11 Steps for Living Your Best Life

You don’t need us to tell you that you only get one life in this world. As such, the best advice — the only advice — is to make the most of it. Of course, sometimes that’s easier said than done. Life does have a habit of becoming a little mundane from time to time. We all have so many responsibilities, and there’s no avoiding the fact that life can be difficult! If you’re going to live your best life, then you’ll need to find a way to overcome this mundanity. Fortunately, there are plenty of things you can do that’ll push you towards living your best life. 

In this blog, we’re going to run through some of the best methods. If you were to take all of these words of advice on board, we’re reasonably confident that your life could change for the better within a few months. Give it a try!

Dream Big

It’s unlikely that you’ll end up living your best life if you’re not dreaming big. How could you end up as the best version of yourself, if your ambition only extends to a moderately better version of yourself? A good idea is to first think about the best possible life that you could live. And we really mean it: dream big! It’s likely that this isn’t a realistic option, but that’s not important. You can work your way down the ladder until you find something that is realistic. You’ll be surprised at just how far this approach can take you.

Surround Yourself With the Best

They say that we are all the average of the five people that we spend the most amount of time with. So it’s worthwhile asking yourself who you’re spending time with. If you elevate your standards for the people that you have in your life, then you’ll find that you naturally progress. Of course, this isn’t to say that you should ditch your long-term friends — you absolutely should not. But if you’re wasting your weekends with people with whom you don’t have a close connection, then you may find that your life can improve by putting yourself in a different environment.

Acts of Courage

It’s always a good idea to live with the understanding that good things don’t come easy in life. If you want to go somewhere that you haven’t been before, then you’ll have to do things that you haven’t done before. And that can be scary, especially if you’re stuck in your ways. Of all the things that separate the people who are living their best life and those who are not, courage is the most common trait. If you know where you want to be, then the courage to act will be what eventually gets you there. There’s just no avoiding it! 

Finding Your Values

If you never figure out who you are or what you stand for, then you might find that you’re forever just being blown by the wind. That can work out, at least for periods of your life, but it’s a bit risky. You can never be too sure where you’re going to end up. Another, better option is to figure out who you are by looking at your values. This is much simpler than trying to figure out who you are on a cosmic level. Once you’ve got your values in order, you’ll be able to shape your life so that you can live a life that reflects those values. It sounds simple, and actually, it kind of is.

Career Options

It’s all good and well doing things in your personal life that bring you joy. But what about your career? That’s going to take up a monumental portion of your life. You could be broadly happy with your personal life, but if your professional life is not in shape, then you’ll struggle to find happiness and contentment. People often run into two problems with their career. The first is that they don’t know what they should be doing. If you’re in this camp, then the Strong Interest Inventory test can help you. That’ll show you what type of work you’re most suited for. The second problem is that people often get stuck in their ways. They keep working in the same job even when they no longer enjoy it. At these moments, it’s important to take a dose of the courage that we mentioned earlier and make a switch. 

Question Your Approach

We talked earlier about finding your values and kind of designing your life around those values. And that is a smart approach. However, it’s not something that you should do just once. We do change as we grow and develop, after all, so it’s important that we rethink our approach to life when that happens. All too often, people get stuck in one way of being. They figure that, since they’ve been living in a certain way for a long time, then they have to stay locked in that way of being. But this isn’t true. If you can get the perspective needed to step outside yourself a little, then you might find that the way you’ve been living is no longer doing it for you. The beautiful thing about life is that you can just change your approach. You don’t need to ask permission from anyone!

Expanding Knowledge

Life is all about learning. When we’re younger, we’re naturally pushed towards learning, first through school and then as we just try to figure out what this life business is all about. But once you get to this stage, we can very often just stop learning. And once that happens, it can be a slow but steady downward slope. If you’re not inputting your brain with new ideas and thoughts, then eventually, you’ll just become overly reliant on the old ones, and it’s not reasonable to expect that they’re going to serve you forever. Make a habit of seeking new books, articles, ways of thinking, and more. They say that the person you’ll be in five years will depend on the quality of the books that you read during that time. 

The magical thing about this approach is that it’s just so simple. If you know how to read, then you can significantly improve your life. Easy!

Out of Comfort Zone 

You can’t stay in your safety zone forever. Well, you can, but it’s unlikely that you’ll get somewhere new and exciting. You probably won’t hit too many peaks. It’s not tempting to put yourself in unfamiliar spaces, but it is valuable. Taking a trip by yourself, for instance, can force you to grow and adapt in ways that you could not have anticipated. Even if you have another person or group of people who want to travel with you, it’s sometimes worthwhile rejecting their offer and going by yourself. When you invite others along, you’re fundamentally changing the experience. 

Your Future Self 

You can’t have everything put on a plate for you. Not all the rewards can be instant. Sometimes, you’ll need to be patient. You’ll need to do things where the reward won’t come for six months or longer. You’ll need to give up things that provide instant pleasure but which are probably holding you back. An example would be socializing. Having a few beers is an instant reward, but if you’re doing it too frequently, then you’ll likely be holding yourself back. Liberate yourself by showing patience and having a willingness to play the long game. 

Professional Help 

You can do a lot on your own. But you can’t do everything. You just don’t have the tools. One of the best things about being a human is that you never have to go through anything on your own. If you can’t find your way to the top of the mountain, then fear not because there’ll be someone who knows the way. Sometimes, this will be friends and family. At other times, it’ll be a professional, such as a therapist or life coach. So long as you’re willing to accept help from other people, you’ll get to where you need to be. Indeed, one of the biggest influences on how well you can live is a willingness to accept help from others. 

Live With Love

Life is going to beat you down from time to time. It’s unavoidable! It’s important that you don’t let it destroy your soul, however. The people who end up content, happy, and fulfilled later in life are the ones who did not let life’s trials and tribulations get them down. Everyone goes through hard times. The happy people did not feel the pain any less than the people who grew bitter and cynical. They just didn’t lose hope. There’s a million ways to find hope, but the easiest method is to simply live with love. Taking a moment to step back and fill your heart with positivity can do wonders for your approach to the day, and ultimately, how much you’re able to enjoy life.