When you reflect on where you are in relation to where you wanted to be, do you feel accomplished or unfulfilled? Believe it or not, many choose the latter. There are things they wanted to see, do, experience, or achieve in life that, for some reason, didn’t come to fruition. Yet because they’re older or didn’t meet expectations by a certain age, they develop the mindset that it’s too late to change. Contrary to popular belief, you can turn things around as long as you have life.
Every second, minute, hour, day, week, and year that passes is time you cannot get back. Since no one knows how much time they have in life, it is essential to make the most of this precious commodity. Below is some advice on how to use what time you have to accomplish more.
What’s Holding You Back?
Some things happen in life that you cannot control that may cause you to miss the mark on accomplishing your goals. However, many times, what’s holding you back are things that are within your control. Be honest with yourself as you look back over your life and try to discover the people, places, things, or mindsets preventing you from moving forward.
Is it your upbringing and the negative habits you developed from your parents? Are you surrounding yourself with broken, ignorant, or toxic people who keep you stagnated? Have you wasted too much time trying to live up to societal expectations? When you dig deep and understand what’s holding you back, you can remove them and begin accomplishing more.
Decide What YOU Want
Are you setting goals based on what you want and need, or are you doing it based on what you think you’re supposed to want and need? If you’re mapping out your life based on the expectations of others, you won’t work as hard to achieve your goals. Why? Because it doesn’t truly satisfy or complete you as an individual.
Take the time to create goals for your life that will bring you happiness and a sense of fulfillment. Don’t strive to do something because you want to fit in when you’re meant to stand out. It’s your uniqueness that makes you a great person.
Identify Resources For Support
Believing that you can accomplish your goals without any assistance can prevent you from getting where you want to be in life. Everyone needs help and when you identify and rely on resources for support, achieving your goals becomes more manageable. So ask yourself, “What do I need help with to get to the finish line?”
For some people, it’s a therapist. They need to heal from a traumatic past and learn healthy lifestyle practices to help them move forward. If you need counseling, search for someone who specializes in helping people going through similar circumstances. Find someone you feel comfortable opening up to that also has the training, education, and experience to guide you towards true healing.
Another supportive resource is a life coach. These people can help you improve your life on a physical, emotional, financial, social, professional, or personal level. They help you identify strengths and weaknesses, set goals, create actionable steps, remain accountable, and enhance productivity. As you search for a life coach, look for an individual with a diversity coaching certification, real-life experience, and a track record of helping others reach their goals.
Sometimes, all it takes is having a group of supportive people in your circle. When you have friends and family that want the best for you, they will give you the motivation, guidance, and support you need to be the best version of yourself. Be intentional about building relationships with people that have succeeded and want to see you do the same.
Find The Good In Everything
There are ups and downs throughout life. There are times when you will reach your goals without much effort and times when you fall short despite your hard work. If you allow yourself to focus too much on the negative, you’ll develop a self-defeating mentality that prevents you from moving forward.
Find ways to see the good in everything. On the days when you check all the boxes – celebrate. On the days when you don’t, identify what went wrong, develop a plan to avoid it in the future, and celebrate the fact that you learned something. When you learn to celebrate your progress, you will find it easier to keep accomplishing more.
Time is your greatest commodity. You don’t want to reflect on your life and regret how much you wasted. No matter how old you are or your circumstances, it’s never too late to commit to change. You can achieve happiness and live a more fulfilling life if you’re willing to do the work. Use the advice above to begin your journey towards better living.
Last modified: June 22, 2022
