Let’s get real for a minute.
I know because I’ve been there.
You wake up and realize that your life just doesn’t feel together.
Your job sucks, your relationships are all over the place, you’re not taking care of yourself, and you don’t even know where to begin with ALL your goals.
Trust me, I’ve seen it in my friends, I’ve seen it in strangers, and more times than I’d like to admit, I’ve seen it in myself.
Getting your life together isn’t going to happen overnight. There’s no magic trick.
Instead, you have to make sure you take the RIGHT steps.
Little by little, day by day.
Whether you’re hitting rock bottom trying to climb your way back up, looking to freshen up your life, or you just want to feel more confident in how you live your life; these 30 steps will help you feel more in control, more confident, and proud of the life you’re living.
Ready? Let’s go.
30 Steps to Getting Your Life Together
1. Accept Where You Are
The first step to getting your life together is accepting WHERE you ARE.
You are exactly where you need to be right now. Sure, you might not like your job, or where you live, or how your day is going, but pushing those feelings away and refusing to accept your situation will only keep you stuck there.
Acceptance is the FIRST step towards change.
Accept that you’re struggling. Accept your habits. Accept the pattern(s) you’ve fallen into. And know that it takes GREAT strength to accept where you are today.
2. Take Responsibility
Part of accepting where you are is taking responsibility for how you got there.
You don’t need to beat yourself up about your past decisions, but you do need to realize that you are the only one who can improve your situation.
You are responsible for your life. You are responsible for changing the things you wish were different.
Once you accept responsibility, you can begin to take action.
Read also: 5 Effective Ways to Practice Self-Acceptance
3. Set Clear Goals
Figure out what getting your life together actually looks like to you.
Is it getting a promotion at work? Going back to school? Earning six figures? Saving money? Paying off debt? Improving your health? Learning a new hobby? Spending less time scrolling through social media?
Write it out. Be specific.
Having clear goals and a vision of your ideal life will help you know which steps to take to get there.
You can break it down even more by looking at the different areas of your life: Career, Finances, Health, Relationships, and Personal Growth.
Knowing exactly what you want your life to look like will help you create a plan of action.
Read also: Setting Goals: A Guide for Success
4. Create a Morning Routine
You know how your mom used to tell you that how you spend your morning determines the rest of your day?
She was right.
When you create a solid morning routine you are conditioning your mind to be productive, focused, and disciplined for the rest of the day.
Some ideas of things to include in your morning routine:
- Stretch
- Journaling
- Meditate
- Healthy breakfast
- Reading
- Planning your day
Pick a few things that you like to do and COMMIT to your morning routine. Every. Single. Day.
Read also: 9 Golden Hour Morning Routine
5. Create a Night Routine
Just as important as your morning routine is your night routine.
Creating a consistent routine for winding down helps you relax both physically and mentally.
Ideas for your nightly routine:
- Take a bath
- Listen to podcasts
- Avoid ALL screens
- Journal
- Practice gratitude
- Review your day, wins and lessons learned
Like your morning routine, you want to pick a few things that you’ll CONSISTENTLY do each night. Every. Single. Night.
Read also: 10 Ways to Stick to A Routine
6. Clean Up Your Space
One of the easiest ways to feel better about your life is to clean up your living space.
Pick a day where you spend a few hours cleaning your house from top to bottom, organize your closets, and throw out any unnecessary items you’ve been holding on to.
You’ll feel accomplished, and your home will actually feel like a HOME.
7. Clean Up Your Finances
Our financial health is often the number one source of stress in our lives. Take control of your finances by sitting down and listing out your:
- Income
- Expenses
- Debts
- Savings
From here, create a budget you can actually stick to. Start getting out of debt using the debt snowball method, and create an emergency fund.
Knowing where your money comes from and where it goes each month is important to staying financially healthy.
8. Focus On Your Health
You can’t pour from an empty cup. If you want to keep better habits in other areas of your life you need to take care of your body.
Get regular exercise, eat nutritious foods, and make sure you’re getting enough sleep each night.
