!

10. Take a Step of Discomfort Once a Day

Is self-improvement always easy-breezy? Nope!

You have to step outside your comfort zone in some ways to improve your life. So, why not get used to doing it every day?

Just take one small step of discomfort every day.

Send that text you’ve been avoiding, make that call, pitch that bold idea, ask questions in a meeting.

Go for a walk despite not feeling like it, cook something new, or pick up an old hobby for a few minutes.

These tiny brave moments don’t feel life-changing in the moment, but they really stretch you.

They remind you that you can do things that feel inconvenient or scary or awkward, and survive them!

One small act of courage a day. That’s all. It can make all the difference to your confidence, trust me.

11. Do One Thing Slowly

It might be hard to slow down everything forever, even though that would be so good for your mental health.

But if you can do even one thing slowly, it’s a habit that will make you want to embrace slow living as often as you can.

It can be anything, like:

Slowly brushing your hair
Slowly drinking your morning water
Slowly folding one piece of clothing
Slowly eating your lunch without scrolling

When you slow down even for one tiny moment, your brain gets a break from the constant go-go-go.

It reminds you that life isn’t meant to be lived in fast-forward all the time.

Try it today, please. Let one thing be gentle, unhurried, and quiet. It’ll be a real gift to your inner self.

12. Ask: ‘What would future me thank me for?’

Whenever I feel lazy, confused, or tempted to procrastinate, I pause and ask myself, “Okay…what would Future Me be grateful for if I did it right now?”

And almost instantly, the answer becomes clear.

Sometimes it’s something tiny, like washing that one dish so tomorrow-me doesn’t wake up annoyed.

Or taking a 10-minute walk so I don’t feel sluggish later. Or replying to a message that has been stressing me out.

When you start making choices with your future self in mind, you naturally become kinder to yourself.

You stop living in chaos or creating problems that you’ll have to solve later.

You start building a life that feels supportive instead of overwhelming.

Future you deserves and needs something, so present you can supply. Simple as that.

13. Become Obsessed With Sleep

I was one of those people who proudly wore the badge of being a night owl. I love staying up late and running on four hours of sleep.

The older me is thankfully wiser. I now know that good sleep is the foundation of every other self-improvement habit.

When I’m sleeping well, everything else in life is good too. I eat better, moving my body, thinking clearly, being kinder, and being productive.

So, if you want to level up your routine life, it has to start with good sleep.

Let yourself become that person who protects their sleep like a treasure.

Fix your pillow before bed, who dims the lights early, reply to things the next day, and who chooses peace over overstimulation.

Sleep is not something you fit in. It’s something you build your life around. Future you will glow for it.

14. Learn One New Thing a Month

Learning anything is a habit in itself, irrespective of what you are learning.

It makes you bold, sharpens your mind, and makes you confident to pick up new things whenever you are interested.

So, if you want the courage to do the big things in life that scare you, like traveling, learning a new language, or changing your career, then start learning something new every month.

It can be a new recipe, a new stretch, a new word in a language you love, a new way to braid your hair, one new editing trick, a new workout move — literally anything!

Make your mind love being fed newness, so that when you actually want to learn something of big meaning, you can do it out of habit.

And if not that, do it because it’s fun, and because it makes your life interesting.

15. Keep Your Life Dashboard Visible

Okay, this is so important, so pay attention.

One of the creative ways to follow through on your habits and goals is to make them visible. Get them out of your head and in the open.

Sticky notes on the wall, a whiteboard, a corkboard — whatever works for you.

You can write down:

Habits you’re building
Goals you want to achieve
Little reminders of what matters

Seeing your life laid out visually makes it easier to stay on track.

It’s like a map for your mind to look at and just follow, without any questions or pauses.

16. Give Your Resentment an Exit

Holding onto resentment is like carrying around a backpack full of rocks. It weighs you down without you even realizing it.

And unprocessed emotions sneak into your habits, your mood, and even the way you treat yourself. So let them out!

Talk to someone you trust, journal your feelings, cry it out if you need to, or move your body until the heaviness loosens (this is my current fav way).

Even a short walk while thinking things through can be surprisingly freeing (again, something I am doing a lot these days).

Do not suppress or ignore your emotions, but release them in a healthy way.

Letting resentment go creates space for better energy, better choices, and a lighter version of yourself.

Your future self will quietly thank you for it.

17. Do a 2-Minute Upgrade Daily

Even a little bit of clutter around you can mess with your mind — a messy drawer, a broken button, and tangled wires (ugh, I hate those).

That’s where the 2-minute upgrade comes in.

Pick one small thing every day and fix it. Make one small improvement in your space.

The beauty of this habit is that it creates instant mental clarity and a subtle sense of control over your environment.

Do it daily, and you’ll notice how much lighter your mind feels.

Small wins stack up faster than you think, and before long, you’ll be surrounded by little pockets of order and calm that make your day-to-day life beautiful.

18. Stop Hanging Out With Your Past Self

It’s easy to get stuck thinking, “I’ve always been like this,” or “I can’t change, that’s just me.”

But no, you are not your past.

You’re allowed (actually, encouraged) to rewrite your story at any moment.

Stop letting old habits, old mistakes, and old versions of yourself dictate your present.

The moment you stop checking in with that version of you, you’ll give yourself permission to grow, evolve, and try new things without guilt or hesitation.

Your past self can offer lessons, sure, but it doesn’t get a say in who you are becoming.

Let yourself move forward fully — unapologetically, intentionally, and joyfully. This, I believe, might just be the greatest self-improvement tip of all.

That’s it! You just discovered 18 interesting ways to improve your life. Which one is your absolute favorite? Let me know in the comment box, and feel free to leave your own thoughts and tips behind. This is as much your space as it is mine.