Simple Step-By-Step Guide To Living A More Fulfilling Life

Preview: Learn a simple, step-by-step guide to help you identify what to change and create an action plan to live a more fulfilling life.

How satisfied are you with your life or your home atmosphere? If you are like most people, you are probably happy with some areas and want to make changes in other areas.

Making lasting changes requires attention and effort. It’s not easy, but it’s not rocket science, either. In this article, you will learn a simple, step-by-step guide to help you identify what to change and create an action plan so that you can live a more fulfilling life and improve your home atmosphere.

Step 1: Examine your current situation

Your first step is to examine your current situation. You need to know where you are and where you are starting before you can evaluate your progress. What is your life, homeschool, or home atmosphere like right now? You can download the Thriving Life Journal and complete the assessment for one (or all) of those areas on a scale of 1 to 10. If you don’t have the journal, think about different areas of your life, such as relationships, the tidiness of your home, your satisfaction with your school lessons, or how much time you’re at home versus out of the home. Think about different areas that you want to assess, and give yourself a rating.

Step 2: Cast your vision

The second step is to cast your vision. You need to know where you are going, or you’ll wander around and never know when and if you reach your destination. If you have the journal, rate the same areas again in a different color. By using a different color, you can see where you are and where you want to be. If you don’t have the journal, take a look at the list that you made, and rate the same areas again.

Step 3: Choose a focus area

The third step is to choose a focus area. Look at your ratings, and find an area with a gap between where you are and where you want to be that feels significant to you. This is a subjective process because one person may have rated an area as a four, but they only want it to be at a four or a five, while someone else may want that same area to be a nine or a ten. You may want to choose the area where you really want to have a higher rating, or you might want to choose an area with a larger gap.

Take a look at the areas that you rated, and ask yourself which one you want to focus on. Then visualize what your ideal looks like for that area. Cast your vision for that specific area.

• What does that area look like at your ideal rating?
• What would you like that area to feel like?
• How do you want to experience it?
• Describe it in as much detail as possible.

Michael Phelps’ coach, Bob Bowman, taught him the habit of mental rehearsal. He told him to envision a winning swim meet and to visualize it in as much detail as possible. He would then rehearse that scene repeatedly, sometimes for two hours a day. “The most strongly held mental picture is where you’ll be… so get really good at mental rehearsal,” Bowman advises. “If you can form a strong mental picture and visualize yourself doing it, your brain will immediately find ways to get you there.”

Step 4: Create an action plan

Step four is creating your action plan. What do you need to do to help you get from where you are to where you want to be? Be careful not to get too ambitious. You may have some areas you want to make major improvements. You can get there eventually, but if you’re anything like me, taking baby steps is so much easier than trying to take giant steps. Dave Ramsey describes the debt snowball effect in which you start small and experience a little momentum. This momentum builds until you see larger progress happening. Focus on taking one small step, and you will see results.

Step 5: Identify potential obstacles

Next, identify potential obstacles. What might get in your way of carrying out your action plan? What might prevent you from achieving your desired outcome? Obstacles could be physical, situational, emotional, or could be a mindset issue. Consider different obstacles you might face, and then ask yourself, “How can I mitigate these potential obstacles?”

Step 6: Find accountability

Lastly, find accountability. Sometimes we’re motivated enough to see everything through to the end, but more often, we need someone to walk alongside us and hold us accountable. We all need help; this is normal. An accountability partner can be a cheerleader. They can help us overcome obstacles and get unstuck. What do you need to carry out your action plan?

Bonus Tip: Be patient

One last tip: be patient! Change takes time. It requires effort and a desire to change. You can do this, but you must be patient with yourself as you go through the process.

Next Steps

Let me know how it’s going. I’d love to hear about your progress! You can email me or leave a voice message.

If you want someone to partner with you through the process, I would love to help. Schedule a free discovery call, and we can discuss how coaching can help you life a more fulfilling life and close the gap you identified.

Or, you could join the Thriving Homes Group Coaching Program. This is a great way for you to experience coaching in a group setting and for a lower investment. A lot of synergy and energy happens when we work together to achieve similar results. During this program, we will refine your vision of a thriving life or home atmosphere and look at obstacles that might be preventing you from achieving your vision. And we’ll help you to put some action steps in place so that you can take a step toward your vision.