Whether we are talking about changing your financial situation or changing your lifestyle, there are many ways to start making changes in your life so that you can start living the life you want to live.
Learning how to change your life doesn’t have to be hard.
You can start off small and gradually move onto bigger changes. Or you can make one big change and start living your dream life even sooner.
Everyone has some sort of change they want to make in their life.
Maybe you want to travel more, learn another language, start your own business, get out of debt, be in shape, retire, or something else. Whatever the words “dream life” mean to you, there are ways for you to eventually get there.
Below are my tips on how to change your life today.
1. Think about your dream life.
The first step to improving your life is to think about what exactly your dream life is.
You should think about different things such as:
- What does it take to reach your dream life? Do you need to go to school? Pay off debt? Learn something new?
- What will your action plan be?
- Why is what you’re currently doing no longer working for you?
- What excuses are you currently making?
- What are the risks? What will you have to overcome to reach your dream life?
- How will you stay motivated? Related article: 8 Ways To Get Motivated And Reach Your Goals.
- What are the positives of reaching your dream life? What is success to you?
Related tip: If you’re looking for a life planner, I highly recommend checking out Erin Condren and looking at their life planners and monthly planners. This can be a great way to stay motivated so that you can reach your dream life!
2. Take control of your finances.
Currently, you may feel stuck with your current life because of some sort of financial reason. We all do it.
Some don’t want to travel the world because they are too afraid of what they will do for money. Some are too afraid to seek out their dream job because that may mean their debt would be unpaid. The list can go on and on.
Taking control of your finances can help you reach your dream life in many ways.
By paying off your debt, making more money, not living paycheck to paycheck, budgeting better, and more, you may feel more free to reach for your dream life because you most likely won’t feel as tied down to your finances.
You will feel more free to take risks when your finances are in control and it can really mean a world of difference.
Related article: 10 Great Ways To Gain Control Of Your Finances and Reach Financial Freedom.
3. Do something outside of your comfort zone.
Being comfortable with life is an odd thing. While you might feel satisfied with life, you might always wonder what you are missing out on.
The best way to see what else is out there for you is to step outside of your comfort zone.
Without the occasional risk in life, it would be hard to grow. Stepping outside of your comfort zone may lead to motivation, feeling refreshed, and it may also lead you to your dream life.
Here are my tips for stepping outside of your comfort zone:
- Start saying yes more. Before you think too hard about all the reasons for why you should say no, start thinking about all of the reasons you should say yes.
- Think about your fears. What are you afraid of? Create an action plan to overcome your fear!
- Start doing small things differently. If you don’t want to make a huge change at once, then try just changing up little things in your life in the beginning. This may mean just being more spontaneous. Go out to eat by yourself, go to a movie by yourself, just show up somewhere fun without plans, and so on.
- Think about how awesome it will be afterwards. Can you imagine what it would be like when you finally overcome your fear? I bet it would feel amazing!
4. Get active.
I’ve been super active ever since moving to Colorado and I can already tell that it has changed my life for the better.
I am feeling more healthy, more energized, more happy, and I’m also feeling like I have a clearer mind.
Even if your goal isn’t to get more healthy, being more active can help you reach any of your goals in that it can actually help you receive better sleep, it can give you a more positive attitude, and it can give you energy to reach your dream life.
Even if you believe you don’t have enough time to exercise, I’m sure you do. With just 20 to 30 minutes a day, you can get a great workout in. Borrow some workout DVDs from your local library, do some yoga in your living room, or go for a run around your block if you are limited on time.
5. Start waking up a little earlier.
If you are wanting to learn how to change your life, then waking up earlier is something that many people who want to reach their dreams eventually have to do.
It may mean sacrificing some of your beauty sleep, being a little more tired, etc., but it is well worth it in the end.
In many cases, waking up earlier is very possible without sacrificing any of your sleep anyway. Instead, start managing your time better by cutting out any time sucks (such as TV) so that you can go to sleep earlier.
Back when I was unhappy at my day job, I pretty much made sure to wake up early every single work day. While I was tired, I knew that waking up early allowed me to have just a little bit more time so that I could work on reaching my goals.
Just waking up an extra 30 minutes or an hour earlier can mean enough time to fit in a workout, to work a little on building your business, to eat a healthy meal, to practice a skill, and so on.
6. Be positive.
I know, I know. I mention how being positive can change everything ALL THE TIME.
There’s a reason for this. It’s because it’s the truth!
