How to Live Your Best Life Starting Today

As quality beings, 1 of our deepest-rooted desires is to person a meaningful and happy existence. You’ve astir apt heard of nan saying, “Live your champion life.” It’s bully advice.

We each want to consciousness connected to some ourselves and others. We want to consciousness that we’re portion of thing important and that we’re making a quality successful nan world.

We want to look backmost astatine our lives and our achievements and beryllium proud. In short, we want what nan saying says: to unrecorded our champion lives.

But what does it really mean to unrecorded your champion life?

You are a unsocial individual, truthful surviving your champion life is exclusive to you. Your champion life will bespeak your existent values. It will beryllium made up of what floats your boat and will beryllium colored by what making a difference intends to you.

What Stops You From Living Your Best Life?

While surviving your champion life is each astir you, what different group deliberation tin person an effect connected your quest to unrecorded your champion life.

Social media, for example, puts america nether a batch of pressure. There are circumstantial expectations of what “happy” looks like, and we’re nether unit to conform to what nine expects.

For example, we are pressured to look a definite way, deterioration nan “right” clothes, person breathtaking adventures pinch eye-catching friends, eat ethical and patient food, and do kindness work.

These are only a fewer of society’s expectations. It’s a agelong list.

Social media claims to link us, but often it tin do nan opposite.

We tin walk truthful overmuch clip worrying astir what different group are doing, trying to unrecorded nan life that nine expects of us, that it tin beryllium easy to suffer way of what makes america happy and what our champion life really looks like.

3 Questions to Ask About Living Your Best Life

For me, successful nan moments we faced decease during that harrowing acquisition connected nan plane, I became intensely alert of these 3 questions by which I was judging really my life had been up to that point.

How Am I Experiencing Love?

The emotion I felt successful that infinitesimal for my husband, our loved ones who were connected nan ground, and each others successful nan world was genuinely profound. I became alert that love—both my expertise to person it and stock it—matters much than thing else.

How Authentically Am I Sharing My Unique Gift?

We each person a unsocial gift—the unsocial power and principle that is who we really are. Each personification has a unsocial gift to connection that nary 1 other tin aliases ever will again.

Living our champion life intends uncovering imaginative ways to stock our champion selves, whether successful our work, our imaginative hobbies, aliases simply really we live.

What Am I Grateful for?

It’s easy to attraction connected our worries and anxieties aliases nan distractions of mundane life. However, erstwhile we retrieve our ain mortality, we recognize that each infinitesimal is simply a gift.

What matters astir successful nan large image position of our lives is very personal. However, figuring it retired is really we uncover our look for surviving our champion lives.

Start nan Journey

What does it look for illustration to unrecorded your champion life? The pursuing are immoderate applicable tips and devices to move from surviving your existent life to surviving your champion life.

1. Be nan Best Version of Yourself

To unrecorded your champion life, you must be nan champion type of yourself. Don’t effort to beryllium thing aliases personification else. Don’t effort to beryllium what different group want you to be.

Focus connected who you want to be. Play to your strengths and beryllium proud of what makes you different. You are brilliant.

Gretchen Rubin, successful her book Happiness Project, created her ain commandments. The first 1 was “Be Gretchen.” This gave her support to travel her gut emotion and dress up her ain rules.

For example, she stopped forcing herself to bask parties, cocktails, and manner conscionable because that’s what she thought nine expected.

So, inspired by Gretchen, create your ain commandment: “Be much YOU,” and punctual yourself of this each day, unapologetically.

2. Observe Yourself

To activity retired what nan champion you looks like, you must get to cognize yourself better. It’s your champion life aft each – not anyone else’s.

Start to announcement really you respond to various situations. What are your habits? What makes you happy? What frustrates you? How do you behave nether pressure? What gives you energy? What drains you?

Spend a week simply noticing. Write your observations down truthful you remember.

3. Identify Your Bad Habits

As portion of your observations, commencement to announcement your bad habits. Consider nan things that don’t yet make you consciousness good.

Does scrolling mindlessly done Instagram make you happy? For 5 minutes, perhaps, but for longer?

That past solid of vino was delicious, but do you salary nan value later?

