Some Things You Can Do Right Now to Change Your Life

Happy with your life? Everything’s perfect? That’s great. This post is not for you.

Everyone else, keep reading.

There are two popular theories of change-making:

#1. Make small and incremental (but regular) changes. Mix it up.

#2. Do it all at once. Quit smoking immediately. Take cold showers. Enter boot camp for the soul—whatever you need to do, don’t wait.

Either of these options can work, but note that there is no third theory of waiting for change to knock on your door and announce its arrival. You must do something. The sooner, the better.

Change your routine. Take a different commute to work or school, drop in at the museum, learn a new skill, go somewhere new for lunch.

Talk to a stranger. Do something you are afraid of.

Have you always wanted to write? Start writing. Here’s how you write a book in 60 days. Get your free blog over here.

If you want to see the world, do not obsess over where to go. Do all the research you want, but don’t let research stand in the way of action (remember: $2/day to go anywhere). Set a deadline and determine to yourself that you’ll be at the airport by your deadline, no matter what happens. Yes, people do really buy tickets at the airport on the day of departure.

Decide that you are going to get serious about learning something. Educate yourself using all means available to you. Learn from those who have gone before. (People who write well about the subject of change include: Susannah, Julien, Danielle, J.D., and Trent.)

Decide in advance to be grateful when you encounter difficult people. Don’t give in to them, but be respectful. (Secret: your motivations don’t have to be pure. You can walk away saying whatever you want to yourself—but keep your game face on.)

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Stop giving your authority over to other people. Resist the urge to succumb. Choose to rise or fall on your own. No one else is responsible!

Be willing to apologize, and be willing to stand up for yourself. Knowing when to choose which one makes all the difference.

Be willing to fail, but recover from failure as quickly as possible. Keep pushing ahead. Complacency can hit at any time. Resist! Refuse to settle.

Is there someone in your life who shouldn’t be there? Let them go.

Do you love someone? Make sure to tell them.

Above all, spend your time doing something that matters to you. Write down a list of those things. If you’re reading this in the morning, good—you have plenty of time to get to work.

If not, be prepared to lose sleep. Some things are worth fighting for. Don’t put this off.

What would you add to the list? Tell us here.

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Photo by Alexas Fotos from Pexels