If you are struggling with things in your life and you feel like you can’t cope on your own, hiring a therapist can be the best investment you will ever make, but for problems that are not overwhelming you, there are steps you can take on your own. Improving your happiness and success in life are very important and what most people strive to achieve, but the road to your goals doesn’t have to be an expensive one. If you want to improve your life, there are a few things you can do for yourself to be your own life coach and achieve your goals without spending a dime.
Start exercising
Exercising has been proved to improve mood and overall happiness. Go out for a run, do some exercises, or take a stroll. Psychical activity will make you feel instantly happier and it will give you the strength to reach your goals. When you are feeling good, you are more likely to do something that is good for yourself and you are more likely to work on achieving your goals. Exercising is the best you can do for yourself today.
Embrace mindfulness
Mindfulness is the psychological process of bringing attention to the present moment. Being mindful means that a person is paying close attention to what they are experiencing, their feelings, and thoughts. The first step of any change is noticing what needs to be changed and what direction should we take when moving forward. To be able to see what areas in our lives need changing and to set goals that are right for us, we need to be in touch with our innermost selves. Pay attention, question everything, think about what really matters to you. It all starts with mindfulness.
Start writing your thoughts down
One helpful exercise when starting your journey to mindfulness is to start a journal. Writing our thoughts and experiences down will give us time to peacefully contemplate about our life and where we are heading. You should start by writing something down every day. It might seem hard at first, but you will get the hang of it soon enough. As time progresses, you will start to notice a difference in what you write about and how you write about it and you will be able to more clearly see what you value in life and what you should strive to achieve.
Set your goals
Having clear goals is very important and motivating in the process of change. If you have embraced mindfulness and have been writing you journal, setting goals won’t be hard. Being mindful will help you examine areas of your life you hope to improve and realize in what ways you want to improve them. Start a new page in your journal and write down your goals. Once you have done that, you can start making a strategy. Carefully examine the strengths in your life and how you can utilize them on your journey. Strengths can be the traits you have, relationships with people that support you, skills, anything you think will help you achieve your goals.
Reward yourself
Change is not easily achieved. You will encounter obstacles and struggle at times. To keep you motivated during difficult periods, but also to help you always remember how far you got, you should reward yourself. Thinking of a reward you will give yourself is an integral part of setting goals. Divide your goals into smaller tasks and set a reward for each of them. You might reward yourself with a cup of coffee, a walk in your favorite part, or a chocolate cupcake. Whatever you set as your reward, it should be something small and significant for you. It should remind you of your hard work and you should always remember to reward yourself.
