Not Sure How to Live Life to the Fullest? Try These 30 Things!
Do you wish you could be living a more amazing life?
I love coming up with new ways to get inspired and start living a better and more awesome life. Even with its downs and those inevitable bad days. For the most part, life is pretty great. If it hasn’t been as great for you as you want it to be then this is the post for you. Here are 30 ways to start living a more amazing life today.
1 Set boundaries
Often we feel overwhelmed and stressed because we haven’t set clear boundaries with the people around us. Then we feel burdened and resentful which is a sucky way to feel. So start setting boundaries today if you are ready to living a more amazing life.
2. Make yourself a priority
Too often people, especially moms put themselves last on their list. Everyone else is a priority and important except them. If this is you knock it off. You are important and if you take care of you then you will have more to give to others.
3. Get more sleep
Don’t run yourself down. It will do you more harm than good. You will end up burnt out and get sick. Then you won’t be able to do anything. So make time for solid sleep at night and sneak in a nap if you can every once in awhile.
4. Drink more water
Up until this last year, I was not really a water drinker. I drank a lot of soda especially Dr. Pepper but I hardly drank water even though I knew I should. This year I have been drinking a lot more water and I amazed at how much better I feel now and I know a lot of it is due to the water I’m drinking.
5. Make a daily to-do list
I have become such a fan of a daily to-do list. I create one Monday through Friday on Evernote. This allows me to know exactly what I need to work on getting accomplished during my day. I like the satisfaction of checking off things I get done. Especially on days, I don’t feel motivated to do much each item off my list is a big accomplishment.
6. Learn to say no
Oh, the power of such a tiny word. We feel bad letting people down or think we should be able to do more than we can so we say yes when we need to say no. Take back some of your power by saying no to things that you can’t fit in your schedule or that you don’t want to do. It really is ok not to do it all.
Check out this post on saying no.
7. Say sorry when you need to
I’ve been working so hard over the past few years to get better at this. I use to never want to say I was sorry when I did something wrong. Now I really make the effort to. It’s not always easy but I learned it takes the responsibility off of me.
If I mess up and then say I’m sorry I’ve done what I can to resolve the situation. The other person might forgive me or they might not but I’ve done my part. I am only in charge of my actions and can’t control other people. As much as I might want to. This is usually an issue with family not so much in business. It is all is a part of living a more amazing life, though.
8. Get rid of clutter
If you have been a reader of this blog for some time then you probably know I am on a mission to get rid of clutter. I am overwhelmed by the amount of stuff that we seem to have in our house. I know many of you feel the same way.
Having less stuff just feels better and makes life easier so I am trying all the time to get rid of things that we know longer use or need. I know I still have too much but every year I’m getting better at buying less and getting rid of more.
9. Use a calendar
To start living a more amazing life starting today it really helps to know what is going on in your life from day to day and each week. As you get busier things will get harder to remember and there is way too much stress that comes from forgetting an appointment or being late.
So start using a calendar. Some people love paper planners, I use to be a big fan but a disability on my hand makes writing too difficult for me now. So I’m all about going digital. I personally use Google calendars and love that it can sync between my phone and computer so I always have my calendar with me.
10. Read more
I love reading. Since I was a little girl I have loved reading books. The love has never stopped. I think they are a great way to relax and escape when you need to.
They also give you a lot of knowledge and you can learn new skills through reading new books. I read a ton of books for pleasure but I also make time for books on becoming a better blogger and entrepreneur.
11. Live in the now. Not the past or the future.
Such a challenge to do but the better you can become at this skill the better your life will be. I am still very much a work in progress but I know that learning to let go of things that happened in the past that I cannot change as well as obsessing over the future which isn’t here yet will do nothing but give me stress and anxiety. So I’m working on it.
12. Find more ways to laugh
There is such power in laughing. It can make you feel so much better and ease anxiety and stress. So if you are feeling bad or down find a way to make yourself laugh. Spend time with a toddler (they are hilarious), watch something funny on youtube,
Watch a funny sitcom (my personal favorites are The Office and Parks and Rec). I find that spending more time laughing is the best way to beging living a more amazing life.
13. Practice gratitude
It has been shown that being more grateful for what goes right in life can make everything seem so much better. Too often it is our habit to focus on what is going wrong and the negatives that we experience.
