Stop Waiting On Your Life

 

Earlier this week I had to phone the bank. Whilst I was sitting on the phone waiting to get through to someone to speak to, I kept thinking of all the things that I could be doing whilst I was sitting there – just waiting, not living my life.

Are you living your life “on hold”?

Are you waiting for the ‘right person’ to come along? Do you find yourself waiting for the motivation to get your home or garage organised? Are you waiting for the perfect job to fall into your lap? Are you waiting to win the lottery for your financial independence? Stop waiting on your life! The only difference between you and the people who are getting what they want, is that they kept moving and you didn’t. Here are some ideas to help get you started again:

1. Focus on the ‘who you are’, not the ‘what you want’

If you find you’ve been stuck on a goal for a while, try restarting it in a “who I am” terms instead of “what I want” terms. For example, instead of saying “I want to lose 30 lbs”, say something like “I am someone who takes care of themselves by keeping my weight around [your ideal weight].”

Be as specific as possible. For example, if you want to help others, be specific on how you want to help them. If you simply say “I want to be someone who helps others'', this could mean anything from being a cashier in a supermarket to a heart surgeon – both roles help others.

Focus on who you want to be. Ask yourself what actions would fit with your desire “to be'' instead of “get”, and then live ‘as if’ you were that type of person by taking the actions they would.

2. Analyse it

Did you know that a full 80% of your problems come from 20% of your life? It’s true!  Determine what that 20% is that’s affecting so much of your life, and start working to make it happier, more efficient and more satisfying. By analysing and making changes in the 20% of your life that’s causing you the most of your problems, you’ll make the biggest changes in the way you live your life.

3. Assign value to things

A big mistake people often make is not assigning a true value to their resources - their time, their energy, their money, and to the space around them. Realise that for each thing you say yes to – such as a new jacket or scrolling through social media - you’ve said no to something else, such as saving towards a new car or working on one of your goals. Constantly question what you're doing and the value of the things in your life – keep evaluating how you spend your money, your time, your attention and your energy. Regularly ask yourself “is this valuable enough to me for it to be in my life, or even to push out something else from my life?” Regularly evaluating how you spend your resources (your time, money, skills and effort) will help you to focus on how you can best spend them to live the life that you truly want.