Do you feel stuck in your everyday life and dream of getting out of it? Have you got a vision of what you want your life to be like in the future but not sure how to get there?
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
Albert Einstein
There are few people who feel truly free in their lives away from the rat race, dead end jobs and endless bills and to do lists as far as the eye can see.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, so they say, and you’re not going to be able to change your entire life in one day either. If you’re serious about making a change to your life, you’re going to have to be in it for the long haul. Think ultra marathon here not 5k.
These things take time but let’s be real for a second. There are small things that you can do on a daily basis that will eventually lead up to one big change. Let’s use the ultra marathon as an example.
If you could run an
But how much satisfaction would you get from achieving it in this way? Running a long distance like this has to be broken down into manageable milestones then broken down further into each and every step you need to take to cross the finish line.
Your life is happening right now and there’s no ‘end goal’ here. Every day should be your opportunity to become a better, healthier, happier person.
Think of one year as being 365 opportunities. Doesn’t that sound much better? Doesn’t that motivate you to live a more authentic life every day doing things that make your life better?
Here are some easy things that you can do today to change your life for the better.
What don’t you like about your life?
Wow what a question! What don’t you like about your life? Actually take some time to sit down and make a detailed list about everything that is making you unhappy right now that you’d like to change.
Some of these can be small such as ‘my room is messy and needs to be organised’. Others can be huge, life altering changes like ‘I’ve spent my life working towards a career in architecture but now I’ve decided to start my own design business’.
Once you have your list of things you’d like to change, note them down in order of priority. Lets use starting your own design business as an example of something that is high priority to you. But HOW are you going to make it happen?
First of all, you’re going to break it down into small chunks of what you will need to do to achieve your dream goal. How are you going to get this off the ground?
Create a website that will drive business
- Design a logo for your new business
- Research and install a website design package
- Learn something small every day on website design
- Create a photographic portfolio of your work
And so on and so on until you’ve managed to completely map out your long-term goal into manageable tasks.
The key to your long term success is going to be working on something every day to achieve your goals. Even if you only spend half an hour researching something on one day, every little bit of effort adds up.
What about things you can’t change?
In Derren Brown’s self help book ‘Happy’, he says that “there are only two things which are within your control. Your thoughts and your actions. We spend our lives trying to fix stuff we can’t, like what other people think and do. Once you accept that you can’t control other people’s behaviour, just decide you’re fine with it. Nothing bad will happen”.
Easy right!
Some easy ways to change your life today
We’ve looked at how you determine what you want to change in your life, how to break a huge goal down into small chunks to work towards a much bigger goal and we’ve also seen how to deal with things we cannot control.
Let’s take a look at some very small changes that you can make today that will set you on the right path to changing your life.
Have good daily habits
These can be things such as ‘wake up early’, ‘eat a healthy dinner’, ‘practice yoga every morning’. We are creatures of habit and we like to stick to things that we know and feel comfortable with. Adding some healthy daily habits into your routine will give you the satisfaction of daily ‘wins’ which will have a long term impact on your overall happiness.
Related posts:
- 8 Healthy Daily Habits
- How to Execute a Powerful Girl Boss Routine
- The Perfect Sunday Routine to a Productive Week
Manage your finances
Taking control of your finances is one of the quickest ways to make a big impact on your life. I don’t mean quickest as in ‘pay off your debt in one week’ type of quick but you can make daily changes that will have an impact on your finances from month to month.
Track your spending for a week of every penny that leaves your account or changes hands from your purse. How much is your sandwich van daily habit costing you? Could you buy the same things from the supermarket that you can buy from the sandwich van but much cheaper? Can you make your own meals for even cheaper again?
Unless you’re already frugal and don’t spend money on any unnecessary purchases, there are sure to be some things that you can cut back/ down/ out on. If saving money or being better with your money is a goal, these steps are a must.
Related post:
Practice Self Care
The practice of self care doesn’t have to involve hours of your time every week to look after yourself. It also doesn’t mean taking a bubble bath without your phone every now and then!
There are an endless list of ways that you can look after yourself and feel better overall. Making small efforts on your well-being will give you a more positive outlook and increase your confidence levels.
Self care practices also include eating healthier and more nutritious meals daily. Taking daily exercise is also going to have a massive impact on not just your day but your life in general.
Related Posts:
Declutter your life
I’m not just talking about physical things that you can dispose of, I’m also talking about anything that doesn’t serve you right in your life. This means friends, situations, social media too and this one is a biggie…
Years ago before Instagram, Pinterest and the internet in general, I used to buy tons of gossip and fashion magazines. I even went so far as to cut out pictures of hairstyles, outfits, meals and anything else that I felt I needed to do to make myself ‘perfect’.
I kept them all in a scrap book that I used to look at all of the time and I’d sit there and wonder why my life/ wardrobe/ relationship/ body wasn’t anywhere near the perfect one I’d put together on those pages.
Sure, it’s great to have vision boards and goals and all of that good stuff but what about when we’re using these things to make ourselves feel bad? Something that was started as a way to motivate and inspire me quickly turned into something depressing, unattainable and downright awful.
Once I made the connection between my negative mindset and the magazines, I ditched them. All of them. And I didn’t miss them or the pressure they made me put on myself one bit.
Fast forward to the creation of social media. I was probably one of the last people I knew to get Facebook and the only reason I did
Quickly enough, I had people from school adding me as a friend that I hadn’t seen or spoken to for 15 years. Then the messages
Well… what am I up to? Am I living my best life right now? Is my current day life something that I want to share with what are now strangers on the internet and compare my life and my achievements with theirs while they take one look at my profile and make a snap judgement about mine?
“Ok, so at a quick glance, 3 people I went to school with are married, 4 people have gone to University and have their dream job, 2 people are travelling the world. I’m sat here on my sofa, eating pizza and dreading going into work tomorrow”.
Does this sound familiar?
If social media makes you more unhappy than happy, get rid of it! Your real-life friends will still invite you places. They’ll still talk to you and ask you to hang out, I’m living breathing proof of this.
If this seems like too drastic a measure for you, try unfollowing or hiding profiles of people that do make you feel unhappy, no matter who they are. And if you’re in a situation where someone else is making you unhappy, unfriend them in real life.
And obviously, donate, ditch or disown any physical objects that don’t serve you either!
Have daily grattitude
Taking some time out of your day to be thankful for the things that you have in your life will keep you appreciative and mindful. It’s very easy to look at all of the things that you don’t have but try
- Strong friend network
- Supportive family
- Free from health problems
- A job that allows me to do things I love
- A home where I feel safe and happy
Also try going an entire day without complaining. You might not think that you complain that much but gosh you’ll soon find out the truth behind that when you consciously try not to.
Write down some powerful positive affirmations that have special meaning to you and repeat these to yourself daily.
Related post:
Work on your self
This might seem corny to some of you but working on your self improvement is one of the most powerful things you can do to change your life.
Change your mindset and you change your life
Read books that interest and resonate with you on
Never stop learning. Not just about yourself but about the world. Travel and explore places that you’ve always wanted to go. If you’re on a budget, visit places within your city. Some of them are even free like museums and places of nature.
You’ve always wanted to learn a new language? Go ahead and do it. The time is now for you to start developing yourself, improving your mindset, your outlook and your surroundings. All of these things are going to have an impact on how you perceive and experience your life.
If
So go ahead and give yourself permission to change your life. You only get one life start living it your way starting today!