We all are guilty of doing it. Just making the daily habit of thinking of 3 things that went well that day can make a huge impact on your mood and your outlook. They don’t have to be huge positive things either. It’s about learning to see the good in the everyday things. Did you have enough food to eat, did you talk to someone you love. Did you have running water and electricity that worked? Those are all good things that many people around the world don’t have so be grateful for them.
14. Eat breakfast
I didn’t do this for so long. I’m just not real hungry when I first wake up. So if I get buy in the morning I will forget to eat and then itâ’s lunchtime and I’m starving. It used to take me forever to get going in the morning also because I was so tired and lacked energy.
Of course, I did. I hadn’t eaten in 12 hours since dinner the night before. Your body needs food to fuel it to get going and making the most out of your day. So just make the time for a bowl of oatmeal, a yogurt, a piece of toast. Something small and fast that can give your body a boost to start the day. I’m still not real hungry in the morning so I wait 30 minutes after I wake up typically and then eat something small.
15. Focus on one thing at a time.
We like to think of ourselves as multitaskers. We can get it all done and all done well. Do we really, though? Or do we do a lot of things sort of well because we are so busy bouncing from task to task? I know that I don’t multitask as well as I think I do if I’m really being honest.
So if I have an important item on my to-do list I need to give that task my attention and really focus on it. If I’m not trying to do 5 other things at the same time he the important task will get done better and faster with my complete focus on it.
Book you should read on the topic: Eat that Frog
16. Tell people you love that you love them.
Life is short and we never know when it will be our time to go or the time of the people we love. We make the mistake of thinking life is forever and that the people we love will always be around.
That might not be true and you might not be around either. My husband had a seizure while driving and drove off the freeway. Luckily he was fine and not seriously hurt but I was 24 and he was 26 and it could have been the end of his life. Then a year later I was 25 and he was 27 and I had a major stroke. Again completely unexpected. So we really learned this life lesson of the fact that at anytime someone you love can die or you could die. It’s sad but it has made me more willing to forgive people and to be more loving because you just never know.
17. Get physical
I am not a fan of exercise and was never very active in my life. I would go in the pool occasionally or take walks but I was never into sports or going to the gym very much. Then when I got my disability being physically active became more of a challenge.
I didn’t mean to but I just stopped moving unless absolutely necessary. I was almost always sitting or lying down. Which wasn’t a good thing. I didn’t even realize this until May when I started tracking my steps with Fitbit and I had like no steps that first week. I knew I didn’t move or walk around much but it was a fraction of what I was really doing.
So I’ve kept tracking and over the months have built myself back up to moving more. I still am not really active and I move less than the average person but it’s about 5 times what I was doing earlier this year. This has given me back so much more confidence in moving my body more. I’ve lost some weight, my stamina is better.
18. Let things go
Like the most popular Disney movie from a few years ago sang about. You need to learn to let it go. All those things that are running circles in your mind. All those stresses, pains, and fears for the future. Learn to let them go and just move forward.
I call myself a spiraler. When something goes wrong I spiral down. I start obsessing over it and then all the other bad thoughts start creeping in and I’m stuck in this awful pattern of the bad thought leading to more bad thoughts which turn into more bad thoughts. So I’m always looking for how to let it go and stop the thoughts and the obsessing.
19. Prioritize your health
Your health is not guaranteed and it is so easy to take that for granted. I know I did for most of my life. I never thought about my health at all. I was always pretty healthy and thought I don’t need to worry about health issues till I’m older.
Then I got sick. I had my stroke even though I had no other health problems. I didn’t smoke, drink, use drugs. I was only slightly overweight so obesity wasn’t a factor. It came out of nowhere and I was only 25. I learned right then that you need to take care of your health. Stress played a factor in my stroke and not taking care of myself. So I’m better at that now. I sleep more and take breaks when I need them, I listen to my body more.
20. Help others
If you are looking for ways to feel better and start to live a better life this is a great step for you to try out. Helping others is a great way to feel better about yourself and your own life.
21. Complain less
It’s a bad habit that I sometimes get into and many people do as well. We complain about everything and are just constantly looking to voice our complaints and vent about stuff. Sometimes we do need to voice things and a little venting can be alright in my opinion.
The problem comes when we start complaining all the time and it becomes annoying for the people around us. Who really wants to listen to complainers. No one really. It also brings the people around us down to be around us while we are complaining. So our venting too much brings the people we care about down and hurts them. I donâ’t want that. It can also prolong our bad mood. When we keep talking about our crappy boss, long commute, bills, long lines or whatever it keeps those bad thoughts in our minds and we keep thinking about them and not letting them go and moving on.
