Let’s face it, most of us didn’t plan to end up in a cycle of paying bills, chasing work deadlines we don’t care about, and watching our dreams collect dust. Life happened. You probably started with good intentions—go to school, get a decent job, pay off your student loans—but somehow you ended up just existing, stuck in a routine that makes you feel like a hamster on a wheel. So, what do you do when your life has lost all its zest and you feel like you’re merely surviving? Well, you need to get disgusted with where you are, realise what you don’t want, and start resetting your priorities.
Become Uncomfortably Aware
Here’s the bad news: you got yourself in this mess. But don’t worry, the good news is that you can also get yourself out of it. The first step is to become brutally aware of how far off track you’ve gone. Take a good look around. What’s not working in your life? If it helps, observe the people you pass by daily—your colleagues, the people in the grocery store aisles, maybe even your mates from school. Notice the lifeless looks, the conversations about debt, the constant complaints about work. Now, realise that you’re not too far off from becoming one of them, if you aren’t already. That’s enough to make anyone feel queasy.
Now, you’re not going to flip your life upside down in one go, but it helps to start with a list. Grab a notebook and write down everything you don’t want in your life. Be specific. No more vague, “I don’t want to be stressed.” Nope, you need details. Write down every little thing that’s sucking the life out of you and why it should make you squirm. Feel that negative energy brewing? Good. Use it. Use it as the motivation to steer your life in the opposite direction. And don’t just stop at the list—commit to never letting this happen again. Burn it into your brain. This is your anti-vision, the picture of everything you want to avoid.
Set One Meaningful Goal
Right, now that you’re thoroughly disgusted with your current situation, it’s time to laser-focus on one meaningful goal. Yes, just one. You’re not a superhero, you can’t change everything at once. Besides, trying to juggle multiple goals will just set you up for failure. So pick one thing that will actually make a difference in your life, and if your friends or family think you’re mad for chasing it—perfect, you’re on the right track.
Get that notebook back out. Now, with all that negative energy still swirling around, write down what skills you’ll need to achieve this goal, why you want it, and how you’re going to commit to it. This isn’t the time to be half-hearted or vague. Be specific. And remember, you’re doing this for yourself, not for anyone else. If you find yourself trying to explain your plan to others, take it as a red flag—you’re already doing it for the wrong reasons.
Eliminate Distractions and Reset
Next: eliminate distractions. Those distractions? Yeah, they’re usually your phone, pointless social media scrolling, or that mate who always drags you to the bar when you’ve got things to do.
Cut them out. And do it all at once, cold turkey.
Why?
Because dealing with the pain of withdrawal is better than having to explain your plans to every “helpful” person around you.
Now, take it up a notch. Tomorrow when you wake up, start fresh. I mean it—completely new. Forget everything you’ve done before, because it’s clearly not working. Be intentional about every decision from the second your alarm goes off. Your habits, choices, and decisions have landed you where you are, so if you don’t change them, guess where your life is headed? That’s right—nowhere good. It’s time to reset, to drop everything and see what sticks. You don’t need to fill your time with fluff—just start learning, building, and growing.
And remember, no one else needs to know your plans. You’re doing this for you.
Leave a Reply