In this article, I want to share some powerful strategies that will help you live your best life. These are things that have helped me make the most of my life and live a happy lifestyle. It is easy to get caught up in the rat race and forget about what really matters – our own happiness! Start living with purpose and in a way that brings you joy and fulfillment. Here are some strategies that will help.
At the end of our lives, we all ask, ‘Did I live? Did I love? Did I matter?’ – Brendon Burchard
What Does Living Your Best Life Mean?
Living your best life means something different to everyone and is personal, which is why you should ask that question to yourself. “What does living MY best life mean?”
Does it mean being in great health, is it being financially free, is it having an amazing relationship, or perhaps all of those and more? As you read further, you will learn some strategies on how to answer the question, “what does living my best life mean?” as well as learn how to actualize it. Whatever your best life looks like to you, it should be a life that makes you happy, proud, and fulfilled.
1. Design Your Life
The first step in living your best life is to take a step back and really figure out what you want. What type of lifestyle would make you feel fulfilled?
Write down what your ideal life would look like in each area. What would your ideal health look like? How about your finances or relationships? What does your perfect career look like? Include your passions. Get extremely specific and write everything out as if already true.
For example, “I am in great shape and weigh X pounds.” Or, “I am fortunate enough to work at my passion [X] and make $X dollars a month.”
Think practical but think big. You can’t begin to live your best life until you define exactly what it looks like. Brainstorm and get everything out on paper before anything else.
Going Further
Once you design your life on paper, I find it helpful to follow up with three things.
First, read your life design worksheet or document daily. You’ll find that you may want to tweak things here or there which is perfectly fine. By reading and revising you stay focused on the things that really matter to you.
Second, create a vision board that matches your life design. Find or create images, words, and pictures that represent your best life.
For instance, if you want to live in a big beautiful home, find one you like on Zillow or Realtor.com, print it off, and add it to your vision board. If there is a celebrity couple whose relationship you admire find a picture of them and put that on your vision board as well.
Being able to see a visual representation of your goals and dream life will help reinforce your desire to achieve them.
Third, use the power of affirmations to instill belief and activate the law of attraction. Many times people who make it this far in the life design process will begin to doubt that they will ever achieve any of it. Voices in their head will tell them, “This will never happen,” “You don’t deserve a life like this,” or, “You have to be lucky to get what you want.”
You can’t let these voices dominate your thoughts and beliefs. To counter them, use affirmations and use them often. Say things to yourself like, “I am deserving of everything I desire,” or “I am talented enough and smart enough to bring my dreams to reality,” or even, “I am easily accomplishing all my goals.”
2. Develop Specific Goals
Now that you have a clearer vision of what your ideal life looks like, it’s time to create specific goals to close the gap between where you are now and where you want to be.
Do not be intimidated by how far you have to go. Everyone has to start somewhere and it all starts with just a single step.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. – Lao Tzu
Get very clear on what you have to do. How much weight do you need to lose? How much money do you need to have? What skills do you need to learn? This is called a gap analysis and is an essential step to get you pointed in the right direction.
Make sure all of your goals are SMART goals. Meaning they are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. With these types of goals, your chances of attaining them increase exponentially.
An example of a SMART goal is, “I will lose 1 pound a week for the next 10 weeks” or, “I will pay an extra $100 dollars a month for the next year to eliminate debt.”
Goals that are general such as, “I need to get a better job to live my best life,” will only lead to failure. What skills do you need to learn to get this better job? How much would you like to make? When would you like to have this job? This is what you need to think about as you set your goals.
What specific goals do you need to live your best life?
3. Develop Good Habits and Eliminate Bad Habits
Our daily habits define the type of life we live. They define how healthy we are, the types of relationships we have, how much money we have, etc. Of all the strategies in this article on living your best life, developing good habits and eliminating bad habits are the most crucial.
What habits do you need to develop to live your best life? Examine your goals from strategy 2. What daily habits will help you accomplish them?
For example, for the goal, “I will lose 5 pounds in the next month,” you can develop a habit to get up 30 minutes earlier every day to go for a jog. You can also eliminate a bad habit to help with your goal such as, “I will not go to Starbucks every morning.”
