When you see people “living their best life,” it can make you wonder what they’re doing right, and what you’re doing wrong. You imagine that they must have some special skill, lots of money in the family, or high levels of energy.
But whenever you dig a little deeper into successful people’s background, it’s never as simple as that. It doesn’t arrive on a plate. Instead, there’s always a story about how they had to struggle to get what they wanted.
When it comes to changing your life, asking yourself what you’re doing wrong is a bad place to start. Ideally, you don’t want that kind of thought popping into your head at all. What works best is passion, and using it to cook up something beautiful for yourself, regardless of what other people are doing. Remember, your life is a vessel of perfection, so run with it.
Here’s how to change your life for the better.
Make A Decision
The first step, however obvious it might sound, is to make a decision. Just deciding that you’re going to raise your standards is often enough to get the ball rolling. If you’re unhappy working in a job you hate to pay for an apartment in a city that makes you sick, then ditch it and try something else.
Making a decision is one of the most powerful things that you can do. It means that you’re letting go of all the excuses for why your life has to be the way it is now (and why it can’t be better).
Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable
The next step is to face your fears. You need to do the things you feel uncomfortable doing today so that you’re ready for more pain in the future.
When it comes to life, all of us have our hang-ups. For some of us, it is getting on the phone and talking to a potential client. For others, it’s hitting the gym. Whatever it is for you, embrace it. Know that nothing is going to change unless you confront your fear and get over it. Even if you fail, know that the discomfort that you’ll feel during the process is always less than the regret from never trying.
Figure Out Why You Want To Change Your Life
Everyone is hungry for a better life for different reasons. For some, it’s freedom. They want to be able to expand as much as possible and live a bigger life.
For others, it’s security. They want money and family around them so that they feel safe.
For others still, it’s to fulfill a mission or make the most of their skills.
Whatever it is for you, identify that “thing.” It needs to be something compelling that’s going to propel you to success in the future.
Figure Out What’s Holding You Back
We all have things that hold us back from getting the lives that we want. Common reasons for lack of progress include:
- Bad mental habits
- Unconscious beliefs that you’re a failure or undeserving of success
- Unpleasant or destructive relationships with the people around you
- Imposter syndrome
- Failure to deal with past trauma
- Working in the wrong industry
Of course, the thing that’s holding you back needn’t necessarily be on this list. In fact, it could be anything that is preventing you from getting to where you need to be psychologically to take on the challenges that you face.
Once you identify your sticking points, you can then do something about them. You can then begin to work towards resolving them in a healthy, productive manner.
Move To Where You Are More Likely To Find Success
Success isn’t evenly distributed across the planet. In some places, such as the US, it is more concentrated.
Ideally, you want to live in places that give you, statistically, the best odds of being successful. Using an immigration lawyer free consultation can show you where you stand right now and how you might be able to move.
Success tends to cluster. In the past, places like New York pumped out millionaires like they were candies. Now Silicon Valley and Dubai are doing similar things.
Choose The Value You’re Going To Add
The people who are the most successful are those who give the most. They do something for other people that’s scalable and then get massive rewards in return.
Practically speaking, how you do this is very much down to you as an individual. You need to have your “thing” – the difference that you’re going to make. It can be small or big, but it needs to be something.
Set Yourself Some Goals
Once you have your mind in the right place and a plan, it’s time to start goal-setting.
When making goals, you’ll want to be specific. Don’t just say, “I want to make more money.” That’s way too vague. Rather, set a goal like, “I will make $100,000 in passive income per year by 2030.” This goal is good because it is specific and time-limited. It’s also achievable, if you really know what you’re doing.
Brace Yourself
Before you set off on your mission to improve your life, you’ll want to brace yourself. Everything that can go wrong will probably go wrong.
Just take a look at what’s happened over the last fifteen years. First we had the financial crisis. Then we had the pandemic. Both times, stocks lost more than 30 percent of their value and asset prices crashed.
In your individual life, things will almost certainly go badly. There will be times when people threaten to sue you, your partner will leave you, and you’ll have to work weekends. Preparing yourself mentally for these eventualities can help take the sting out of them when they finally arrive.
Get Your Social Circle To Help You
Lastly, you’ll need to get your friends and family on board with your efforts to improve your life. Mostly, they will resist them at first, telling you that it’s too risky and it won’t work out. However, if you can get them onside, they can provide the support you need to push through and get to where you want to be.