Almost everyone I know love to improve something about themselves. Maybe they want to get a better job, eat healthier, get some bigger boobs, or quit smoking. Whatever it is that they want to change, it will always aim at bringing them closer to the ideal person they have always pictured themselves of becoming. The ideal person they wish to become is perfection in their eyes. And that is why they, you, and I will never be who we wish to be. Because ideal is perfect. And perfection is not attainable.

Improving is change. And change is hard to do. We know that the environment makes us who we are. We know that to change, we need to change our environment. It is much harder to quit smoking if everyone around you smokes. It is hard to be productive, when everyone around you is lazy. It is hard to become something you are not when the environment constantly tell you who you are.

Have you ever felt like running away to some place where nobody knows you? You probably want to start over, build a new reputation, and give yourself a second chance. You want to change by changing your environment. You want to break the ties with people you do not wish to associate with. Your environment might change, but your habits and interests have not. You will seek what you are comfortable with in your new environment. Then it is like you never left.

Gandhi said, “You must be the change you want to see in the world.” This means you can’t just runaway. You have to first change your attitude and your perception. You are other people’s environment as they are to you. When you change, you change their environment. And as they change, your environment will too.