Are you living your dream life? It’s a bit of a loaded question, sure—but it’s an important one! Because if the new year is an indication of anything, it’s that far too many of us are off the mark when it comes to living the life of our dreams.
It doesn’t have to be as hard as we think it is, though! With a little reflection, intention, and action, you can be so much closer to living the life of your dreams—today!
These are our five favorite steps to get you started:
Define the Life of Your Dreams
Before you can get what you want, you need to know what you want. Are you even aware what the life of your dreams looks like? Too often, we’re caught up in the life we think we should want or the life someone else wants us to live—or we’re just too mired in what’s not working that we never give thought or energy to what life would look like if it was working in our favor! Set aside some time to do some of that heart-storming now: What would your dream life look like? Who would you be? How would you show up? What kind of work would you do? Who would you spend your time with? Allow yourself to dream big—this is your dream life, after all—and get clear on what you want.
Recognize How You Already Are
Next, take some time to recognize and appreciate the areas of your life that are already pretty dreamy. Perhaps you’re already doing work that you love! Or maybe you’ve built a family that you are proud of. Maybe you’re happy with your health or your love life or your spiritual practice. We guarantee there’s at least one part of your life that’s going well or where you’re excelling or that you wouldn’t change for the world. Honor what’s already going well in your life and express gratitude for it! It’s all too easy to focus on what’s going wrong; we encourage you to find an opportunity to see what’s going right.
Identify the Missing Pieces
Now that you’ve defined what your dream life looks like and figured out where you’re already living it, you can begin to identify where you’re not. What’s missing? What could be improved? What do you want to do, or how do you want to be, better? Try not to be too hard on yourself here—it’s not about beating yourself up for where you’re not perfect, but rather about finding opportunities to make your life even better than it already is! Remember, we’re all human and we’ll always have room for improvement. Try to see it as a fun and exciting life-long adventure, because that’s what it is.
Make a Plan for Your Pain Points
Okay, you know what you want to change, where you want to improve, how you want to do differently—now it’s time to make a plan so that it actually happens! Think about it: how many New Year’s (or mid-year or quarterly) resolutions have you made that never actually came to fruition in your life? Setting an intention to improve an area of your life is great, but it doesn’t mean much without a plan in place (and later, action to see it through). Think carefully about the areas or activities in your life that you identified in the last section—what can you do to start improving these areas? What actions can you take to move you that much closer to living the life of your dreams? Get really clear and specific on those actions and make a plan to get you where you want to go!
Take Ownership of Your Life
And, last but not least, it’s time to put your plan into action! Remember: This is your life—and you only get one! You get to decide how you want to live it. But before you can start living the life of your dreams, you need to take ownership of the one that you have. You are the only one capable of changing your life—and, believe us, you are truly capable! You know what you want, you know what you have, you know what you need, and you know how to get it. Get to work making it happen! We know you can do it.
What’s one action you’ll be taking to get closer to your dream life? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!