5 Steps to shift your life direction

If you are feeling stuck or dissatisfied with your life, these simple steps will help you change your direction, move on, and find happiness.

1. Change your thoughts

Distance yourself from your negative thoughts and question them rather than just believe they are true. As it is not always easy to pinpoint negative thoughts until it is too late, learn to watch your feelings as a way into your mind. Don’t blindly follow your feelings. If you are feeling anxious, it is not necessarily because there is a solid reason to. It might be purely because you have had a thought that has worried you. Learn to catch that habitual thinking and you will automatically behave differently.

2. Make different choices

After catching your thoughts, now you can think about how you would like to feel and act, instead. You can draw new opportunities into your life, whether that is in a relationship or choosing a healthier lifestyle. When you change the way you think and behave, you will see different opportunities and go for them.

3. Banish dissatisfaction

If you are unhappy with something in your life discard it and then start to refer to it in the past tense – for example say, “I was bored at work,” or “I was in an unhappy relationship.” Putting it into the past gives you the power to change it now and not let things remain the way they were.

4. See yourself differently

Most people define themselves by what they do for a living, but that can be limiting. Instead think about who you would really like to be – and it does not have to be job related. Why not think of yourself as a caregiver, or a creator, or an innovator, rather than doctor or nurse or account executive – whatever your title at work is? That will help you to imagine new possibilities for your life.

5. Make a plan

Where would you really like to be in five or ten years? Put some practical steps in place. If you have a fantasy about starting a business or moving to another town, work out what you need to do to make that happen. Speak to people who have done it, do some research and speak to a financial adviser if it is a business or investment you want to get into.