Change is not easy, but most worthwhile things are not. If you want to change, you can. The best approach combines practical considerations with digging into the underlying issues that might be preventing you from starting a new life.
Choose Something and Do It
Sometimes, the most important step is to simply shake yourself out of your inertia and do something. Once you’re engaging with the world in a different way, it can be easier to keep that momentum up, even if what you initially chose to do wasn’t quite the right path after all. For example, instead of being paralyzed about whether you should send your resume to a recruiter in search of a new job, go back to school to pursue a professional degree or pursue your true love of painting. Just jump in with both feet to one of those things. Buy some art supplies and set aside a day each week to paint, or revise your resume and hit send, or sign up to take a single class at an educational institution near you or online. At this stage, what you do is less important than the fact that you’re doing something.
Identify Obstacles
As your goals start to come into clearer focus, figure out what’s standing in your way. Maybe you need more training or more money. Whatever you’re lacking, you need to figure out how to get it, being creative about it if necessary. For example, if you need money, you may discover you have options you weren’t aware of. If you have a whole life insurance policy, you might be able to sell it or draw out money from it. You can review a guide about how to do this. Not all of your obstacles will be practical ones. We are all surprisingly good at getting in our own way. Fear, procrastination and even perfectionism are among the many things that can keep you from reaching your full potential.
Focus on Habits
It’s good to have goals, but it would be a mistake to think that all you have to do is identify them to get on the right track. In fact, what’s actually more important than goals are your daily habits because it’s what you do each day that inches you closer to success and provides daily benefits. For example, the benefits of daily journaling can help you cultivate a mindset of purpose and routine that can be applied elsewhere in your life as well. It can be too easy to make goals into a ‘someday’ folder. Someday you’re going to run that marathon or go after that dream job. But a habit, like running five times a week or studying for the CPA exam for an hour each day, is the nitty-gritty that pushes you closer to that goal. The next time you find yourself thinking about what you’re going to do someday, stop and ask yourself what you can do right now to make that happen.
Give Yourself Rewards
It would be nice to think that the very fact of changing your life would be enough reward, but if we were this easily motivated, change wouldn’t be so difficult. There’s nothing wrong with motivating yourself to take on good habits by giving yourself rewards. Choose what feels luxurious, pleasant or meaningful to you, whether that’s coffee with a friend, a hike, a hot bath, a day of streaming your favorite TV show or anything else.