Your mental and physical health go hand in hand. If you’re neglecting one, you’re negatively affecting the other.
9. Practice Self Care
Self care is treating yourself with the same respect you would treat someone you love.
Make sure you’re scheduling downtime, taking care of your hobbies, and doing things that you enjoy that fill you back up.
Some ideas:
- Schedule a massage
- Take a relaxing bath
- Read a book
- Go for a hike
You shouldn’t neglect yourself. Make sure you’re taking care of YOU.
10. Find Good People
You are the 5 people you spend the most time with.
Make sure you’re surrounding yourself with good people who will lift you up, encourage you, and support you through thick and thin.
If you don’t have people like that in your life right now, time to do a little friend hunting.
11. Stop Hanging Out with Toxic People (AKA Negativity)
This ties into number 10 but while you’re hunting for good people, you should also be avoiding toxic people.
Let’s define toxic for a minute. Yes, this includes your angry uncle who always talks politics at dinner and that coworker who likes to gossip about everyone.
TOXIC = negativity
Avoid anything or anyone that causes you stress or negativity. Life’s too short.
12. Develop a Growth Mindset
When you develop a growth mindset, every challenge you face becomes much easier to overcome.
Having a growth mindset means you understand that you can always learn and grow no matter your situation.
You listen to constructive criticism, don’t let failure defeat you, and look for ways to improve yourself daily.
Change your mindset and you’ll start living your life with a LOT less resistance.
13. Learn Something New
Continuing with the theme of growth…
Always strive to learn new things!
Learning a new skill not only makes you a better professional, but it makes you a better you.
You feel more confident in your skillset and more self-sufficient.
Some skills you can learn:
- A new language
- Cooking
- Coding
- Photography
- Interior Design
The options are endless here. Learn a new hobby or something that can help you improve your career. Trust me, there’s always more you can learn.
14. Stay Consistent
You know that saying about how diamonds are just pieces of coal that stood up under pressure?
Build good habits and stay consistent.
You can’t wake up tomorrow and completely change your life. When it comes to making improvements you have to take small steps each day.
Focus on taking small steps daily and that consistency will pay off in the long run.
15. Focus on Mental Health
Your mental health is just as important as your physical health.
If you haven’t already, look into finding a therapist, start journaling, try meditation, or practice mindfulness.
There are so many benefits to focusing on your mental health. Not only will you feel better, but you’ll be able to make better decisions and handle life’s stresses a lot easier.
16. Reflect
At the end of each week, take some time to reflect on the past 7 days.
What went well? What didn’t?
Use this time to think about what you’re grateful for, what you’ve learned, and what you can improve on moving forward.
Reflection is the perfect way to keep your goals aligned with your actions.
17. Learn how to say “NO”
You can’t please everyone, and you can’t do everything you’re asked.
Learning how to say no is vital to having a life you love.
Whether you’re saying no to extra work projects, making plans when you really want to stay home, or hanging out with friends who don’t bring you joy… you have to know your limits.
18. Live with Less
Buy less stuff.
Whoever told you that you needed the newest iPhone X every year was LIEING to you.
Minimalism isn’t just about owning fewer things, but it’s about simplifying your life.
Learn how to live with less and you’ll reduce your stress levels and clear your mind.
19. Manage Your Time
Time is your most valuable asset. Do not waste it.
Figure out what tasks you need to do each day and create a PLAN to get them done.
Use tools like to-do lists, Google Calendar, and even time-blocking to stay as organized as possible with your day.
Remember: Don’t procrastinate. If you want to do something, JUST DO IT.
20. Be Grateful
I can’t stress enough how important gratitude is.
When you practice gratitude, you shift your mindset from what you DON’T have to what you DO have.
Every day write down 5 things you are grateful for.
They don’t have to be big things. “Happy I woke up this morning” is a thing.
You’ll be surprised at how much better your days will be when you focus on the good things.
21. Be Patient
You didn’t become messy overnight, and you’re not going to fix it overnight either.
These changes you’re making are lifestyle changes. You have to be patient with yourself while you learn new habits and adapt to your new lifestyle.
