Hey everyone, and welcome to TopThink. Today,
we are going to learn about how to get your life back together.
Now, let’s begin. 1. Review Your Strengths
When your life feels out of your control, you may lose sight of your likes and dislikes,
your strengths and weaknesses, your dreams and fears. So the first step toward getting your
life back together… is to review your individual skill set. In other words, take stock of what
you’re good at and what you’re not. Because your strengths and weaknesses may have changed.
For example, you may have been disciplined and hyper-productive before,
but self-control may not be your strong suit anymore. These days you’re more creative,
passionate, and open-minded. The way you worked in the past isn’t the way you work now.
Your mindset and your goals may have changed because of that rough patch in your life,
so it’s critical to reassess who you are, how you function, and where you want to improve.
Otherwise, you may jump back into your old routine. You may think you can do all the
things you used to do in the same way you used to do them. But you’ve changed since
then… and so have your strengths and weaknesses. So make a list and divide it into two columns:
one for strengths, the other for weaknesses. In the strength’s columns, write down everything
you believe you do well. Don’t write down the things you excelled at in the past.
Write down things you excel at now. In the same way, make a list of your weaknesses.
You may see a few similarities to your old self, but you’ll also notice new strengths
and new weaknesses you didn’t have before. That’s because your list is mapping your personal growth.
Ultimately growth is your number one goal. So make a list and put your skillset down on paper.
2. The Life Plan Now that you’ve laid
out your strengths and weaknesses, it’s time to formulate a life plan. A life plan
is a visual checklist you can use to achieve the future you want for yourself.
There are lots of different ways to make your life plan, but we’re going to use the 5-year
and 10-year system. Here’s how it works: Try to envision your life 5 years from now.
Think about your home-life: where will you live? Who will you live with? Think about your career:
How much will you work? Where will you work? Will you be working in the same field as you are now?
Think about your loftiest dreams and your most personal aspirations until you have a clear
picture of your life 5 years in the future. Do the same thing for your life 10 years from
now. This time, be a little more ambitious. How would your life turn out if you took several huge
leaps forward? Imagine yourself accomplishing long-term goals. Envision yourself overcoming
seemingly impossible obstacles. In 10 years, you should be on a happy and fulfilling path
toward your definition of success. Whatever that path looks like for you… that’s your life plan.
3. Make Your Map You’ve got your life
plan laid out in front of you—what do you do now? Think of your dreams and ideals as destinations
on a lifelong road trip. Your goal is to reach those destinations, but in order to get there,
you need to travel the immense distance between your present and your future.
However, there’s only one way to cross a long distance—you have to do it one step at a time.
In other words, you need to create short-term goals that gradually guide you toward your
ultimate directive. Every short-term goal that you accomplish nudges you further in
your life plan. As long as you’re focused on achieving that plan, you can never go wrong.
For example, let’s say you dream of being a photographer living in the Big Apple.
But right now you’re not a photographer and you’re not living anywhere close to New York.
So how can you use short-term goals to make your life plan a reality?
Before you become a famous photographer, you need to learn how to use a camera,
edit photos, and capture memorable shots. So let’s brainstorm some short-term goals.
Step 1: take a photography course. Step 2: learn how to use a photo editing software.
Step 3: invest in a professional camera. Each step is small and manageable, but together they
guide you toward a larger goal. Just like that, your long-term dreams become real possibilities.
Break your life plan down into smaller steps. Think about your destination and the steps that
will get you there. Not only do you have a goal, but you have directions to get there.
And with those directions… you can take your life almost anywhere.
4. Fight Your Complainer As you reinvent your dreams
and goals, a little part of your brain is going to sabotage your progress.
This discouraging voice in your head complains about every ounce of work you have to do. It
convinces you to take shortcuts, and it motivates you to compromise on things you want for yourself.
That voice in your head is called your “complainer,” and it will be
your greatest obstacle as you pursue a better life. Because your complainer wants to take the
easy way out as often as possible. Whenever you face a challenge, your complainer wants
to gripe and wallow instead of doing the work. If you want to put your life back together, you
have to silence this negative voice in your head. Try not to complain or feel sorry for yourself.
Because self-improvement is a commitment that you have to make. You have to invest in yourself.
In other words, you’re not going to get your life together by complaining how bad things are. You’re
going to get your life together by taking action, working hard, and witnessing your own growth.
So right now, convince your complainer of one inescapable truth. Self-improvement is hard
work. There’s no way around it, and there’s no use complaining about it. Let that fact
sink in. When you’ve decided your progress is worth the effort, get started, make changes,
and no matter what… stay positive. 5. Organize Your Space
Not every step you take will directly transform your life. For example, this helpful habit has
a profound impact on your lifestyle… even if you don’t realize anything’s changed.
First, pick a space that you inhabit every day. It could be an office. It could be a bedroom.
Take a hard look at that space and ask yourself, “Do I like living, working, or sleeping here?”
“Does this space help me work at my best or relax when I need to?”
The spaces in your life are the backdrop for your goals, habits, and passions.
These important locations influence your ability to do what you want to do.
That includes putting your life back together. If you’re in the process of reinventing yourself,
you can start by reinventing your space. Because the background should never interfere
with the foreground. A messy office space, for example, inhibits your concentration.
In the same way, a loud, uncomfortable bedroom decreases the quality of your sleep,
which affects your energy and your work ethic.
To put your life back together, create spaces in which you envision yourself succeeding.
Organize and streamline your room and office, so that each space accomplishes a
purpose to the best of its ability. If you’re organizing an office, focus on productivity,
concentration, and creativity. If you’re putting together a bedroom, make it relaxing and cozy.
If you take the time to improve the spaces you occupy, those spaces will
work for you. Your office will encourage you to be productive. Your bedroom will help you
relax and unwind. That way your environment will never stand in the way of your success.
6. Use Your Creativity Personal and professional
passions don’t always line up. You may have lofty professional ambitions,
but you also have hobbies that make you happy. For example, many successful people write, draw,
or play music in their free time. These creative hobbies act as an outlet for their stress,
anxiety, and restless energy. Artistic hobbies give you the change to think
differently and express yourself in ways you cannot communicate otherwise.
As you’re putting your life back together, engage with any creative passions that you may have
lost. Don’t think about work all day, every day. Instead, give yourself time and space to be
creative. It may not earn you a steady paycheck, but if it makes you happy… it’s worth doing.
7. Track Your Progress As you reinvent and reinvigorate
your lifestyle, you may not feel like you’re making progress. You may be so focused on
your long-term goals you don’t notice the little improvements you’re making every day.
That’s why it’s important to keep track of the changes you’re making and record
every tiny victory you achieve. This is especially important when you’ve
gone through a rough patch in your life. During that rough period, you may not have
felt like yourself. You may have lost touch with the healthy, productive habits you used to have.
Now that you’ve decided to improve yourself, you may be comparing your current state to
the way you were before. But that’s not a healthy or useful comparison.
Instead, compare yourself to the way you were yesterday or last week. Encourage yourself
to keep improving little by little, day after day. Because progress is slow. And it’s almost
invisible when you’re the one making changes. So write down a daily record of your progress.
Every once in a while, look back at everything you’ve done, celebrate your growth,
and be proud of how far you’ve come. Thank you for watching TopThink,
and be sure to subscribe, because more incredible content is on the way.