Change Your Life for the Better: 4 Areas of Improvement
We all want a better life than the one we have. While you may be content with the majority of your life as it is, there is almost always some aspect of your life that could be changed for the better.
Living intentionally means proactively trying to change your life for the better on a consistent basis. It’s about pursuing the good you want to attract in your life. The best part? It’s totally possible to start changing your life for the better today.
Each “change” below encompasses an array of suggestions that will help you on your journey to a better life. Choose one suggestion per section, or mix and match to craft the life you want to create. You’re the boss.
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Take Care of Yourself
How often do you find yourself exhausted and unhappy at the end of the day?
How often do you actually take the time to do something that brings you joy?
Self-care is a hot topic these days and is projected to be a fix-all for all of life’s problems. Exhausted? You need more self-care. Unfulfilled? Self-care. Failing at everything? Girl, getcha some self-care.
And while self-care is seriously important, you need to understand why you need more of it in your life.
Here is an excellent beginner’s guide to self-care: What is Self-Care? The Ultimate Self-Care Guide for Beginners
It all comes down to the fact that no one has the power to make your life better but you.
When you take time to focus on yourself and improve yourself, you’ll soon come to see that other areas of your life begin to shift in positive directions.
Productivity grows, you create more time for the important things in life, and your relationships begin to blossom in a way they haven’t before.
And that’s the point.
Without the ones we love, life is just goo.
But if you’re having trouble seeing past your own insecurities, your relationships will be stunted until you deal with your own stuff.
You just gotta do you first.
Focus on yourself for now. The rest will fall into place.
Physical Self-Care
- Drink water
- Rest/Sleep
- Spend an evening pampering your nails, skin, and hair
- Eat nutritious meals
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- Take a walk
- Stretch
- Work out
If you’d like something low-impact, customizable, and relatively short, give PiYo a try. It combines
Emotional Self-Care
- Practice gratitude
- Journal
- Get some Vitamin D by getting outside for some sunshine and fresh air
- Check out these posts on How to Rediscover Yourself After Motherhood and 10 Tiny Steps Towards a Big Life.
If you’re looking for a great notebook to keep up with your gratitude, lists, to-do’s, calendar, and
Intellectual Self-Care
- Read something nonfiction
- Learn about a new hobby, skill, or topic
- Listen to podcasts or audiobooks
- Keep up with current events
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Spiritual Self-Care
- Pray, meditate, and read spiritual texts
- Visit with a mentor
- Take time to reflect on your character
- Spend time with those of similar beliefs
- Have open discussions with those of differing beliefs
- Focus on your ultimate purpose
Social Self-Care
- Get together with a friend
- Call a relative
- Meet someone new
- Reconnect with an old friend
- Support someone via social media
- Send someone a note of thanks or encouragement
- Take food to someone
- Offer help to someone
- Create something and give it away for free
- Buy a stranger’s coffee or meal
- Contribute your time to help those in need
- Clean up your community
- Participate in community events
Related: 8 Daily Habits You Need to Start Your Day Off Right
22 Habits to Help You Find Yourself
How to Create the Perfect Morning Routine
Also check out: Self-Care Ideas to Help You Have a Better Day in 30 Seconds
101 Self-Care Ideas to Refresh Yourself When You Are Stressed Out
Take Care of Your Family
A wonderful way to add value to your life is by caring for those you love most – your family.
Do you still remember how your husband used to give you butterflies each time he touched your hand? Do memories of adventures and excitement still linger even as you both crawl into bed exhausted from a full day of work and babies?
Having kids can do a number on the marital relationship. I mean, things can really get hairy if you and your spouse are unable to communicate and stay on the same page.
It’s vital to purposely work on communication with your spouse.
Spend time with your spouse talking about your communication styles and letting each other know what you both need.
Communicating about how you communicate can vastly improve a relationship.
It’s important to keep your goals for your children in mind, as well.
I’m not talking about goals such as helping them become a professional athlete or the best dancer in the state.
I’m talking about goals such as teaching them how to be good, kind, independent people.
It’s so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day of motherhood and forget the real work we’re trying to do.
It’s not all laundry, toys, snacks, and diapers.
When you shift your perspective to focus on instilling values instead of just surviving another day, you’re able to handle situations differently and more efficiently.
Cultivate the family culture you want.
It starts with you and with how you approach the members of your household.
Cultivate an attitude of service, gratitude, thoughtfulness, consideration, patience, kindness, and love.
As you live these values,
Ways to Improve Family Relationships
- Cultivate your own family values
- Talk with your spouse daily
- Communicate about how you communicate
- Take time to learn what your spouse needs
- Learn your spouse’s love language
- Have family fun days
- Go on adventures with your spouse
- Take adventure walks with your children
- Practice consistent parenting
- Take time to learn your child’s love language
- Speak kindness into your children
Want to learn more about love languages? Check out The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts by Gary Chapman. Learn what love language you speak, which language you need, and how to use the right language for spouse and children. Grab your copy on Amazon here.
Related: 8 Ways to Connect With Your Husband After Bringing Home Baby
10 Ways to Reconnect with Your Toddler When You Feel Out of Sync
Take Care of Your Home
Ugh. Housework. Amiright?
