Who is at a point in their life where they are starting to question where their life currently is and/or where their life is currently headed? If this is you and you haven’t achieved everything you thought you would have achieved or haven’t achieved your “happily ever after” scenario, have you really given it your all?
Can you honestly look yourself in the mirror and say that you have given it your best effort? Or is this a lie you keep pedaling and continue to make excuses about not being where we want to be in life?
You are where you should be or words to that effect is an apt description of most people’s lives. Yes may have had a bit more luck (some may be unlucky) however across most areas of life you are where you should be. Does that mean you should accept this, absolutely not, if anything this unhappiness with your current situation should be used as a spur to greater things!
Anyone can improve their life and their current situation, for some it may take a little more effort than others. Below we go through some tips to take responsibility and improve your life.
1. Take responsibility for where you are in life
One of the first steps you should be taking to turn your life around is to acknowledge your part in this and take responsibility. This may have been across many areas including financial choices, career and employment choices, study choices, lifestyle choices or relationship choices. whether it’s in one area or in all above areas, take that first step and acknowledge your role in your current situation in life.
We’re not suggesting that your situation or current life experiences has you at rock bottom (though it may feel like it), however you need to accept responsibility for where you are and more importantly accept that you have control of your destiny. If you are in control of your life when it hasn’t been going so well, then you can definitely be in control of when your life is going great. You also have the ability to navigate your life to calmer, more prosperous times.
The longer you continue to make excuses and continue to blame others, the longer it will take you to reach the goals that you set and live the life and be in the financial situation that you desire.
2. Yes, you can change if you want you
Henry Ford once said “whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right”. Your attitude towards being successful and the belief that you can achieve success is one of the major obstacles in most people’s lives. If you believe that you are a failure, a financial mess, unsuccessful then that’s what you are likely to be. If you believe you can be financially successful then you can. Make peace with any financial mess that may have occurred, any investment that didn’t workout, any relationship that didn’t work out, any missed health goals, wipe the slate clean and start believing you can be successful no matter what setbacks you may have previously encountered.
If a lack of experience is holding you back from change or fueling your lack of belief, this should be temporary.
Remember everyone starts out as a beginner. Tiger Woods had once never swung a golf club (as young as that may have been). Eddie Van Halen once never knew how to play the guitar. Meryl Streep was once an aspiring actress. There was a time where JK Rowling and Aaron Sorkin had never written a word nor had anything published or produced. Don’t let fear stop you from trying something nor from stopping you achieving what you desire.
Keep telling yourself you can, take regular action and keep moving forward to your desired goal or outcome.
3. Don’t compare yourself to others only focus on you
There are many paths to the top of the mountain, the journey is always the same. Some people pick up things quicker than others. Some may have access to funds, contacts, and education that others may not. Some may have a natural aptitude. It doesn’t matter to you. You are on your own journey, independent to everyone outside your family. Don’t let that stop you.
Just because someone has a flash house or car doesn’t mean they are successful. They could be hooked up to their eyeballs in debt. So many social media influencers these days live a fake like that they present is real.
Look away when people tell you how being “ripped” can be achieved with no dieting or little training. Or how people can make millions from trading as little as 10 minutes a day or how you anyone can become a millionaire overnight by trading crypto?
There are no shortcuts to achieving what you want out of life. Yes some things will come quicker than others and yes you may come into some luck however to achieve true success be prepared to put in the hard work.
Block out the noise, focus on you and your journey. Learn as much as you can, help others and be nice to people along your journey. Cut out time wasters and negative people from your life and never apologize for chasing your goals and the life that you desire.
4. Set some goals and make a plan
Now that you’ve accepted where you are in life and have made the decision to change and go all in on this new direction, where do you want to go? What do you want to change in your life and what is your ideal outcome?
Sit down and go through the areas in life that you want to achieve, set goals and start looking at ways that you can achieve these goals. Sure you may be lucky enough to stumble your way into the career you love or the running of a successful business however success is much more likely if you have a plan in place with action steps or tasks to complete.
It doesn’t need to be too detailed (too many people are beaten at the planning stage), it just needs to outline the main steps needed to get from where you are now to where you want to be. This plan will be fluid and a lot of things will be changing along the way. You might achieve things a lot quicker than anticipated or things might be a little slower than you first thought.
You might find someone with experience that helps you learn something quicker than you planned, you might come across an investment or business opportunity quicker than you anticipated. A whole new path might appear in a way that you hadn’t even thought of. So while a basic plan is needed, don’t spend too much time on the small details. Hopefully your success comes a lot quicker than you anticipated, a success that will require a whole new plan and a new set of goals to achieve.
Be open to new opportunities if they align with what you achieve even if you don’t believe you are ready or deserve these.
5. Take action even if you aren’t 100% ready
The most important part of your journey to financial success is to take action. You’ve taken responsibility, you believe you can do it, you have a vision and a plan of what you wish to achieve however if you don’t take the action needed to achieve then it’s all for nothing. Do something small every day that is on the path to what you want to achieve. Every day doesn’t need to be a home run! There will be some days where you may be frustrated with your achievements and lack of programs, don’t worry, these all add up.
Stay focused and stay consistent and each small win will add up to much larger wins and eventually the momentum will be inevitable. Continually review the goals you set, what ways can you speed up the learning process (i.e. finding a quality coach to speed up a learning process), are there any mentors you can see who have done what you wish to do or have achieved something similar?
One of the biggest reasons people fail or don’t achieve a life they desire is by not taking action! They wait to have the right circumstances, the best plan, the most experience, the wind blowing the right way, the stars to align, fireworks to occur, basically a situation that won’t ever occur. Go out to meet your ship, don’t wait for it to come to shore!
The big takeout from this article should be that no matter what’s happened in your past, it is your past. Let this go emotionally and focus on what you can do to improve your situation and live the life you should be living. Take responsibility for where you are in life, set new goals for where you want to be, put a basic plan in place then take action!
Inspired action is some of the most important action you can ever take, back this up with some belief, some help in the areas you are looking at achieving in, set some goals with accountability then take action! There’s no limit to what you can achieve.