Does your life feel chaotic lately (or for a long time)? Are you overwhelmed and stressed with the circumstances and challenges you’re facing right now? Life can be pretty messy sometimes, and many of us may feel like everything is falling apart. What to do, how to get your life together, where to start – are just a few of the many questions you may ask yourself.
We know how you feel. It’s definitely not easy being in those shoes. Fortunately, we know many ways of how to get your life together. But, before we jump on the best pieces of advice we can give, let’s emphasize a few essential things.
First, you have to be ready to step out of your comfort zone. It is not easy, but that’s what you have to do in order to improve your life. Second, try to motivate yourself throughout the entire journey.
Lastly, and most importantly – consistency and discipline – is what will help you achieve your goals, even if you lack motivation. You have to push yourself as much as you can.
This guide on how to get your life together is here to help you. Just give your best!
Guide On How To Get Your Life Together
Getting your life together is not a simple thing to do, but you would probably agree – it’s better to work hard on getting your life back on track than living it in chaos.
But how to start?
Slow Down and Take a Rest
Take a deep breath and slow down. Take a moment to rest and focus on yourself. Being constantly overwhelmed and under stress is awful for your mental health.
Whatever the reason is, take a few days off to clear your mind. Take a short trip somewhere, or just treat yourself to a relaxing massage or warm and scented bath. Whatever makes you feel good and calm.
Spending time with yourself and resting or doing your favorite activities will help you a lot.
Don’t Compare Yourself to Other People
This is one of the most important things to start with. All of us are different – we have different needs, habits, goals, strengths and weaknesses, skills, preferences, challenges, and more. All of us live different lives. So, why would you compare your life to someone else’s? Don’t point fingers: “They are doing better than me”, “They know this better than me”, “They are more successful than me”, etc.
Avoid comparing yourself to others as it won’t bring you any good. It can only make you feel worse and unmotivated. You and your life are unique, and you have all the power to figure it all out.
Assess Yourself and Your Current Situation
Feeling like your life is falling apart can come from many different aspects of your life – both internal and external. Start with yourself. Assess your inner world, virtues, flaws, feelings, and thinking. Assess what your current situation is and where you’re at.
Assess your health and self-care, personal growth path, home and family life, work-life, recreation, hobbies, everything.
You have to figure out what is the root of your trouble. What aspects of your life are you unsatisfied with? What would you like to change? What would you like to improve?
Having it all written down is helpful for careful observation and determining directions in which you need to go in order to get your life together.
Identify what you can change and accept what you cannot – not everything has to be in your control, so let it go. Remember, the only thing you can control is yourself and how you approach a situation and life in general.
Set Your Goals
The best step to getting your life together is to set the exact goals you want to achieve. It’s much easier if you have a clear vision of your future and ambition to get there.
Your goals should be SMART:
Specific – clear and well-defined. Select the area of your life you want to improve and 1 or 2 specific goals you want to achieve.
Measurable – refers to the precise amount of something you want to achieve (e.g., money to save or expenses to reduce).
Attainable – realistic and achievable. If you set difficult and demanding goals, you are more likely to lose motivation.
Relevant – Your goals should be aligned with where you want to get to and what you want to do.
Time-bound – set a deadline for your goals. That will prevent you from procrastinating and push you to get things done.
Once you have a clear picture of goals – write them down. Data shows that you are 42% more likely to achieve your goals when you have them on the paper. Then develop an action plan – all the steps you need to take for achieving each goal.
For an extra motivation boost – create a vision board and put it somewhere you can see it every day.
Some goals may take more time than others, so you can also divide your goals into short-term, mid-term, and long-term. Just be aware of what is possible to attain and when.
Get Organized
How to get your life together without getting well-organized? The organization is crucial for planning activities and executing them – our brains like tidiness and when all the things are in order, whether material or immaterial.
- Organize your thoughts. If you are prone to overthinking and a lot of things are running through your mind, we suggest you try journaling. Each day, write how life’s going – what you think about, how you feel, etc. That will help you get it out of your head, observe yourself, and focus on what matters.
- Organize your activities and tasks. If you have a lot to do or plan to do, but you find yourself overwhelmed in chaos, don’t know where to start, again – write it all down.Buy a planner and write what and when you need to do. Make to-do lists for each day and calculate how many minutes/hours you need for each. Be proactive and don’t postpone any task – do it immediately, especially if it doesn’t take too long.Always focus on one thing at a time. For better time management, you can set a timer for each task. For example, you have to clean your room. Take your phone and set the timer to 30 minutes (or more, you estimate), and then do the thing without pausing and scrolling social media, watching TV, etc.
In addition, you can consider one of the many time management techniques and apps to use.
- Get your space in order. This is perhaps the easiest way to become more organized. Whether it’s your home, car, or workspace, getting it clean and in order will drastically improve your mood when being there. Our space affects our mood and emotions.
If your room looks like the bomb fell there – well, no wonder you feel additionally chaotic too. Tidying it up will for sure make you feel better. So, start with decluttering. Get rid of unnecessary items. Make your bed, clean the dust, tidy up your closet. Once it’s all done, light up the candle and play the music you like to relax.
You can redesign your home as well. If you want to create a calm and balanced space, we recommend japandi – a Japanese style of interior design.