Or are you one of the lucky ones who lives in your own personal sanctuary?
Taking care of your home doesn’t have to be a huge and horrible ordeal.
Your home should be a safe place.
You should feel a sense of relief to be in your home.
If you don’t feel that sense of relief or safety, it’s time to consider why you aren’t feeling that way.
Is it clutter? Endless chores? The feeling of drowning?
Maybe you feel unappreciated, overworked, and discontent.
Figure out what isn’t working anymore and do something about it.
If it’s clutter, it’s time to declutter. Get rid of the excess. Throw away trash and broken items. Donate items you no longer need or want.
Get rid of the junk.
Related: 18 Decluttering Questions to Help You Get Rid of Stuff Fast
How to Start Decluttering When You Feel Overwhelmed
If it’s the endless list of chores, create a system that works for you.
Do a brain dump, prioritize, and schedule out your tasks. Then let yourself relax when you’ve completed today’s list. (Seriously, don’t worry about tomorrow’s list until tomorrow.)
Related: The 4-Step Brain Dump Method That Will Change Your Life
And if it’s a matter of feeling overworked and unappreciated, go back to point number 2 and talk to the members of your household.
You shouldn’t be the only one working to keep a clean home. You’re not the only one making a mess.
Even little ones can help out.
A clean home creates the space necessary for relaxed, quality time spent with the people you love (or by yourself).
Without an endless to-do list constantly staring you in the face, you can rest, relax, and actually do something enjoyable every now and then (what what??).
Keeping a clean home and enlisting your children to do their part teaches your children the value of taking care of their possessions and space.
It creates an environment of safety, security, peace, and calm.
The house you live in should be a home, not a storage facility or ongoing source of stress.
Cleaning
- List all of the tasks you would like to have done around your house
- Divide your list into daily, weekly, monthly, bimonthly, twice a year, and annual tasks
- Grab a calendar and schedule out your tasks
- Laminate your daily tasks and keep it somewhere visible
- Take the time to set up your systems
- Figure out what time of day is the best time for you to take care of your cleaning tasks
- Create a chore chart for kiddos and offer rewards for helping out (aka make it fun)
- Have a honey-do list for your spouse (especially if they aren’t the type to naturally help out)
- Set a timer and work hard for 30 minutes, then stop
- Work to get one room at a time “under control,” meaning getting it to the point you can have it picked up and guest ready in 5-10 minutes max
Need a fun, simple, and easy chore chart for
Food
- Take time to create a master list of your staples (reduces grocery list creation time)
- Use a grocery delivery service or something like Wal-Mart pick-up (saves you time and money)
- Create a master list of your favorite recipes, including necessary ingredients
- Keep some “back-up” meals on hand
- Plan your meals ahead of time so you don’t have to think about what to cook
- Schedule cooking and prep time into your day
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Finances
- Create a budget, then stick to it
- Before spending money on fun or extra activities, make sure you set aside money to save first
- Live within your means
- Get out of debt as quickly as possible (you may have to get creative, but it’s so worth it)
- Be very judicious before you incur debt
- Make a plan to eliminate the debt
- Stick to your plan no matter what
- Open a ROTH IRA and commit to systematically making deposits
Take Care of Your Time
We live in a busy, busy world where the word “no” is nearly unacceptable.
The result?
The feeling of being overworked, over-scheduled, exhausted, and ultimately, unfulfilled.
The solution?
Proactively managing your energy and time.
It’s okay to say no.
No to extracurriculars, bake sales, and the PTA.
No to the play date that will cause you stress and anxiety.
Even no to your own feeling of obligation when you look at your to-do list as you’re running on empty.
We all need rest.
When you prioritize your rest, you’ll be able to be more present for the activities you’re focused on. Your energy will be high(er).
Better yet, you’ll get to experience a better mood.
And let’s face it, no one likes to be around a grump, especially your spouse and kids.
You need to recognize that your time is valuable.
VALUABLE.
It’s so easy to just gloss over that word, isn’t it?
Think about it – every task you do costs you time.
You have limited time on this earth, so each minute you have is immensely valuable.
Spend your time and energy on the things that lead to the life you want.
Cut out the unnecessary stressors, the toxic relationships, and the list of imagined obligations.
Manage your energy and your time.
Spend them on the people you love and the things that are absolutely necessary.
Ways to manage your time and energy:
- Utilize a Brain Dump
- Create a schedule or daily routine
- Learn how to say no
- Tune into your energy store and rest when you need it
- Use time blocking
- Schedule tasks that need your focus during your most productive hours
- Go to bed at a decent time
- Exercise
- Check out this post on Get Motivated! How to be Productive When You’re Not Feeling It.
Start With You
Start with yourself before diving into the other three areas.
Once you start gaining some confidence in yourself and seeing that you can change your habits, you’ll find the motivation and momentum to dive into improving your relationships, your home, and of course, your time.
You can create a better life for yourself.
You can absolutely change your life for the better.
But it’s going to take effort. There’s no getting around that fact.
If you will put in the effort, you will see results. So get to it. You’ve got this.
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