Remember, good things take time.
22. Take Risks
Want to really kick your life into high gear? Take some risks.
Life begins at the end of your comfort zone for a reason.
If you never try something new, you’ll never leave your current situation and never be happy with where you are.
As long as your risks are calculated and you know what you want from them, go chase your dreams.
23. Don’t Compare Yourself to Others
Social media is weird like that.
One minute you’re scrolling through Facebook and you think everyone’s life is perfect…
Then you go through a breakup and realize that’s actually not the case.
Either way, social media is great for inspiration, but spend too much time looking at other people’s lives and you’ll drive yourself crazy.
Focus on your journey and how far you’ve come instead of comparing to someone else’s finished product.
24. Improve Your Emotional Intelligence
Knowing how to control your emotions and understand others’ emotions is such an important skill.
Not only will this help you improve your relationships, but it’ll help you manage stress and understand your own feelings.
Emotional intelligence is like a superpower you can use in your personal life and your career.
25. Celebrate Your Progress
Are you brushing off small victories because you have this big end goal?
STOP.
Don’t forget about how far you’ve come.
Yes, we should always strive to be better than we were yesterday, but if we don’t celebrate the small victories along the way, we’ll forget why we started this journey.
Make sure you’re proud of yourself every step of the way.
26. Stay Adaptable
I can pretty much guarantee that something is going to come up that you didn’t plan for.
Whether it’s an emergency at work, a flat tire, or family in town…
Life happens.
But that doesn’t mean you throw all your goals out the window.
Stay adaptable. Learn how to roll with the punches and use challenges as an opportunity to learn and grow.
27. Clean Up Your Digital Space
This one ties into keeping clutter off your phone, but it’s more than that.
Take some time to go through your email, delete unnecessary messages, organize your apps by usefulness, and limit social media time.
You don’t want the chaos of your digital world adding to the chaos you’re trying to escape from.
28. Give Back
Helping others can help you appreciate everything you have.
You don’t have to donate to charities or start volunteering at your local soup kitchen (but you can if you want to).
Find small ways that you can help others each day. Trust me, giving back will make you feel better about your life.
29. Embrace Failure
Failure is part of life.
You’re going to screw up. A lot.
But that’s okay!
You learn from your mistakes and take those lessons with you moving forward.
Think of failure as lessons instead of defeat.
30. Always Grow
You’re going to wake up tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that…
Live like you mean it.
Taking steps to improve your life IS getting your life together, but you have to promise yourself that you’ll always be growing.
There will always be things you can learn, ways you can improve, and habits you can develop to be the best version of yourself.
Conclusion
Getting your life together isn’t about doing everything at once. It’s about taking the right steps.
When you take action in areas of your life that truly need improvement, you’ll start to feel better about your day-to-day life.
You’ll feel more confident, in control, and proud of the life you’re living.
Just remember that everything you want is on the other side of action.
So do one of these steps TODAY.
You got this.
Don’t forget to share these 30 steps to get your life together so someone you know can feel better about their life.
FAQ
Q: How long will it take me to “get my life together”?
A: There’s no set timeline for how long it will take you to feel better about your life. Just remember that these things take time. You’ll see results through small daily actions.
Q: What if I try these steps and nothing changes?
A: Everyone is different and what works for one person may not work for you.
If you feel as though these steps didn’t help, try targeting the areas of your life that most affect your mental health and stability (Finances, bad habits, toxic relationships, etc.).
Q: Can these tips really help anyone?
A: Yes! These tips are basic steps we all can use to improve our lives and learn how to better manage situations.
Q: How do I stay motivated to keep improving my life?
A: After you take action, motivation will come. If you wait for motivation to hit, you’ll be waiting forever.
Once you take the first step and start to see progress, you’ll be motivated to keep going.
Q: What if I fail at one of these steps?
A: You won’t “fail” at these steps, but if you mess up at one or fall back into old habits, that’s okay!
Take a moment to reflect on what went wrong and start that step again. These things take time.
Don’t give up on yourself.
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