In our last post (Start Living a More Positive Life: Assessment Time), we looked at how well your current lifestyle matches up to the elements that are most important to you. Everything from your career path to the company you keep can either add to your overall happiness or drain the life right out of you. Perhaps your life requires a massive overhaul, or maybe it just needs a couple tweaks, either way the next step is to plan your new life and take action. That is what we are going to work on this week. We are going to come up with a step-by-step plan to turn all those wild dreams into your new reality!
So lets start with those who need a career change. For whatever reason, this tends to be a difficult switch to believe you can make. Lets look a few of the reasons that might be holding you back and methods to get past them.
- A guy/gal has to pay the bills and my dream job doesn’t earn enough money! With how society is setup, earning money seems to be a necessary evil, however, there is no “one-size fits all” way to make a living. Ditch the stereotype about rich doctors and lawyers, you can get rich doing anything. Here is a reality check for you: According to Celebrity Networth, Cesar Millan (The Dog Trainer) is valued at $25 million and Martha Stewart (The Crafting Entrepreneur) has a net worth of $300 million. Also remember that money, is not the same thing as wealth–true riches don’t come with a president’s face on the front. Choose a method that makes you happy and don’t let false ideas get in your way. Here are some ways to work past this reason…
- How much money do you really need in order to live your dream? Build a budget with a “have to pay” column and an “extras” column. Look at where you can cut expenses to live within your means.
- What different ways are there for you to bring in money doing what you love? Sometimes your ideal life includes a combination of money making means. You’d be surprised how you can turn the things you already own or do into revenue earning facets of your empire.
- My (insert unsupportive member here) will disown me if I become a(n) (insert dream career here). Repeat after me, “This is my life, not (insert unsupportive member here)’s, and I am going to live my life the way I was meant to live it.” Sometimes people mean well, but their intentions are misguided. You need to realize that no one knows yourself better than you do and only you can mold your life into the one you have always imagined. Anyone who gets in the way of your dreams will have to learn to accept things. This is not your problem to deal with, unless the unsupportive member is your spouse. As a spouse, your lives are shared and you are going to have work this out together. Just keep in mind that you will never be happy so long as you choose to live your life pleasing others.
Digital Rendition of the Patronus Visualization
Looking deeper into unsupportive members, we need to do something about the negative people in your life. Life is too short to be around people who consistently make you feel bad–period, end of story. It doesn’t matter if they are random acquaintances or family members, the effects these life suckers have on you needs to go. Ditch this idea of blood and water, surround yourself with people who inspire you! Now, I understand that some people are easier to “get rid of” than others, so there are different methods of damage control. If you can’t get away from the people who make you miserable, you are going to have to shield yourself from them. Sometimes you need to keep the door open, keep things pleasant, but not reach out to that person or initiate interactions. You also need to have a weapon to combat the negativity this person attempts to inject into your life. Being a huge Harry Potter fan, my method is to imagine casting a Patronus Charm that protects me from the joy sucking dementor–yes, I am a book nerd. You need to find a method that works for you and stick with it so your energy goes into your awesome new life, not the dementor!
Now that you have all your energy ready, it is time to put it to use by taking up those hobbies you put on the back burner. There has to be at least one crazy thing you have always wanted to do or maybe you are like me and the list is more than you can get through in one lifetime. In this case, you need to make a prioritized hobby list–start at the top and work you way down. Either way, build time into your schedule to make your hobby a habit that will fuel your life with joy and inspiration. Make sure you are wisely using your free-time. Life is made of moments that you have a hand in creating, make the most of the precious time you are given and don’t let anything get in your way.
Finally, we come to your living space. Life becomes a lot easier when you set yourself up with a home that enables your ideal life rather than making it more difficult. There are ways to make where you live better reflect the life you are putting together, but sometimes your home just isn’t a good fit. This is time to put some thought into why. Is it the house? The amount or land? The activities, or lack there of, nearby? No matter your dream life, there is a home and community out there that will help you to embrace this. Maybe the answer is moving–sometimes this means moving to a new place nearby and in other cases to an entirely new country. If you aren’t sure what you are looking for, it might be time to travel and get the vibe of different areas. Remember you can always rent until you are certain enough to purchase a home. Also remember, even purchasing a home doesn’t mean you are stuck there if you change your mind.
I hope you found this to be helpful motivation to make the changes you would like to make. I’d love to hear your stories or thoughts on the direction you are taking your life, feel free to share insights by leaving a comment!
Did you enjoy this post and want to walk through the series?
Start with Step 1: Changes You Can Make Today
Then go with Step 2: Assessment Time
You are on Step 3: Time for Change
Under Open Skies 