Monday thoughts :: creating a life you love

The best part about starting a new year is having that wonderful feeling that everything is a fresh start, like the pages of an unwritten book filled with opportunity for you to design the kind of life that you have fallen in love with.

I read this quote by Zig Zigler the other day and have since pinned it to my desk so I can reference it often, which then got me thinking about the things we need to do everyday in order to create our dream life.

Of course to create a life you love takes work, and because we simply cannot do everything we need to prioritise and make sure we are only doing things each day that will lead us to the path that we so desire.

Here are 5 tangible things to practice everyday that will keep you on track for creating your dream life…

# 1. Turn your dreams into actionable steps. 

The quote "a dream without a goal is a wish" springs to mind here. By creating goals you are giving yourself a deadline for when you need to achieve them by. Hold yourself accountable for your goals; keep track of your progress and then reward yourself when you reach important milestones.

# 2. Take a few small steps everyday.

Having big goals and dreams is great, but often when we create these seemingly out of reach goals, we get so overwhelmed with how unattainable they are that we give up before we even start. By breaking your goals down into small bite sized chunks you will then be able to tackle each of the smaller goals, working your way up to the overarching goal you want to achieve. 

# 3. Exercise rock solid self control.

No one said creating the life you want would be easy; it takes hard work and loads of self discipline. My goal of running in the City to Surf this year (a 14km fun run in Sydney) seems a bit of a stretch right now, but I'm making the effort to fit in runs each week so I can build up to this distance. I'm aiming to extend my run by 1km each week (at the moment I can only run about 5km comfortably). I have until August so a while to go yet, but I know that I need to make the commitment and be disciplined now, so by the time August rolls around I'll be ready to go.

# 4. Mind your thoughts and your words.

Gandhi's wise words could not be more true. Practicing the art of positive thoughts and banishing negative self talk will keep you in a positive mindset. Keep a set of affirmations in your diary; stuck to your mirror; or as a screen saver - and look at them often. Practice this often enough and you will notice the belief and confidence in yourself grow. Be inspired by this TED talk Julie from Beautiful You gave recently to see how big an impact negative thoughts can have on your daily life and how they stop you from realising your potential.

# 5. Keep going until you're an expert. Then keep going.

Never give up. Keep going. Make the commitment to yourself that no matter how hard things get and how impossible they seem that you will keep on keeping on. Remember that 80's song 'The Going Gets Tough'? Yeah, well the tough also get going. Make everything you do count and you will reap the rewards, and the life you imagined will be there waiting for you.

Read more Inspired Life posts here.

Rachel xo


Image credits: Free People Spring 2013 via