We all want to change our lives and reach higher levels, but how do we actually do that? Of all the different strategies, what gets the best results?
Over the past decade, I’ve been fortunate enough to change my life several times over. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my journey—and I still have a ways to go—but I’ve learned a few essential things for success. If you skip these, you will slow and limit your progress; but if you follow them, you will jumpstart your growth like nothing else.
Below are the steps that transformed my life the most and I’m confident they can help you on your journey too. Here’s how:
1. Decide Who You Want To Be
Many people are so caught up figuring out who they are that they don’t consider who they want to be. They don’t plan the life that they want to have, the things that they want, and more. But without any kind of goal, they lack direction and go wherever life takes them.
Instead, focus on what you want and who you want to be. Once you determine that and move toward your goals, your journey will transform your entire existence.
If you go to work on your goals, your goals will go to work on you. If you go to work on your plan, your plan will go to work on you. Whatever good things we build end up building us.
— Jim Rohn
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter who you are now because you can change it. That’s the whole point of this process. After all, what difference does it make who you currently are if you change it in a few months?
Also, keep in mind that your goals don’t only have to be about possessions or money. Your goal could be the personality traits you want—things that are not quantifiable, yet still important.
For example, years ago, when I moved to Europe, my goals were more than just “buying a home, being rich, etc.” They were about who I wanted to become and the traits I wanted to have. And the only way to achieve them was to change my entire life, walk a new path, and unlock new experiences that I’ve never done before.
To powerfully transform your life, be honest with yourself, decide who you want to be, and start becoming that person for the rest of your life.
2. Prioritize
You can’t do everything at once. (I wish we could, but life doesn’t work like that.) Often, achieving one goal means having to postpone other goals because you simply don’t have the bandwidth to do 20 different things at once—and do them well.
Success isn’t that difficult; it merely involves taking twenty steps in a singular direction. Most people take one step in twenty directions.
— Dr. Benjamin Hardy
Start by asking what are the few goals that, if completed, would transform everything else? What are the few keystone goals that can change your entire life? Is it your career? Your health? Your relationships? Those questions will help determine which priorities to tackle first.
Then, hold off on all your other goals until you complete the highest priority ones. That’s not to say you can never achieve your other goals for the rest of your life; it’s just about focusing on what matters most, right now, and then doing your lesser goals later.
3. Change Your Environment
Once you have your goals and priorities, the first step isn’t to roll up your sleeves and get to work; the first step is to change your environment.
People say they want to change their lives, yet they continue to hang out with the same friends, do the same things, and live the same routines. But if everything is still the same, how can they actually change?
In Willpower Doesn’t Work, Benjamin Hardy, Ph.D., explains it’s impossible to change yourself unless you change your environment because you and your environment are “two indivisible parts of the same whole.”
To become a new person, your surroundings need to help you do so. For example, even though I had a comfortable life in the US, I gave it all up to align my environment with what I wanted to achieve. After that, I stopped needing to use willpower and my results changed more than I could’ve imagined.
Be intentional about your environments. Don’t accept what’s around you; make sure it pushes you toward what you want to achieve.
4. Demand More From Yourself
Some people like to be a “big fish in a small pond” and surround themselves with reminders of how “good” or “smart” they are. But this is a kiss of death: They stop learning and become complacent. They become more focused on looking good and maintaining the status quo rather than challenging themselves, learning, and growing.
If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.
— Marissa Mayer
Don’t choose standards that feel comfortable; choose ones that feel uncomfortable. Demand more from yourself in your career, health, finances, etc.—it’ll redefine what’s possible and what you can accomplish. For example, if you measure yourself to the “average,” you’ll only ever be average; but if you measure yourself to the “elite,” you’ll have a much higher potential.
Then, over time, you will become a product of your standards.
5. Decide Faster
At this very moment, many people are considering a big, life-changing decision: “Should I change careers? Should I start a business? Should I move to a new city?”
Sadly, a lot of them hesitate, overthink, and delay. They wait for the “perfect moment” or all the information to act. Ultimately, they avoid making a choice while time passes by—years later, they still haven’t decided and their life stays the same.
The real problem is that they’re scared to commit. They don’t want to close options or be “wrong;” they want to have a “better future” and “play it safe” at the same time. But it’s impossible. When you make a real choice, there’s always a risk and you must say “no” to other things.
Decisiveness is one of the best skills. As my friend, Max Klein, said, “The quality of a decision is often less important than how timely it is made.”
In my life, the only way I could transform everything was to make huge decisions that transformed everything. Starting new careers. Moving to different continents (thrice). Signing contracts with massive commitments. Once I pulled the trigger, everything else was easy—the hardest part was deciding.
The best thing is to do the right thing; the next best is to do the wrong thing; the worst thing of all things is to stand perfectly still.
— Alfred Henry Lewis
Once you commit and burn the ships, your future will take care of itself.
6. Eliminate Distractions
Many people who struggle in their lives are the ones who are constantly busy with distractions—random events or obligations that give them a jolt of excitement from an otherwise uninteresting life.
But those distractions don’t move them toward their goals (if they even have goals). Years from now, those distractions won’t even be a memory.
The real way to change your life is to do the one thing that many people who struggle refuse to do: Put aside all the distractions and mindless entertainment until you make progress on the things that matter most.
No social media. No parties. No concerts. No vacations. No movies. It might seem extreme, but I won’t lie to you and say you can have your cake and eat it too. It’s about priorities—none of those distractions are more important than your purpose and dreams. Focus on what’s most important and, later, you’ll have plenty of time for entertainment.
7. Get To Work
A business doesn’t build itself. A degree doesn’t happen by itself. A new home doesn’t occur by itself. If there’s something you really want in life, you have to make shit happen.
There is no “hack” for hard work.
The truth is, right now, someone is going to put in the work, they’re going to get exactly what they want, and more importantly, they’ll be able to enjoy it for the rest of their lives.
To change your life, get used to hard work. Get used to working a few extra hours after you finish your day job. Get used to working on weekends to finish a project or learn something new. Get used to people giving you a puzzled look when you tell them how you spend your free time.
If you want to become a new person, these are the essential steps.
And if you follow them, get used to success.
Best of luck.
Leave a Reply