Have you been dreaming of doing something new and more exciting with your life? Do you want more from life? Do you often feel stuck in a maze and can’t find your way out?
You would be surprised how many people occasionally feel stuck in their lives. It is a shared experience amongst many people. Instead of focusing on the harmful sludge of “stuckness,” use this nudging as an opportunity for personal growth and development.
Forging a new path sounds exciting, but starting a new chapter can seem daunting. You’ll have to change certain aspects of yourself, and maybe you don’t know where to start. You don’t know how people will react.
Modifying your outlook on your new life is an excellent place to start. It can be truly liberating.
These eight tips require you to pause and hit the reset button while ignoring what others may think of you. Let’s go!
- Identify Your Core Values
We’re digging deep. You might feel stuck from time to time because you skipped this step. Understanding your principles and values is the first step in successfully reinventing yourself. It means you have a clear sense of self-awareness and emotional intelligence. Your core values may differ from those around you, which is fine. It just means that you are an individual growing in self-awareness versus always doing what everyone does to fit in. It also means that you know what aspects of your life need to be modified, why, and what these changes look like.
To start, here is a sample list of core values that you can choose 5 to 8 from:
- Authenticity
- Achievement
- Adventure
- Authority
- Autonomy
- Balance
- Beauty
- Boldness
- Compassion
- Challenge
- Citizenship
- Community
- Competency
- Contribution
- Creativity
- Curiosity
- Determination
- Fairness
- Faith
- Fame
- Friendships
- Fun
- Growth
- Happiness
- Honesty
- Humor
- Influence
- Inner Harmony
- Justice
- Kindness
- Knowledge
- Leadership
- Learning
- Love
- Loyalty
- Meaningful Work
- Openness
- Optimism
- Peace
- Pleasure
- Poise
- Popularity
- Recognition
- Religion
- Reputation
- Respect
- Responsibility
- Security
- Self-Respect
- Service
- Spirituality
- Stability
- Success
- Status
- Trustworthiness
- Wealth
- Wisdom
You can use this list to brainstorm and develop your values.
2. Create space to reflect
So often, your never-ending routine can keep you stuck. I love a good routine, but sometimes you have to reassess it and determine whether you want to continue in this direction that you are hardwired to pursue. Your existing practices can make it difficult to see how much a fresh start can do you a world of good.
So, breathe and carve a time block to think and dream again.
Ask yourself, “What do I want to change?”
3. Set Achievable Goals
Once you identify what you want to change, it’s time to set goals to accomplish these changes.
According to one study, setting realistic milestones on your journey to starting your next chapter is more effective if you plan your goals according to your skills and timeframe.
Then, as you successfully get through each one, you feel more confident and motivated to move on to the next one, and so on.
4. Build Healthy Habits
Building healthy habits doesn’t have to be complicated. Start where you are and consider what you can add to your daily routine to improve your life, including eating healthier, drinking more water, increasing physical activity, and getting quality sleep. You will be surprised how healthy habits can support you on this new journey.
5. Practice Lots of Self-Care.
I’m sure you know what self-care is by now. Self-care is when you set aside time from your busy schedule to care for yourself. Increasing your self-care will go a long way when you aspire to explore a new direction. Examples are: reading something aligned with your particular new interest for an hour, starting a meditation practice, or strolling through the park.
This time will help you become more aware of your actions, feelings, and thought processes. You’ll find it easier to make small changes and start on the path of reinventing yourself.
6. Eliminate The Clutter
One of the most effective ways to reinvent yourself is to eliminate anything you no longer want, need or use.
Clutter is all that stuff that isn’t beneficial to you anymore. It just sits there, unnecessarily complicating your life and making it more stressful and nerve-wracking.
Donate, recycle, or sell your old stuff so that there’s no more mess cluttering up your life. This step is vital when evolving into the best possible version of yourself.
7. Surround Yourself with Positive People
Jim Rohn said, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”
Don’t talk yourself into skipping this step. Trust me, your “future self” will thank you.
How do you feel when you’re around negative friends or colleagues? Probably not too good. Think of people with a can-do attitude and who have changed their lives. How do you feel after spending time with them?
Not only will you feel better about life in general, but you’ll also become successful and enjoy a more positive mindset.
8. Practice Gratitude
Here we go again. It’s worth mentioning because what could be more ground-shattering than a grateful heart? Eh? Being thankful each day is closely linked to leading a more fulfilling life. It helps us build strong relationships, improve our health, and enjoy a positive mindset.
Yet, the benefits of showing thanks are handy when you’re going through a difficult time. That’s when you can lean on your gratitude to help deal with hardship and become a more robust, better person. Gratitude helps you to enjoy the journey, the ups, and the downs. It’s a secret weapon that causes you to stay the course.
Final Thoughts
As you know, change may be simple, but it’s usually not easy. Just because it isn’t always easy doesn’t make it impossible. You can change the course of your life over time. These tips will help you achieve your dream of reinventing yourself. The fact that others have gone before you proves you can do it too.
Think of how to get creative and use these strategies to express yourself. The whole process will require you to step outside your comfort zone time after time. You’ll be able to get unstuck and reinvent yourself by being inventive, resourceful, unmoveable, and consistent.
Lastly, make time to be proud of your accomplishments. It will boost your self-worth and confidence (something you’ll need a lot of). It’ll also make you more determined to forge ahead while building the best version of yourself.
Be well + prosper,
Elaine xx
Oh, read this next: