Self-leadership, the process of influencing yourself to achieve your goals, can help improve your personal life and career by giving you the skills to take charge of your decisions. Here are some strategies for improving self-leadership skills, so you can lead yourself and others more effectively. 

1. Improve your self-awareness. A leader should know themself before leading others. Writing about your thoughts and feelings in a journal can be a great way to improve your self-awareness, as you can identify patterns in your actions. It can also be a place to assess your strengths and spot where you could make improvements.
2. Strengthening mindfulness and emotional intelligence. Mindfulness can help with focusing on the task at hand and with decision-making. Emotional intelligence, the ability to understand and manage our emotions, is related. Leaders with this skill can be better at building relationships and managing conflicts.
3. Set personal goals. Using the SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) framework while setting goals can help with motivation and provide a clear direction. To stay motivated, consider breaking large goals into smaller, more manageable tasks.
4. Become an adaptable leader. Adaptable leaders can be better equipped to make decisions under pressure, as they have the belief that they can learn and grow from challenges. Framing difficulties as opportunities for growth can help you become more adaptable.

For more information, read “8 self-leadership strategies for personal growth” by the International Institute for Management Development.