That cocoa was enjoyable astatine nan moment, but now that nan sweetener precocious is over, are you emotion regretful?

Observe yourself first. Then, commencement to deliberately do much of nan things that make you happy and springiness you energy.

At nan aforesaid time, activity connected reducing past eliminating nan habits that squander your time, drain your energy, and yet don’t make you happy.

Need thief conquering your bad habits? Read How to Break Bad Habits Once and For All.

4. Set Intentions

After having thought astir what floats your boat and what drains your energy, attraction connected what surviving nan champion life looks for illustration for you.

One of nan keys to this is being intentional astir it. When you deliberately group intentions, you are much apt to enactment pinch intent and drive.

Setting intentions is different from mounting goals. Goals are your database of things you want to achieve. You tin group them daily, monthly, yearly, aliases a combination.

A communal believe is to specify goals and constitute them down. This makes them much tangible and makes you much accountable, therefore, making nan goals much apt to happen.

The subtle yet important quality betwixt goals and intentions is that erstwhile mounting intentions, you determine what benignant of affirmative feelings and emotions you are seeking.

For example, “This week, my volition is to attack my admin tasks pinch gusto successful bid to complete them much quickly.”

Intentions tin beryllium much motivating than goals because if you don’t execute your goal, it tin consciousness for illustration a nonaccomplishment and tin yet clasp you back.

If you don’t execute your volition to attack thing successful a circumstantial way, you tin much easy regroup and person different try.

Write down your intentions each month, week, aliases day, utilizing whichever clip framework useful champion for you.

For example, “I intend to bask going swimming 3 times this week” aliases “I intend to assertively build my web successful my section area this month.”

Setting intentions gives you thing to attraction on, and it besides helps to negociate nan emotion of being overwhelmed that often happens erstwhile we group ourselves goals.

5. Visualize Living Your Best Life

Visualization tin thief you to cement your intentions. It involves visualizing really it would feel to unrecorded your champion life erstwhile you execute it.

It tin thief you to further found what you want and let you to settee into a affirmative mindset.

To visualize, first take your focus. Choose a circumstantial volition and really you will consciousness erstwhile it is accomplished. Then, return nan clip to daydream and let your imagination to wander.

For example, if your volition is going swimming 3 times a week, ideate what you will look and consciousness like:

• What will you wear?
• How do you get there?
• What clip of time do you go?
• How do you consciousness erstwhile you’re successful nan water?
• How do you consciousness afterward?

Ask yourself these small questions and let yourself to consciousness nan aforesaid feelings you would consciousness if you were presently fulfilling your intention.

16 Ways to Live Your Best Life

Now that you’ve decided and visualized what your champion life looks like, let’s look astatine immoderate much applicable steps you tin return to execute it.

1. Focus

Whatever you do, focus. If you swim, swim. If you study, study. Multitasking is simply a myth. It’s not imaginable to do much than 1 point astatine a clip well. Focused activity is nan slightest tiresome and nan astir productive type of work.

Michael LeBouf, nan writer of The Millionaire successful You, said,

“Winners focus, losers spray.”

2. Take Responsibility for Taking Action

Taking action tin consciousness scary. We fearfulness failure, but we tin besides fearfulness success. It tin beryllium easy to consciousness excessively engaged to execute your intentions.

However, you person nan prime to return action and unrecorded your champion life aliases enactment nan same. It’s up to you, truthful return work to return action.

3. Live successful nan Present

Every time is simply a caller opportunity to unrecorded your champion life. We truthful often get stuck because we put things off.

We tin think, “When I’ve mislaid 10 lbs I’ll spell swimming,” aliases “When I consciousness much assured I’ll look for a caller job,” aliases “When I get my caller moving shoes I’ll commencement running.”

How astir starting from wherever you are? How astir utilizing what you already have?

We often put disconnected taking action until we person nan newest phone/camera/game/course/book/shoes arsenic if they are nan keys to happiness. In nan process, we hide astir what we already have.

Grab nan camera that you have, put connected your aged moving shoes. Go and do thing absorbing coming pinch what you’ve got. Fancier gadgets, amended clothes, aliases a slimmer assemblage won’t make you better. Action will.

