21 Things That Can Help You Change Your Life

I first started to seriously think about how to change my life to live, work, and do business on my own terms in a way that felt fulfilling and meaningful to me over 20 years ago. 

At that time, it felt like a mountain to climb to create the changes I most wanted, personally and professionally. I didn't have a clue how I would make it all happen.  

However, I figured out how to do it and stuck with it until I had created the changes that would enable me to achieve what mattered most to me.  

Over the last 20 years, I have learned a lot about what it takes to set yourself up to succeed when you want to change your life in some way.  Here are just a few of them:

21 Things That Can Help You Change Your Life

1. Get clear on the exact outcomes you want to achieve. Be as specific as you can because the more specific you are about the exact changes you want to create, the more specific you can make your plans. And the more specific your plans are, the more specific your actions will be. And that will significantly influence your outcomes. Be as specific as you can. 

2. Don’t try and change too much at once. It is counterproductive to progress. Plus it can create overwhelm and stress.

3. Take small steps consistently and persistently. It sets you up to succeed, makes the journey more enjoyable, and maintains the momentum of progress.

4. Don’t get caught in the being too busy trap. Change requires time and space to do something different. Being constantly busy will keep you stuck.

5. Surround yourself with constructive, supportive people. This will be invaluable through the ups and downs as you create change.

6. Protect yourself from unconstructive, unsupportive people who criticise you and your plans to change your life. They drain your energy, negatively impact your confidence, and steal your joy.

7. Get clear on what you need to learn in order to create the changes and outcomes you most want. Then create a plan to learn those things.

8. Seek out people who have already achieved the change or result you want to create and learn from them. This can significantly speed up the process. Plus it can help you to avoid mistakes and pitfalls.

9. Don’t give up when the brown stuff hits the fan – and it will, many times. Setbacks and challenges are not a reason to give up. They are part of the change process, along with screw-ups and mistakes. Just learn the lesson, apply the learning and move on. The path of change isn’t linear.

10. Be willing to step outside of your comfort zone. You can’t change your life by sticking with the comfort and familiarity of the status quo. Accept that the change process can often feel uncomfortable, uncertain, and a struggle.

11. Foster tenacity and resilience. Those habits will be invaluable when the going gets tough.

12. Celebrate progress, no matter how small. It can be demotivating to just keep focussing on how far you still have to go. Celebrating progress helps remind you that you are making progress and moving forward. That helps with keeping motivation going.

13. Prioritise rest, downtime and self-care. It refuels your mental and physical energy to help you keep going. You will need plenty of fuel to create change successfully. 

14. Ask yourself what you need to stop doing. Sometimes we get in our own way!

15. Ask yourself who you need to “be” to create that change. Who you are “being” will have a direct impact on your actions and outcomes.

16. Ask for help when you need it or feel stuck. It isn’t a sign of weakness. It is a sign that you get that no one is successful alone.

17. Set strong boundaries. This will help you protect what is most important and keep you on the right track.

18. Choose to let go of things that don’t serve your vision. Holding on to things that no longer serve you or your vision will hold you back.

19. Choose wisely what gets your time and attention. Distractions and wasting time on things that are not really contributing to the life and outcomes you really want is self-sabotaging behaviour.

20. Take a minimalist approach to life. Clearing your path of what clutters your mental and physical space is liberating. Changing your life is way easier if you clear away the unnecessary and simplify everything.

21. Keep a sense of humour. Oh boy, the difference this makes.

The bottom line:

To change your life successfully, it is important to identify the factors that will set you up to succeed. This list is just some things I have found useful over the years. Take some time to figure out what specific things would set you up to succeed with changes you want to make in your life, work, or business. Use them to create a plan and figure out ways to implement it to support yourself in getting from where you are to where you want to be.