How to Simply Change Your Life in 2021

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As the new year approaches, it brings in this new wave of improving our lives.  Am I right? Something about a fresh start brings in new opportunities and new experiences to give us the chance to start over. But have you been down this path too many times? Is it the same path that keeps telling you “maybe next year will be better”?  If so, it’s time for your wake up call! Each year we vow to do things differently, but then the year comes and goes without any change. 

Rather than letting another year go by, let this year be the year you wake yourself up and start making those changes.

We can all agree that 2020 has been one of the weirdest years we have ever experienced. I know I’m not the only one excited for it to be over. With 2021 just around the corner, I’m ecstatic for what’s to come but more thrilled on what I will be doing to get where I want to be. 

Over the past couple of months, I have done some deep thinking for myself and reevaluated where and how I want my life to be. And with that, I have incorporated several new habits in my day-to-day life that have allowed me to better understand how is it that I am going to get there. If changing your life is something you have been thinking of doing, then here are my top 5 things you can do to make 2021 the best year yet and successfully get you where you want to be.

1. Identify your bad habits

Okay, so you might be asking why. The reason being is because you have to identify where the problem comes from. The “why” to the reason your life hasn’t changed. And guess what? That all comes from our habits. Whether that habit is sleeping in late, eating too much junk food, or even spending too much time on social media, your habits have a way of portraying who you are.

“Your outcomes are a lagging measure of your habits. Your net worth is a lagging measure of your financial habits. Your weight is a lagging measure of your eating habits. Your knowledge is lagging measure of your learning habits. Your clutter is a lagging measure of your cleaning habits. You get what you repeat”.  – James Clear

By ignoring your bad habits, you allow them to hold you back from doing what you want to do and makes it that much harder to move forward. When you identify each bad habit one at a time it becomes a lot easier to make the changes necessary to eliminate them. 

2. Change your Mindset

Your mindset is the most powerful tool you have. For the most part, the mind is in charge of our worries, judgements, and emotions. Instead of focusing on the actions, it’s changing your thoughts and beliefs that matter. At times many of us don’t realize that our own thoughts are the ones holding us back from reaching our full potential. 

You have to start believing that you deserve the life you want! 

SAY IT OUT LOUD! 

“I DESERVE IT ALL”!

3. Practice GRATITUDE and Journal It 

Keeping a gratitude journal with all the things you have to be thankful for can help boost all the positive things in your life. If there is one thing I learned this year is to be grateful more often for everything in my life. Grateful for a roof over my head, food on my table, healthy parents, and overall a life that I have been blessed with. When one takes the time to acknowledge what they have in life instead of what they don’t have, life has the tendency to give back to you.

Some of my favorite gratitude affirmations include: 

• I am happy and grateful for the life I have. 
• I am beyond blessed that I wake up today, many did not have this privilege. 
• I am grateful for all I am 
• Today I give thanks for being able to spend time with my family and loved ones

4. Believing in YOURSELF

In order to stop doubting yourself, you have to start believing in yourself. I know we all have that little voice in our head that tries to find its way in convincing us that we can’t do something. But let me tell you in that very moment when that little voice starts speaking to you, you have 5 seconds. And in those 5 seconds you have to quickly act and go with what scares you the most. Why must you choose what scares you the most? The reason being is because the way that our minds are wired we are not designed to do things that are uncomfortable or scary. But as humans we have the ability to adapt and so when that certain thought or situation comes about our bodies will naturally go with the flow. 

Believing in yourself is a daily discipline and part of it begins with accepting discomfort.

In reality, we can still be scared when choosing to be in discomfort but the reward is much more rewarding when you know that you stepped out of your confirm zone because you believed in yourself and made it happen. Don’t forget that believing in yourself is not something that is a one and done type of thing. Just like personal growth and self-love, it is a practice, which by time will only keep getting deeper and deeper. 

5. Set up good DAILY HABITS 

For the longest time, I didn’t understand the benefits of having daily habits. I would just wake up and go with the flow and not a direction in sight. I started to analyze my life a bit more, and I began to understand the root of why habits are created.

Habits are created not only to achieve our goals but to give us a sense of identity in who we are. 

A couple months ago I read the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. I was in this funk in my life that I couldn’t get out of and one day while on Instagram some girl mentioned that the book had helped her make a lot of positive changes in her life. I became intrigued. I took it as a sign and the very next day I went out and bought it.

Let me just say, you NEED this book in your life! 

In the book, Clear talks about how our identity is formed through our habits. In order for us to become the person we want to become, we have to set ourselves up with habits that will allow us to get there. Those include habits like waking up early, keeping your body active, eating well, taking care of yourself as the list goes on and on. Once you apply those habits into your daily routine they will instantly turn automatic and you won’t even be thinking about it anymore because they have became a part of you. 

Ultimately, your habits matter because they help you become the type of person you wish to be. They are the channel through which you develop your deepest beliefs about yourself. Quite literally, you become your habits – James Clear 

The main point here is in order for you to want to change your ways and become the person you want to become; It all starts in your habits. 

I hope these tips help you grow exactly like the person you want to be. These may all seem like simple things or something you might have heard multiple times. You get real results when you actually do it. I believe that you can do ANYTHING you put your mind to if you just start!