So try to limit your complaining to occasionally and only when you really need to get something off your chest or need some advice on how to handle a situation.
22. Trust your instincts
You were given these great instincts but it’s up to you to actually listen to them and trust them. That weird feeling you get around someone or when you walk into somewhere. Take the time to listen to it and decide if you are going to follow what your instincts are telling you or not.
I listen to my instincts a lot when it comes to being a mom. I figure if I’m feeling something even if I have no idea why there must be a good reason. I did this when my daughter was little. A family member was dating someone and for whatever reason, I just felt off. So my husband and I decided to trust my gut and our daughter could not be around this person unless her dad or I was there.
This guy had never done anything and I had no reason to feel like I couldn’t trust him but my instincts were screaming at me that I didn’t want my daughter to be around him without me or her dad there. Eventually, he and this family member broke up and it was no longer an issue. I would always rather trust my instincts and protect myself or family even if I had no reason for it. Then not listen to them and regret it if something terrible did happen.
23. Be fully present with the people you love
This does become harder and harder to do as our world becomes more and more digital. When I was growing up there was tv and VHS to keep our family entertained and maybe not fully present with each other but not much else. Now there is TV and streaming services, laptops and computers. Not to mention our iPad and of course cell phones that are always with us.
It’s almost impossible to not be distracted with electronics and that is making us more and more disconnected with the people in our families. I’m not saying to stop using electronic devices completely because, to be honest, I would fail to do that myself.
The point is to realize how much time you are spending focusing your attention on other things especially when you are with your family. Try to take 30-minute breaks from electronics and just spend quality time with the people around you that you love and care about.
This will help you build stronger bonds and bring you closer to your loved ones which are more important than what you’re doing online or on your phone. Taking these breaks from being distracted will help you begin living a more amazing life.
24. Do something nice for someone else
It doesn’t have to be a big thing that you do just a little show of care and help to someone out. Think about the people in your life and come up with ways you can ask them how you can be of help to them. Maybe it is running an errand that they don’t have time for, cooking them a meal to take them when they are going through a rough patch. An offer to babysit their kids for an afternoon.
We all have so many ways to help others that we never even think of. The act of helping someone out will not only strengthen your bond and relationship with that person. It will also help you feel better about yourself and improve your mood and attitude about life.
25. Unplug for a little while
The internet and technology are wonderful and I spend a lot of my time online and using the internet. Especially a blogger I am constantly online and even in my free time I find myself on social media and watching Netflix.
I have found it helpful though to take breaks and unplug from time to time. Maybe just for a few hours. Sometimes it’s for a day or two. Or just to significantly cut down my time with being plugged in. I get done projects around the house I’ve been putting off, read a book, spend time with people. Just take a little break from the online world. As much as I love it sometimes it’s good for us to step back and just be in our real life for a little bit.
26. Go outside for a little while
Going outside is a great time to get moving by going for a run or walk. It also gives you a chance to unplug like was mentioned in an early tip. Plus getting outside and getting a bit of sun is good for your health both physically and mentally. Being outdoors will help you start living a more amazing life.
Check out this post on the health benefits of the outdoors
27. Spend time on a hobby
Having a hobby can give you so many benefits that you might not have thought of. It will give you something to look forward to doing especially on those down days or when things are tough. Having a hobby will help you to begin living a more amazing life by improving your joy.
Check out 17 hobbies you should try
28. Ask for help
I always hated doing this and it was a real struggle for me when I was younger to tell people I needed help. I thought my family would look down on me for needing help and I didn’t want to burden people with my problems. I didn’t even want to go to my husband with things because it was better for me to figure out on my own.
I was wrong and putting so much on myself really hurt my health and my marriage. Thank goodness my stroke forced me to start asking for help and made me realize that most of the time people I loved didn’t mind helping me out and it took a lot of pressure off of me.
29. Spend time in person with someone you love
We are so busy, busy, busy that often times we neglect the people we love and our relationships with family and friends. This can cause us to feel isolated and lonely which will lead to stress and possibly depression. It doesn’t have to be all the time but making a regular effort to spend time with our loved ones can improve relationships and make us feel better.
30. Accept that there will never be enough hours in the day
There is too much goodness and experiences that you can have as well as commitments in your life that there will never be enough hours in your day to do it all. There are choices to be made and you will have to choose what to do with your hours.
