We’ve all heard the motivational sayings … “pursue your passion,” “chase your dreams,” or even the classic, “reach for the stars!” However, these are all easier said than done, right? When you’ve been heading down a certain path—whether intentionally or not—changing your direction in life is no simple feat.
But I want to take a moment to encourage and, hopefully, motivate you if you’ve found yourself unhappy with where you’re at right now. Here are three points I want to make before we get started:
- If you’re unhappy, life doesn’t have to stay this way.
- You’re so brave for even wanting to make this pivot in your life.
- You DO have it in you to make a U-turn.
I made a shift in my life and learned many lessons along the way. Here are five ideas that you must adopt in order to change directions and race toward the life of your dreams.
Figure out what’s important.
I think we can all agree that life gets chaotic, and there’s a lot of noise to distract us. When you make the decision to change your direction in life, you’re likely taking in a lot of information. Don’t get overwhelmed!
It’s hard to even know where to start, so I encourage you to start with the end in mind. When there are distractions—good and bad—all around you, take a step back and figure out what’s most important to you. Take a moment to think of and write down what your dream life looks like.
Once you know where you’re going, you’ll know what tasks, projects, events, and people to say “yes” to and which are a big “NO.”
In a nutshell, figure out what’s important, and let the rest of the noise fade away.
Something is better than nothing.
When making a shift in your life or career, there’s also the risk of finding yourself in a state of analysis paralysis. What is this exactly? Indeed™ describes analysis paralysis as, “an affliction people get when they overthink a problem or situation and can’t make a decision.”
This state of overthinking can come from being overwhelmed with information or can even be a side effect of perfectionism. I’m here to tell you that something is ALWAYS better than nothing! Things don’t have to be perfect … the important thing is that you move into action.
Don’t just think about what’s necessary to reach your new goals—go do it.
Don’t get stuck in comparison.
Comparison is a quick way to get in your head about this path you’re on.
The best way to describe this is with an analogy … you know when you’re driving, and you look out of the side window for too long? You start to drift, right? The same goes with comparison. When you’re comparing your journey to others, you are not focused on the road ahead of you.
Look to leaders to inspire you but refrain from crossing that line into comparison.
Don’t play the blame game.
Changing your direction in life is almost all about mindset. And this idea is much more of a warning sign than it is a tip. Beware of the blame game (or excuses). As I mentioned before, you are so incredibly brave for embarking on this journey.
It’s not easy to flip the switch on old habits. Rather than making excuses if you have a setback, give yourself grace. There’s no shame in course correcting. Go back to tip one and remind yourself what’s most important so that your actions align with your goals.
If you need habit breaking hacks, check out this Harvard Health Publishing article on “How to Break a Bad Habit.”
Be faithful to your journey.
Finally, be faithful to your journey … because it’s YOURS. And I want to remind you that the journey is just as beautiful as the destination. This is where you grow, where you build character, and where you really find out what you’re made of.
No other person is on this same road. No other story is the same as yours.
You owe it to yourself to get to reach your destination. So don’t give up!
Changing your direction in life is worth it.
I want to finish with a question. What happens if you stay where you are? I’ve always said, “if you stay where you are, you’re just potential.” I want you to know AND BELIEVE how much potential you have, but don’t let it stay at that.
Making the changes necessary might be scary, but it’ll be worth it. Your final destination—aka the life of your dreams—is waiting!
Once you make that pivot, you might need help staying on task and taking action. Read my blog on “Staying Productive” for some tips!