4. Practice Mindfulness

Research has revealed that a elemental measurement to beryllium happier and unrecorded your champion life comes from processing nan expertise to afloat acquisition each moment. Mindfulness is nan expertise to observe nan coming infinitesimal without judging it.

Mindfulness has galore awesome benefits for beingness and intelligence health. Diabetic patients who were taught mindfulness skills knowledgeable little humor sweetener and accrued happiness.

Mindfulness connected nan occupation has been proven to trim exhaustion and summation occupation satisfaction.

Mindfulness is not difficult to study and is thing we tin do successful a moment. Right now, return a heavy breath, and announcement really nan activity feels arsenic it is going into your lungs.

How does your assemblage feel? Are your muscles stiff aliases relaxed? Do you consciousness lukewarm aliases cold? Use your 5 senses to picture your contiguous experience.

Use your 5 senses to picture really your assemblage feels and your contiguous experience. This is each it takes to beryllium afloat present.

5. Declutter

This applies to nan situation you unrecorded successful arsenic good arsenic nan group you walk clip with. Use Marie Kondo’s decluttering method of asking, “Does it bring you joy?”

If your reply is yes, you support nan item. If you hesitate aliases opportunity no, you donate it aliases propulsion it out. Simple.

This besides applies to people. If location are group successful your life that make you consciousness bad, drain your energy, and don’t bring you joy, fto spell of them.

Instead, walk clip pinch nan group and activities that springiness you power and make you consciousness good.

6. Relish nan Simple Things

When we’re busy, we tin hide to admit what we have. Take clip to attraction connected nan elemental things. Even erstwhile you’re emotion low, there’s ever thing to beryllium grateful for.

In affirmative psychology research, gratitude is powerfully and consistently associated pinch greater happiness. Be deliberate successful being grateful for what you do have, alternatively than resentful of what you don’t.

7. Journaling

Journaling is simply penning your thoughts down.

According to nan University of Rochester Medical Center, penning your thoughts and feelings down connected insubstantial not only helps you get your thoughts successful order, but it tin besides thief easiness symptoms of slump and negociate accent and anxiety.

In nan chaos of life, it is easy to overthink, consciousness anxious, aliases not admit what you do have. Journaling tin thief you negociate your thoughts and feelings and productively header pinch life.

Be funny and support learning. Ask much questions and support pushing yourself to measurement extracurricular of your comfortableness area and learn.

What are you willing successful aliases funny about? Perhaps it’s learning much astir wherever you live, aliases reference up connected a peculiar topic? Maybe it’s walking to a caller municipality aliases country?

According to Dan Pink’s research, learning is simply a cardinal motivator. Whether you consciousness for illustration you’ve gotten stuck successful a boring regular aliases you’re stressed by nan tasks of regular life, learning thing caller is simply a measurement to measurement extracurricular yourself and your comfortableness zone.

Create a bucket database of each nan things you’d for illustration to do and study and nan places you’d for illustration to spell to, and commencement ticking them off.

8. Make Someone’s Day

Being benignant to others makes them consciousness good, and it besides releases chemicals successful your assemblage that make you consciousness good. Think astir a clip you gave personification a gift that they loved. How did you feel?

You don’t person to commencement giving group gifts to make someone’s day. Think astir small, thoughtful gestures: a genuine compliment, opening nan door, offering to thief someone.

All these things tin make a large quality successful someone’s day.

9. Look After Your Body

Eat what nourishes you, including plentifulness of vegetables and consequence and nutrient that’s earthy and unprocessed. Drink plentifulness of water.

Exercise because you for illustration it, not because you’re expected to spell to nan gym.

Reject nan thought that you person to push yourself really difficult astatine exercise, and alternatively effort retired a assortment of things – for example, stepping nan dog, gardening, yoga, swimming, aliases dancing.

Find what you enjoy. When you bask something, you’ll beryllium motivated to do it more.

Get bully rest! We’re each different successful position of nan magnitude of slumber that we need. However, astir adults request betwixt 7 and 9 hours of sleep.

If you’re not getting that much, past cheque retired patient slumber tips from nan Sleep Foundation.

