When we think about creating huge sweeping change in our lives, it often seems like a distant dream. With all the daily drudgery and minutia that goes on daily, it’s easy to get bogged down with your responsibilities and think it’s too late to reach than change you’ve always desired.
Instead of throwing in the towel, or putting your dreams on the shelf, realize that there are some ways to improve your entire life, starting today:
Practice being your future self
Quite simply, if you want to be a writer, finance expert, or anything in between, you need to start practicing being that person today, no matter your obligations. It’s one of the most surefire ways to improve your entire life.
Instead of putting those goals on the backburner, learning to prioritize future improvements (even if you can’t see the results now) is essential for your success. Even if it’s just for five minutes day, pencil in some time for education or practice to turn that future dream into a reality.
Design your life around happiness
Happiness often seems like such an abstract concept. After all, a hallmark card or Dove Chocolate Wrapper doesn’t exactly provide a concrete guide on how to achieve positivity.
That’s why Stanford Professors have developed a class on how to specifically design your life around happiness. They say that rather than treating happiness as fleeting and random, you should notice the specifics around it in (for example, do you smile every time you write code?), and engineer your schedule to include more of that.
Say no to everything else
It seems really counterintuitive, but one of the best ways to improve your entire life is to turn people down all the time. After all, your time is limited, and to be successful, you need to make sure that time is used for yourself as efficiently as possible. So start turning up your turn down skills today – you’re not being impolite, you’re being confident and time-savvy.
You’re only as good as the people around you
You might recall your mother saying something along those lines, and you probably rolled your eyes, but studies show she was right. A Harvard Medical School study done by Dr. Nicholas Christakis found that individuals who surround themselves with people who smile and have a positive attitude themselves have a better attitude compared with those who are surrounded by negative and grumpy people.
Have you discovered any ways to improve your entire life? I want to hear them!
If you enjoyed this article, be sure to check out my articles in Inc. Magazine and Medium!