Change Your Mindset
Sometimes, changing your attitude and view of things can drastically change how you feel about life.
First, realize your worth and look at life from a brighter perspective. Not everything is dark. Change “I can’t” and “I’m not” to “I can” and “I am”. Focus more on the positive things in your life and show gratitude even for the simple things.
Being grateful is the ultimate key to happiness and success.
Believe in yourself. Sure, no one is perfect and omnipotent, but there are many things you can do. You just have to try and believe.
Think deeply: What are you proud of in your life? What makes you smile when you think of it? We are sure that there were many happy moments in your life, so why not create new ones?
Approach life from another perspective, be confident and decisive. Don’t let anything stand in your way. Eventually, everything will fall back into place.
Talk to Someone
Don’t keep everything in your heart and mind. Talking to your trusted friends and family and getting the burden off your chest will make you feel several pounds lighter. Talk about your problems, feelings, and thoughts. It’s easier when you are heard, understood, and supported.
However, don’t complain excessively because when you’re complaining you are focusing on everything that is wrong with your life. Relieve yourself and ask for a piece of advice. Some of them might have gone through the same, so they can share their experience with you. It’s always better to hear someone’s objective thinking.
Remove Toxic and Negative People From Your Life
Trust us, this will skyrocket you to a much happier life! How can you have a positive attitude and stay focused on your goals if surrounded by negativity?
How can you make any progress and accomplish anything when you’re hanging out with people who are not supporting you and telling you that you can’t do it.
Negative people will only drain your energy and will for personal growth. There is no happiness around them.
So, stop listening to them and cut them out of your life.
Set Boundaries
Stop trying to please everyone and learn to say no to something that doesn’t fit your values and objectives. Don’t let people disrespect you and have control over you.
It’s not selfish to put yourself and your needs first. You are not obligated to help everybody and do the things you don’t like and that don’t benefit you. Draw the line between what you’re willing to accept and what you’re not – and never apologize for that.
Manage Your Finances
Money rules the world, whether we like it or not. Almost everything around us has a price. No wonder that financials are usually the root of many troubles. For the majority of people, money is the number one stressor.
Therefore, financial stability has a lot to do with pulling your life together. Although budgeting and saving are not easy when you have a limited amount of money, there are a few ways to lessen financial stress.
So, how to get your life together by managing your finances?
First, you need to create a spending plan. Track all your spending and identify the areas where you can cut your expenses.
The key is to spend wisely. Don’t overspend on unnecessary and expensive things.
All of us are aiming for financial independence, so start saving your money as much as possible.
There is a rule popular in finance management called the 50/30/20 rule. According to this rule, 50% of your income should go toward necessities, 30% toward wants, and 20% toward savings. If you are not skilled in budgeting, keeping to this rule can be your starting point.
Maintain Healthy Lifestyle
An old Latin proverb says: Mens sana in corpore sano (English: A sound mind in a sound body). Healthy habits will contribute to getting your life together improving your overall well-being.
Take care of your mental health. If you feel burnt out, exhausted at work, or less productive than usual – take a day off to relax. Also, try breathing exercises to relieve stress.
Eat healthy. You are what you eat, they say, and it seems to be true. Junk food is tasty but extremely unhealthy, poor in nutrients, and potentially the cause of health issues.
Replace processed food with natural food. Eat more fruit, vegetables and cereals; food rich in proteins, vitamins, fibers, and minerals. Have 3-5 meals a day, but don’t starve yourself or overeat.
Have enough sleep. Adequate and quality sleep gives you more energy during the day and increases your productivity. Additionally, rest balances your hormone levels and keeps you in a better mood. Scientists claim that around 8h of sleep is a must for a healthier life.
Work out regularly. Exercise is a great way to reduce stress and anxiety and boost your mood (when exercising, your body releases endorphins, happy hormones). Take 30 minutes of walk a few times a week, or join the gym, Crossfit, dance, or martial arts classes – it’s your call, plus it is an excellent way to learn new skills, discover new hobbies, and meet new friends!
Quit bad habits. Yes, we talk about smoking and excessive drinking. Everyone knows how bad they are, so start reducing it. Limit the amount of caffeine you consume, as well.
Follow Your Passion
“He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” – Freidrich Nietzsche
“There is no passion to be found in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” – Nelson Mandela
What is in your heart? What does it truly desire? Stop wishing for it. Start pursuing it.
When you dig deeper, under the surface, perhaps you’ll find out that the root of your unhappiness is your unfulfilled dreams and life purpose. We believe that not living the life you want is one of the worst things.
If you feel like this, we encourage you to take action. Become who you truly are, and you’ll enrich your life.
If you’re still searching for it, start by discovering new hobbies. Try new things, explore your preferences, meet yourself. Find a new hobby that will make your life more enjoyable. You will also learn new things and boost your mind.
Never stop working on self-improvement.
Final Thoughts on How to Get Your Life Together
This guide on how to get your life together was not only about pulling your life together, but some of these are also tips for personal growth. People who constantly work on themselves are more likely to be successful and happy.
We hope you found many valuable tips and that we inspired you to become the best version of yourself. There will be ups and downs, but you have to gather your inner strength and keep going.
Just like Martin Luther King, Jr. said: “If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”
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