Three Ways to Genuinely Make Life Better This Year
Are you living life to its full potential, or are you just sitting back and letting it pass you by? If it’s the latter, here are three things you could consider doing to genuinely improve things.
Do your bit for the planet and people
If you have food in your cupboards and change in your pocket, you’re already richer than a huge proportion of the world. Sure, you might not be rolling in cash, but it’s important to appreciate what you do have. When you realize that you’re in a good position in life (even if it’s not perfect) you start seeing opportunities to help others. You could volunteer with a charity, helping them with the great work they do. You could raise money or awareness for their cause. You could work on conservation projects, or donate money yourself. Whatever it is, find where your passion lies. Hate seeing the homelessness in your city? Find out what you can do about it by volunteering with outreach workers and soup kitchens. Get upset seeing videos on Facebook about animals being abandoned? Go and help a local shelter with their mission. Cry whenever you think of children ill in hospital? Do a collection to raise money for toys at Christmas. It will make your life better, as well as others.
Expand your mind
The world we live in is huge and fascinating. There’s so much information out there- experiences to have, things to learn. However, most of us spend our daily lives trapped in a strict routine. We get up, we eat the same breakfast, we go to work, speak to the same people then come home and go through the same habits. Admittedly, it’s difficult to get out of this rut- for most of us our worlds are consumed by work and we have to fit everything else in around this. However, there are ways you can break free and expand your mind. Start studying again, travel or read. Try new things, say yes to things you might have previously rejected. You could even get a new career where you’re learning new skills, for example if you have an interest in healthcare you look for dnp jobs. If you have an interest in fitness, train to become a personal trainer. You could even look into setting up your own business. Breaking free of the ‘norm’ and taking a new direction will hugely expand your mind.
Give up things that don’t really make you happy
We all have habits and vices that we rely on, mainly because we think they make us happy. Eating junk food, drinking alcohol, gambling, shopping and smoking are all examples. However when it comes down to it, these things rarely improve our mood- certainly not in the long term. Instead, they’re crutches, coping mechanisms to give us a boost to disguise unpleasant emotions. The problem is, they tend to cause more problems than they solve. Health issues, financial problems- guilt. Have a hard think about what you’d do to cope after a hard day. And then, how that action would make you feel later on. Identifying these behaviors then means you can take steps to stop them. It might take time, it won’t be an overnight thing. Depending on how extreme it is, you might need medical or psychological help to truly break them. But once you do, you’ll feel so much better for it.