User Post: Live Your Best Life: A 6 Step Process to Success

Whether you are facing writer's block, a blank canvas, a quarter-life crisis, or a bad case of the blah's, everyone runs into a lull in their life sometime or another. Remember: it's natural and expected to feel down and/or uninspired sometimes. Use whatever metaphor you feel most familiar with to allow yourself some humanity: you must experience the dark to enjoy the light, to get to the peaks you must walk through the valleys, etc. etc.


Regardless of what you are going through- I believe seeking to be inspired is the best course correction. When inspired, you are full of the light and energy humans are so often drained of. When inspired, you are productive, creative, focused and true to yourself. When inspired, you are working towards what is important to you- regardless of outside opinions. When inspired, you think not of your limitations, but of your possibilities only because nothing else matters but fulfilling your purpose.

Here is the Six Step Process to get yourself out of a funk and back on track to living your most full life.

1. REFLECT

Ask yourself: what is it that is making me feel so icky? It could be something as simple as neglecting your health or putting other's needs before your own too often. Is your draining job making you ill? Are you involved in relationships or friendships that make you feel bad? Are you not creating time for yourself? Without directly addressing the cause of your funk, you will continually avoid taking action to correct it. After identifying a problem, it's hard to ignore. You owe it to yourself to rectify any issues, because you know that you are worth more than self-induced suffering.

Sometimes, some simple reflection and identification is enough of an impetus to overcome those barriers that are holding you back from living at your best.

2. REMOVE

Take action on what you discovered during Step 1. Whatever is draining your energy or not tangibly and positively contributing to your life must go NOW. Final sale, no returns. Negative friends and toxic relationships will be left in the dust. Unnecessary noise and distractions are a thing of the past. If you can't prove to me how you benefit from an activity, it's out. Mindlessly browsing Facebook results in what for you? Tell me how hours of television enhances your well being. Getting blasted on $1 PBR's can be fun, but I doubt your state of mind the morning after is allowing you to function at your best. Take this opportunity to clean your home, purge unwanted or unnecessary belongings, and clean up your diet.

Remove the unnecessary noise from your life so you can think clearly. It's okay to clean your slate and give yourself a fresh start. It's normal to feel intimidated by taking drastic action to cut people and places and things out of your life. Here's the good news: When you remove the toxic people, even if you do it passively, you are left with supportive friends who will help prop you upright when you're feeling shaky.

3. REPURPOSE

You've identified the fact that you don't feel great. So, the natural next step is to ask yourself: What do I want to feel like? You don't need to design the master plan of your life- I'm just asking you to define what is good for you. Sometimes it is easier to start with the things you don't want in your life to help you pick out the things you DO want. You must ask yourself some tough questions. More good news: You are only responsible to answer to yourself, which means you can be honest, you can change your mind, you can be a hypocrite, you can be selfish, and you can be yourself.

What do you want to feel like? You need to know where you want to go before you go on your journey. Again- you don't have to have a final destination, just a direction. Set yourself up for success by organizing yourself and your thoughts to best serve YOU.

4. RESTORE

Steps 1 through 3 were mostly internal processes. It's time to start taking action. Lucky for you, this step is about passive action. For some people, action will only mean readjusting their sails. For others, we still have to get their boat in the water. The funny thing is, no matter what stage you may find yourself in, it's always best to start small. Let yourself heal. Take some time to absorb productive and positive stimuli. You're a musician, you say? How about creating some bomb playlists and really listening to some music before you try to produce a symphony. Writers? Read a book or two. Aspiring CEO? Activist? Watch a documentary on a revolutionary or a business owner. Seeking sparkle? Watch a runway show. A little wanderlust in your veins? Immediately go to the closest park or patch of grass in your area. Do not pass GO, do not collect $200.

There are so many little bitty things you can do to fill yourself up with whatever fuel it is that you need to conquer the world. Your brain is a machine, and it does need to be fed every once in a while. Absorbing the stimuli that makes you feel whole and full will power you on through your journey. Take as long as you need on this step. I encourage more time than less. Once you start to feel that itch, the familiar "fullness" that comes with being inspired, once you have a few nights where you can't sleep because those ideas are churning in your head, you will know you're ready for the next step.

5. REAWAKEN

You've decided the status quo is not good enough. You have removed the barriers to success. You've redefined what is important to you. You've now experienced some pretty cool stuff. You've aligned your stars and are ready to work.

Start to play. Create. Talk. Share. Write down your ideas. Draw. Map. Arrange. Organize. Do. Do something.

Consider the following words: Perfection. Finished. Success. Take those words out of your head, put them into big red balloons, and release them. You have sparked the flame in your head by allowing yourself to imbibe materials that enhance your existence and now you need to throw some gasoline on that flame. If you want to set the world on fire, you have to do something- anything- to get that fire started.

6. REASSESS

Where are you now? Have you allowed yourself some freedom to be yourself? Are you working towards doing what you are meant to do? In your core, do you feel better or worse? Remember in Step 3, when I gave you permission to change your mind, be selfish, and be honest? If you are back to where you started, it may be because you need to redefine your purpose OR because you are still allowing other people to give you permission to do things. (See what I did there? It was a trick! Don't let anyone give you permission to do what you need to do!)

To wax poetic, your existence is a journey through time, circumstances, and experiences. As ever evolving creatures, we simply must strive to improve ourselves and our condition. For myself personally, when I'm feeling less "alive," I know my condition is a symptom of my own actions, and I feel most awakened when I am truly inspired to work. I fear that a lot of us don't take the necessary time to correct our courses, and end up letting the current drag us to weird places like suddenly finding yourself carting 3 kids around in a mini van, when you expected to be a CEO. Or in an unfulfilling relationship, when what we intended was to create a life to share with our partner. The last place you want to be is in a mirror, 5 years from now, asking yourself, how did I get here?

Take control of where you are going and what you are doing. Allow yourself to experience the beauty of this life and not fall victim to it. Don't let the minutiae slow you down. (Holy hell- I just spent 3 minutes figuring out how to spell minutiae- now eating my own words.)

Seriously, get brave, get inspired, and start living again.

{image via valentinadesign}

Originally posted at www.bamb-boo.com.