When it comes to eliminating your bad habits, the first thing you must do is identify your trigger. All habits, whether good or bad, follow the same loop. Trigger (cue), action (routine), reward. This was well documented in an MIT habit experiment that has been made popular in the book The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg.
To break a bad habit, you must identify the trigger, and replace the action (or bad habit) with a good habit that will still give you a powerful reward. You can never really “unlearn” a bad habit because habits are ingrained in our brains, good and bad, but you can rewire them. Rewire the bad habits that prevent you from living your best life.
Brainstorm good habits that you can develop that will create the life you desire, and identify daily bad habits the hold you back.
4. Eliminate Toxic People To Live Your Best Life
We are only as strong as the people around us. We must make sure we have positive, uplifting relationships in our lives to thrive and live our best lives.
Sometimes that means cutting out toxic people who don’t support your goals or taking a break from negative friends.
Evaluate the company you keep. Make a list of all the people who affect your day-to-day. Next to each name, write a brief statement about how they make you feel. Do they make you feel energized, happy, and uplifted or do they give you anxiety, make you feel less than, or create self-doubt? Here are more signs of toxic friendships and relationships.
If people are toxic in your life, you should get serious about eliminating or reducing the amount of time you spend with them. This can be extremely hard to do depending on the type of relationship but something that must be done if you want to live your best life.
On the other hand, if they are uplifting, be proactive about spending more time with them. Schedule regular meetups with them, or call them often. The goal is to spend your time and energy on these types of positive people instead of negative toxic individuals.
5. Have Fun and Do Things You Like
If you want to live your best life, remember these two pieces of advice: practice self-care regularly, and ALWAYS have something scheduled on your calendar that you look forward to.
Self-care is about tending to the needs of your mind, body, and spirit in whatever way works best for you – whether that means spending time with friends, going for long walks, or meditating on the beach every day. Here are some more amazing self-care ideas.
Whatever self-care activity you decide, the benefits are enormous. Self-care makes us happier, healthier, better able to tackle life’s challenges, and helps us live our best lives.
Always have a self-care activity or something you look forward to on your calendar. Doing so keeps us motivated and our moods brighter, especially on our toughest days. No matter how hard our days get, we still have something we can look forward to.
The more we look forward to our lives, the better they will be.
6. Put Yourself Out There More
You miss so much in life if you avoid putting yourself out there. Get out of your comfort zone. Do not let fear stop you from chasing your dreams or trying new things. It is in new experiences, often scary experiences, that we find the most growth and fulfillment.
The older we get, and the closer we get to our last breath, the more these moments matter most. Even if we fail, and fall flat on our face putting ourselves out there, these are the moments that help us grow and give meaning to our lives. These are the experiences that allow us to live our best lives.
What have you been putting off because of fear, time, or another excuse? Is there a group you’ve been meaning to join? Is there a job opportunity that you’ve been dreaming about going for? Are there people you’ve been meaning to introduce yourself to? Be bold and try new things.
Remember, nothing ever happens in your comfort zone. Here are some ways to get yourself out there.
7. Stop Sweating The Small Stuff To Live Your Best Life
Finally, you cannot live your best life if you let small things bother you. If you dwell on the negative, and you have a hard time letting minor things go, you will never live up to your fullest potential.
The next time something happens and you find yourself getting bothered, ask yourself, “Will this matter in a year, month, or even a week from now?” If not, then let it go.
Stop letting the guy who cut you off on the way to work steal your joy. Don’t let the lady who neglected to thank you for holding the door put a damper on your positive vibes. Stop letting these non-important things control your mood and emotions.
Instead, focus on being positive and be proactive in letting the positivity in. Listen to uplifting podcasts on the way to work. Hang around people who uplift you. Jam to your favorite music. Do something deliberate day in and day out that will add more positivity.
I know too many people who let minor inconveniences spoil their life. Don’t be one of them.
Conclusion
We all want to live our best lives, but it’s not always easy. Whether you are looking for ways to improve your relationships or find a new job, these 7 strategies will help you get there. Design your life, develop specific goals, develop good habits, eliminate toxic people, have fun, put yourself out there, and let go of the small stuff. We only live one life, so make it the best life.
What does YOUR best life look like? Let me know in the comments below!
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