The only way to live how you want, is to know how you want to live.
This is the starting point.
Too many of us are carried along by the current. We jump into the river because it’s “what we do” without really thinking about it, and it carries us along.
Maybe you don’t want to be where you are.
Maybe you don’t want to do what you’re doing.
Maybe this version of you isn’t who you want to be.
Or maybe you’re exactly where you want to be. Either way, I think it’s worth exploring.
I’m going to ask you a series of questions, and I encourage you to spend time thinking and writing your answers. My goal is to help you live how you want.
Here’s what we’ll cover:
- Do you want to do this?
- Do you know how to do it?
- Are you afraid to do it?
Let’s get started.
Do you want to do this?
What is this? This is how you spend your time, who you spend it with, where you spend it, and what you think about.
I want to know if you’re being the person you want to be, If you’re doing the things you want to do, if you’re thinking the thoughts you want to think, if you’ve got the perspective you want to have.
I want to know if who you are is who you want to be.
In service of figuring that out, let’s explore the following six areas of your life; family, community, career and financial, personal development, wellbeing, and peace of mind. In each area, think about where you feel you’re at, where you’d like to go, and what (if any) adjustments are necessary.
Family
Is your family life the way you’d like it to be? What would make it better?
Community
Is your social life the way you’d like it to be? What would make it better?
Career and financial
Is your professional life the way you’d like it to be? Are you where you want to be with your money? What would make it better?
Personal development
Are your personal pursuits where you’d like them to be? Are you consistently learning and challenging yourself? What would make it better?
Wellbeing
Is your physical, mental and emotional health where you’d like it to be? What would make it better?
Peace of mind
Do you have peace of mind? What would make it better?
Do you know how to do it?
Making changes can be difficult. We’re all spread thin and don’t necessarily have extra time, attention, energy and money to dedicate to making change. And that’s why many of us stay right where we are. Trapped in inertia.
Go back to the six areas you thought about and pick the number one change or adjustment you’d like to make. Thinking about it now, do you know how to do it?
To walk you through an example, let’s say you wanted to get out of credit card debt. Here’s a five-step process to help you make it happen.
- Set the intention. “I will be debt free.”
- Set a goal. “I will get out of credit card debt.”
- Set a deadline. “I will get out of credit card debt within the next year.”
- Gain the necessary knowledge, get the required resources. For getting out of debt, you’ll need to:
- Get organized and compile a list of all of your debts, interest rates and payoff amounts.
- Conduct a review of your cash flow over the previous 12 months.
- Review or create a household budget.
- Look for opportunities to reduce overhead/spending.
- Create your plan for paying off your credit card debt.
You may choose to research online, take a course, or hire a professional to help make the desired changes. It’s up to you to figure out how to make it happen.
Are you afraid to do it?
You are someone who is worthy, deserving and capable of living the life you want. That being said, we all suffer from fear, apprehension and procrastination. It’s that fear that keeps us from the things and the lives we want.
Instead of trying to find our way around it, I prefer to take fear head-on. With any changes you want to make, go through these 8 questions:
- What changes/adjustments do you want to make?
- What do you think might happen if you made the change?
- What’s the worst thing that could happen if you made the change?
- How likely is that to happen?
- What is the worst that has happened to others in this situation? How often did it happen? How did they deal with it?
- What is likely to happen based on your experience and the experience of others? How would you respond?
- If the worst did happen, then what would you do?
- Based on this discussion, what do you need to do to put this worry behind you?
When we explore the things we think we’re worried about, we recognize we build them up to be far scarier than they actually are.
Making it real
The only way to live how you want, is to know how you want to live. That’s what I want for you.
I also know the only way to do that is one day at a time. We start by setting the intention. Again, you’re someone who can live the life you want. Get started.
Resources mentioned
We’ve got three free courses as well: Our Goals Course, Values Course, and our Get Out of Debt course.
If you’re ready to take control of your financial life, check out our DIY Financial Plan course.
If you’d like help getting on the same page with your partner, check out our Same $ Page Course.
For assistance with financially related questions, you can connect with one of our Certified Partners.
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