If you are interested in learning how to change your life, then you need to have a more positive outlook on life.
There are many benefits of having a more positive outlook on life. Being positive can help bring you motivation, it can help you move on in life so that you stop dwelling on the past, and more.
Related article: Why I Believe Being Positive Can Change Your Financial Situation And Your Life.
What are you currently trying to improve or change in your life? What dream are you trying to reach?
Leave a Reply
All great points Michelle, especially #3. It can be scary stepping outside your comfort zone but it’s definitely necessary. Sometimes, the risk of doing nothing out weighs the risk of having a go.
Thanks Diane! What dream are you aiming for?
My dream? To build a business (blog/writing) that brings in a great income and be completely and utterly debt free. Both are going to require stepping outside my comfort zone. Plus every other point you mention. I’m sure it’s going to be a fun ride!!!
Sounds like a great dream. Good luck! 🙂
Being positive is really important in life. it keeps us hopeful and active. For those pessimist, start having a life with optimism.
Yes, I agree!
I get up at 4 am, partly to be active, partly to blog, and partly to prepare for the day before the kids are up (with the baby crying to be held the whole time). So I halfway feel good about myself after reading this 🙂
I want to quit my job and stay home so bad but my husband, last week, told me I just needed to do x,y,z and then our (his) student loan debt would be paid off and I nearly hit him. With WHAT extra time!! I feel like I need 5 extra hours each day in order to pursue my dream life.
I’m sorry Kirsten. You definitely sound busy with everything that is going on in your life right now. I hope things slow down for you!
All good tips. But I have a modification to #3. Sometimes saying “no” more than saying “yes” can be useful as well. All too often people get excited and try to do 20 different things at once when really what they should be doing is concentrating on one or two things that will actually matter or make a difference in their lives.
Yes, I agree. For this post though, I mean saying “yes” more as in stepping outside of your box more.
Great list of tips! I once had a boss tell me that I should try to take just one step outside my comfort zone each week – nothing drastic, but just enough to give me a little push. I don’t always live by that, but I try to. 🙂
I, too, have noticed that being active is good for my mental health, as well as my rear end.
I keep hearing people talk about getting up earlier, but I just haven’t been able to go there (yet?).
Waking up earlier has been a hard task for me lately. I really don’t know how I used to do it!
Start waking up earlier is seriously on my list! I have a bad habit of lingering in bed while Greg takes a shower. It’s just sooooooooooooo comfy that I don’t want to move!
I do the same!
Getting active is such a positive force. I sometimes slip into justifying my way out of a workout to work more, but then I remind myself how valuable stepping back for an hour can be.
Yes, exactly!
At the beginning of this month I decided I didn’t want my blog to just be my hobby anymore, so I am taking steps to monetize it more. Now to just learn to have patience…
Great decision 🙂
Love this post, Michelle!! I need to start waking up earlier haha. I definitely think I’m living my dream life to an extent – I get to work from home while being with my babies! Ideally, though, my husband would be able to be home full-time too!! I’d love to up my income with blogging and freelancing to allow our family more time together and more flexibility to travel and do what we love! Life is so short and I want to live it to the fullest. Thanks for the encouragement!!
Thanks Sarah 🙂
I agree. What a very motivating post. Thanks for being so encouraging. I need to set goals to try to make some changes in my life.
Thanks! What goals are you trying to currently reach?
Don’t want to appear to be a braggart but I’m living my dream life. This year marks ten years of retirement and I’m still only 62. Thanks to consistent and aggressive saving/investing when working along with hubby’s great pension and we are now living the good life. We made decent money when working but were never rich. We had the same responsibilities as everyone else….mortgage, college fund for son etc. But retirement was a priority and we made other sacrifices which allowed us to reach that goal. It can be done.
Great job Kathy!
These are great tips Michelle. Right now I seriously need to work on being more active. When I get out and exercise I feel so much better. I’m also taking control of my finances of course and having a very positive outlook on the future.
Thanks!
Great points! The thing I struggle with the most is getting up earlier. I hate early mornings!
Ha same here!
Really great advice! Even though I’m a night owl, I have found that waking up 30 minutes early really helps me get a jump start on the day, and I’m not always late anymore. I make a monthly list of all the expenses I know about so that I am aware of how much spending money I actually have.
Great job! What goals are you trying to reach?
#2 is really good! That’s the best thing you can do for peace of mind!
Thanks Lyndsey!