At every curve of our lives, we swear to make a change and take steps to live an amazing life, and with life happening at a rapid pace, we fall back to living the same life all over again. We see time slipping through our fingers and keep moving forward, yet some of us sleep on, “What am I doing with my life?” Some of us wait for our dream job, a chance that can change lives for good; however that job, that chance remains elusive. Given below are the seven steps to reset your life and be a better version of yourself.
Redefine the narrative of your life – your reality is malleable
Most of our lives we keep wondering, why our life is not improving, why is it the same, or why does it feel like we are stuck in time? Things are not moving for me whereas others seem to accelerate in almost every sphere of life. We end up blaming the circumstances, and the people who do not support us and as a result, we accept the current reality and think that the reality is static, my life is what I deserve, we become self-critical and the downward spiral becomes our best friend and we find ourselves at the pit of that spiral.
Imagine how life would be if there is a purpose, wonder, and happiness in it.
There is no user manual for life, we must realize the words we choose, the stories we tell, and our life’s narration is creating a life’s user manual for us. Please remember, “Our narrative becomes our story, and our story becomes our reality.”
As the saying goes, “As you sow, shall you reap, as you think, so shall you receive.” We have to make such a narrative of our lives with ourselves and others that makes things possible, let’s mold it toward the life we wish to live.
Be humble and accept
It may be hard-hitting for some of us, or some of us may refute this fact. However, the fact is – what we are, who we are, is our own doing. If we are not happy with the way we are, how our job is, and how our relationships are, we have to take ownership and accept where we are, if we resist we remain stuck. We have to accept and open up possibilities to become a better version of ourselves.
Revisit your beliefs
When was the last time you used the GPS navigation app Google maps? Every time we use the app, we set our destination, and the app does the job to navigate us and take us to our desired destination. Imagine we have a GPS in our brains that can navigate us to our desired future, how amazing life would be? Little do we realize that our beliefs are the GPS of our brain that drives our life, and it takes conscious endeavors to define our destination. Life’s GPS feeds on our beliefs. To reach your desired dream life, check your beliefs and revisit if you must, tweak, refine or change.
Leverage your time
Tempus fugitive – Time flies. Most of us wear an urgency blanket. Our calendar is full, there are back-to-back meetings, and there is so much work that needs our attention, however, it is an unending stream of work.
We all have 24 hours in a day. It is up to us where and how we spend that time. If you add 30 minutes to your wake-up time, which means steal 30 minutes from your sleep, and wake up early. For example, if you wake up at 6.30 am, wake up at 6.00 am, and it is when others are sleeping, it’s your me time and it is the time to plan the life you want, the day you want. It works like magic, try it.
Grow
You cannot move to level 10 in your game with level 1 habits and skills. Look around, everything is growing, are you flowing water or a stagnant pond? I am sure nobody wants to be a stagnant pond, instead, we want to blossom like a flowing river.
We can take one step at a time, maybe start by reading a page a day, learning a new word every day, or picking up a new language. I am inspired by GARMIN’s BEAT YESTERDAY campaign, it captures the essence of bettering oneself irrespective of who you are, and how you live. Just be a better version of yourself. Today, be a better version of yesterday, and tomorrow, be a better version of today.
Pause – reframe what you see
A problem-solving mind accelerates faster and can overcome obstacles and roadblocks. It seems only natural to the majority of us to look at negatives, and it may infuse a feeling of helplessness. At that moment, take a pause, pause to reflect, and reframe what you see. Reframing turns the situation 180 degrees without compromising the context. Ask what I am in control of, what I can do to be better, and what my future is asking me to do today so that the elusive future becomes the reality. Simply put, start using more and more positive words in your conversations. It can do wonders. So, take a pause and switch to the positive choice of words.
Take action
“Optimal lives are designed, they are not discovered”.We have to design it the way we wish it to be. It is entirely up to us how we want our lives to be. We determine the kind of person we aspire to be, the intensity and speed of our lives, and the people we want in our lives. We have to take charge and take stock of our lives. Focusing on designing our life is currency, our biggest investment.
Application of these seven steps will be your gift to yourself, so go ahead and live an amazing life, and be a better version of yourself.
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Written By: Jimmy Jain
Edited By: Afreen Fatima
Society of Design Thinking Professionals