More tips for staying healthy: Powerful Daily Routine Examples for a Healthy and High-Achieving You.

10. Manage Your Inner Critic

Most group person an soul professional that tells them they are not bully enough, that they’re a fraud, and that they are going to beryllium recovered out.

This happens particularly erstwhile we measurement retired of our comfortableness area and alteration things. If you are surviving your champion life, your soul professional likes to jeopardize that.

The adjacent clip it appears, admit what’s happening and telephone it out. Whatever it is telling you, database each nan reasons it’s wrong.

11. Be Prepared to Change nan Plan

You whitethorn person group intentions to unrecorded your champion life. However, life is not linear, nor does it activity successful lists. You must expect to beryllium elastic and alteration nan scheme arsenic life throws things astatine you.

The extremity crippled remains nan same: to unrecorded your champion life. It’s conscionable nan way to get location that will inevitably change.

12. Learn to Flow

One of nan astir powerful ways to link pinch our existent selves and acquisition affirmative emotions is done flow.

Flow is for illustration mindfulness successful action. Flow is erstwhile we are truthful engrossed successful what we are doing that we get into a area and extremity reasoning astir thing else. We tin acquisition this erstwhile playing an instrument, playing a sport, creating artwork, penning an essay, reference a book, etc.

Being successful travel increases our happiness, helps america scope optimal performance, and boosts our creativity.

According to interrogator Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and writer of Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, 1 of nan champion things astir travel is it puts happiness successful our control. Rather than being happy because of outer events, we are successful travel arsenic a consequence of an soul acquisition we create for ourselves.

Find things that transportation your mind to a travel authorities successful bid to commencement moving toward surviving your champion life.

13. Hit nan Reset Button (Often)

Sometimes, life sends america curveballs we aren’t prepared for. It’s important to cognize really to get backmost to nan center—to who we are and to reconnect pinch our goals and priorities. If you ever find yourself emotion off-course aliases negative, ideate hitting a region button.

It only takes a infinitesimal to re-focus. Some awesome tips for resetting see stretching, taking a heavy breath, mounting goals aliases intentions, and past opening again.

Knowing really to reset our power is important erstwhile it comes to navigating insignificant distractions and awesome life changes for individual growth.

14. Commit to Your Connections

The COVID-19 pandemic showed america firsthand really important our societal connections are. Community is an important facet successful really happy we are pinch our lives, and our semipermanent well-being and health.

If you consciousness disconnected aliases for illustration you want to fortify your consciousness of belonging and amended your life, see calling a different friend each day; joining a religion aliases belief group, support group, aliases book club; aliases exploring taste aliases organization events that mightiness beryllium attended by different group pinch shared interests

To reconnect pinch favourite friends, effort scheduling a play hike, java hour, Zoom call, happy hour, aliases email/text check-in.

We get what we put retired there. Show up erstwhile group you emotion inquire for thief aliases activity connection. Let spell and create patient boundaries pinch group who drain your energy.

15. Move Your Body

Exercise is an important cardinal to staying patient and happy and reaching your afloat potential. Research shows workout tin forestall depression, limit semipermanent illness, amended our moods, and summation our longevity.

We now cognize that it’s not only workout that matters, but besides really we clasp and move our bodies erstwhile we are going done nan mobility of our lives, including moving astatine our desks. Recent investigation shows that simply sitting up consecutive tin make america much apt to deliberation affirmative thoughts astir ourselves and what is imaginable for our lives.

16. Spend Time successful Nature

One of nan champion ways to unrecorded our champion lives is to spend clip successful nature. From nan benefits of vitamin D from sunlight, to simply getting extracurricular of our ain world and connecting pinch thing greater, nan benefits of quality are well-established.

The much we learn, nan much we recognize really important it is to protect our earthy spaces, parks, and trees, not conscionable for our enjoyment, but besides for our beingness and intelligence well-being.

Conclusion

Live each time for illustration it counts, and remember, it’s your choice. Your champion life is unsocial to you. Don’t comparison yourself to others – attraction connected surviving your champion life, and bask nan learning, exploration, and experiences on nan way.

Featured photograph credit: Juliana Malta via unsplash.com