Happy New Year!
It is already day 7 of a new year that will be filled with opportunities, growth, and continuous development in all areas of life. A new year means a new chapter and we are the authors of our story.
Each morning, we wake up to a blank page, one that we alone are the author of, and our words, thoughts, actions and choices are the pens that write our story. If you still haven’t figured out how to begin chapter 1, it is important to understand where you are now and where you want to be tomorrow.
We have a whole year ahead of us but each day goes by quickly, so here are five steps to get you started with your first chapter of creating the life you want.
1. Assess where you are in life today
The first step is to really analyze the stage that you are in life and determine where you want to be and how you plan to get there.
This is crucial for pinpointing where to make adjustments and starting your new journey. Start by figuring out where you stand in these eight areas of life:
- Health: How often do you exercise? What does your diet look like daily? Are you getting enough sleep?
- Finances: What are your financial goals? Do you budget? Have savings or investments? What is your net worth?
- Personal Development: What are the things you love to do? What new skills have you learnt? Have you developed on your existing ones? What are your values?
- Career: Do you actually have a job in your career path? What do you like about your job? What made you choose this career?
- Self-care: Are you a workaholic? Do you make time to take care of you? What are some activities that allow you to relax? or bring you joy? Do you meditate?
- Home life: What is your current home-life situation? Could it be better or improved?
- Leisure: Do you have hobbies? How do you spend your free time? Do you have enough free time? Are you working on weekends too? Do you have a bucket list?
- Relationships: What do you look for in friendship? What do you look for in a partner? Are you religious? Are you making time for family, friends or your partner?
These are just some questions to ask yourself so you can have a clear definition of what you want from life. Once you can determine that, then you gradually make the steps towards that life and make the adjustments, where necessary.
2. Change your mindset
Your mindset is the blueprint for what happens in your life so how you think and perceive things are extremely important.
Changing your mindset is what will make your life immensely better as what we think and believe is what we will act upon. If you believe a certain goal is unattainable then you won’t make an extra effort to achieve it or push towards it. Whilst, a goal that you want to achieve, will be worthy of all the effort and time to reach it.
You can really achieve great things with the help of positive thinking. Some ways that you can start by being positive are:
- Start each day on a positive note
- Add positive words to your language and communication
- Spend time with more positive people
- Consume more positive material whether it be through social media, books, videos
- Say positive affirmations to boost your thinking
- Focus on what you do well
- Identify your negative triggers and see how you can avoid them whether it be people, places or things
- Practice gratitude
- Smile
Try adopting these practices so they can become a habit and see how much your life improves because it is essential to keep positive especially in this game called life.
From now on, change your perspective about anything negative that happens. Instead of feeling like a victim and placing blame, stop and ask yourself what you can control or change and move forward.
3. Create a vision
Think about the word vision. It allows you to see where you are going and if the path does not seem favorable, we take another until we get to our destination. Similarly, in order to create the life you want, you will need to have a vision of what that life should be and put the things in place to get there.
Vision creates direction, guidance, and a clear sense of purpose. In this way, you can set clearly defined goals with specific timelines that you want to achieve instead of aimlessly setting ones that serve no purpose or does not align with your vision. It guides you in figuring out what you want to do and what actions and activities you need to do to accomplish your objective.
Some practical ways to create a vision are:
Write down your goals
Get a journal that is dedicated to just your goals – small ones, medium ones, big goals. Write them all down.
Writing down your goals plants the goal in your brain, and once it is there, it sticks.
Add timelines to each goal and be realistic about them. If you don’t have specific, measurable goals it is easy to drift, feel scattered and lack the motivation to take action. Once you can see the goals that you have written, you can narrow your focus and keep motivated.
Create a vision board
A vision board or vision portfolio is simply where you put images, words, videos, drawings any other form of visual elements together to represent the future you want. When you can think about what you want and see yourself in that position, you are one step ahead. However, if you can place your vision board in an area where you can see it daily – before you go to bed and when you wake up, you can even take a photo of it or print it so you are able to keep it in your purse or wallet. The idea is to have that constant reminder of what you want to achieve.
Create an environment for success
It is essential that you have a designated space where you can work. Somewhere that is comfortable, free of distractions and allows you to remain focused.
However, creating your environment is not limited to just your workspace. It also involves the people that are contributing to your success. Are they contributing in a positive way? Do they understand the vision you have and are supportive of it? Do they have their own vision? Do you see them a part of the life you are creating for the next year?
You also want to also take a look at the things you do. What are your daily routine and habits? Are there any things that could be made easier or rewarding? How are they contributing to your success?
Revisit your vision
Lastly, you want to be able to revisit your vision. Just as a company has its own vision statement and may review it to ensure that the company is on track, you want to be able to do so with your personal vision.
In addition, nothing is set in stone. So in your review, you may want to even revise what you had before for it to fit in with your plans for the future.
Have a vision. It is the ability to see the invisible. If you can see the invisible, you can achieve the impossible. ― Shiv Khera
4. Take Steps Each Day
Your life won’t change automatically. You will need to actively do things to get you closer to your goals and make those small steps daily.
Some ways to do so are:
Learn something new
Develop a curious mind. Be willing to always want to learn new things and to do more. Learning new things can be challenging but keeping an open and positive mindset will help you through those difficulties.
Learn new skills
Nothing will change your life faster than building new skills. Imagine a year where you start out having a limited skill-set. Dedicate time during your day to build your skills. You can learn skills through books, videos, and podcasts but don’t forget to make those small steps by practicing daily.
Read more
We do not need to give an extensive list of reasons to highlight the importance of reading. Just do it.
Develop a healthy lifestyle
Drink plenty of water. Have breakfast. Add more fruits and vegetables to your diet. Learn to cook at home so you can develop more nutritious meals.
Work on your spirituality
Spirituality is the belief in something beyond human existence. But it may also involve experiencing a sense of connection with the rest of humanity and nature through discovering inner peace, seeking meaning and purpose, and wanting to make the world a better place.
Meditation helps with your spirituality. It can improve your mood and provoke positive thoughts whilst ultimately attracting positive energy around you.
Work on your relationships
Firstly, in order to work on any relationship, there has to be a strong desire to do so from both sides.
The list does not end there. Here are even more ways to help make those small steps to creating the life you crave.
5. Enjoy the Process
While you work on yourself, don’t forget to enjoy the journey to get to where you want to be.
However, don’t feel like you have to enjoy the process every single moment. Undoubtedly, you will have challenging days but the idea is to keep those four things we have already mentioned above to keep you writing your story. Learn to understand that this is a part of the story and use that to give you the extra push to keep pursuing.
You get to also reward yourself, celebrate the small wins just as much as the big ones. Do not wait until you achieve the big ultimate goal but give yourself credit for the little things along the way.
Hope these tips will help you for the next 358 days! It is a new year, may it be your best year ever.
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