“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Harriet Jackson Brown Jr.
How can this be the most important blog post in your life? It can, and it will be, I promise.
Your time is your life, and you want to stop wasting it on the wrong things and the wrong people—as soon as possible. We all want to be surrounded with people we love, do what we love doing, and to find our place in the universe.
This blog post will help you to:
- Discover who you really are and what you truly want out of your life. This is crucial to live a meaningful life. That is everything that matters to you, from self-accomplishment to the people you want to spend your time with.
- What can you do about it? This is THE most important step. Even if you figured out everything from the first step, if you do not work on it with all you’ve got, nothing will change. This part is about taking steps, bringing your plans to reality, and doing everything you can do to make things work for you.
These are the big words, I know. But you need to figure this out if you do not want to waste your life chasing the wrong goals surrounded by the wrong people. Everything you do is connected and reflects your life in this moment, your future, and people around you.
I am not saying you will sort everything out in the next five minutes, because that’s not possible. But I can tell you that five minutes from now your life will take a different course. This will be your life-changing blog post. Things I am talking about that worked for me, will work for you too.
Let’s begin:
1. Discovering who you really are and what you truly want out of your life.
You do not want to wake up one day and figure out that you have wasted your life on the wrong things. Discovering who you are and what you really want out of life takes time, but it is essential if you want to lead a meaningful life. This is something that people around you cannot help you with. We all see the world through different glasses.
You already know the answers, trust me. Look inside you.What is the thing you would do all your life if you did not have to think about money? Who is your role model, and who inspires you the most? That could be the future you—maybe on a smaller scale or in different area, but that is it. The core values are the same. Forget about the image you want to create and all the superficial goals. Appeareance is not reality. Look deeper.
Self-reflection check:
For the next two steps, you will learn a lot about yourself. Be completely honest. This is essential to create an effective action plan. It is your personal reality check, and you do not have to show it to anybody.
– Think about your life as you really want it to be. Imagine the whole process fluently moving. Spend some time deeply thinking about it. Now draw a map. You are in the middle and empty circles are around you (you can download it from here). Each circle is one area of your life: family, health, intellectual goals, work and finances, creativity goals, spirituality, travel. Inside each circle, write down all the goals you want to achieve in that area. It will help you sort out your priorities and boost your motivation. If you do not know your priorities and you go through life without a plan, it is normal to become lost and overwhelmed eventually.
The initial plan usually fails when you take the first step and encounter new situations, but that doesn’t matter. Plans are constantly changing according to your accomplished and unfulfilled goals, and priorities also change over time. That is also the most interesting part of this process because you never know where life will take you. But if you don’t make a plan and don’t get started, you can be sure it won’t take you far.
– Now draw another picture. One more with you and the circles. This time the bad stuff—all the things that hold you back and drain your energy (download it from here). Each circle is one thing. Let me give you a hand: wasting time (gossiping, TV, social networks, e-mails, video games), favorite poison (drinking, smoking, drugs, coffee, overeating, sugar, junk food, medicine), behavior (overreacting, lack of patience, negativity, arrogance, procrastination, lack of self-confidence, lack of focus, lack of sleep, laziness), people who influence you in a harmful way (drinking buddies, pessimistic people, lazy people, arrogant people, mean people). I bet you will find a few more.
2. What you can do about it.
Do not tell me about the lack of money, time, or motivation. This is about your life. You are not less capable than others. If you want to do something with your life, write down your goals, make a plan, and start working on it. Soon you will see the difference.
(Take the first step immediately. Start with my free audiobook, Fulfilling Life: A Matter of Personal Choice. Together with its accompanying checklists, it will help you to start improving your life.)
Lack of money. Work on that one step at a time. Get a better job. Spend your money in a smart way. Invest in your education. Do not be afraid of change. You have to spend part of your time doing the things you have to do to be able to do the things you love to do. Quid pro quo—take it or leave it.
Lack of time. This one is simple. Prioritize. Stick to the 80/20 rule. Don’t improvise with your schedule, except when you have to. Write down your daily, weekly ,monthly, and long-term goals. Stop procrastinating. Wake up earlier. Is what you are doing now bringing you closer to your goals? If not, stop doing it and start doing what matters.
Lack of motivation. The level of your motivation depends on a few important things:
– things you think, talk about, and do
– people you spend your time with
– level of your self-awareness
– sleep
– exercise
– food
– poison
Use this as a reminder and work on it. Find the combination that suits you. Read biographies of people who inspire you. You will see that they also have made wrong decisions and have their problems. Their perseverance has brought them to the results they achieved.
In the end:
Because of our physical limitations, we can only focus on a miniature part of everything that happens around us. We can’t see the relationships between all of these situations, but we can steer some of them in our direction. When you start looking for answers to your questions and working on your goals, you open the doors to different situations and people who resonate with you. This way, you help favorable situations to form in your life.
You’ll never see exactly how it all happens, for the reason already mentioned, but when some favorable opportunity or situation arises, it will be clear to you that it wasn’t a coincidence but the result of your actions. (The opposite is also true; if you leave things to chance, you are helping unfavorable situations to form.)
Discovering who you really are and what you want out of your life will make you a completely different person, fulfilled and better. Don’t be afraid to say no to people and the rituals that you don’t want in your life. Just turn the other page. It’s your life, and you make the calls.
Don’t forget to get your free audiobook, as well as the accompanying checklists that will help you get going. Set your goals, fill in the checklists, and take the first step. If you need support or just want to share your ideas with others, join the Long-Term Habits group. Everything is easier in a group of like-minded people.
Links:
- Free downloads: PDF and the audiobook Fulfilling Life: A matter of Personal Choice with all the accompanying checklists you need to get started
- Great Books for a Great Life – all the answers to your questions in one place
“In order to write about life, first you must live it.”– Ernest Hemingway