The ideal lifestyle is possible. Everyone can live the way they want… and in fact, they do. Because the way you live now, regardless of whether you like it or not, is what you chose to live like.
Living your Ideal Lifestyle is about doing what you love, becoming someone you can be proud of, doing things for others and actually spending more time with your loved ones, creating things, giving and sharing… and simply being happy and contented with every day of your life.
How you live your life impacts you in more ways than you realise. A good lifestyle will always act as a force that pushes you forward in your life, through all the ups and downs. On the other hand a bad lifestyle. can cause you to spiral down in life. If your lifestyle is not helping you to be better and experience the best possible life, then you are likely falling behind in some aspect of your life.
In this post, I’m going to share things that I added to my lifestyle to give my life some shape and direction. These are some simple, basic things that you might have heard a million times but there’s a reason why they are repeated like a mantra by every successful person.
So let’s jump right into it!
Define the Ideal Lifestyle
For a start, ask yourself those two questions:
- What do I want my life to be like?
- Who do I want to be in it?
Answer them in the best and most honest way possible, because this will be your definition of what you want in life and who you want to become, and will eventually become your reality after some time.
An important thing you don’t want to miss is accepting the idea that you need to become someone else in order to live another kind of lifestyle. Many people think about what they could improve in the outer world and tend to forget that many inner changes will happen that are often more crucial.
Get Serious About Your Health
A good lifestyle is incomplete without a healthy body and by health, I mean both physical and mental health. The first step to both mental and physical health is good nutrition and regular exercise – SIMPLE!
Food and exercise affect the way we work, how we feel, and how we live, it’s a natural way to maintain a healthy body.
Eliminate the Unnecessary
There are many things in your life right now that are preventing you from moving on. They may be people, thoughts, events, habits, materialistic possessions and so on. What you need to do is to eliminate them because they don’t have a place in your ideal lifestyle.
Find What Works Best for You
Now that you have eliminated the unnecessary, you can make another step in your personal development. And this is the time to try and fail as much as possible.
What I mean is, you need to find what works best for you. And the best way is to try as many different things as you can and preferably fail many times. Because there is no better teacher than experience. Once you fail at something, you will know whether or not it’s for you and if it’s worth working on it.
Experiment with everything. You will eventually find out which works best for you – whether it’s a hobby, a job, the food you eat, the habits you do etc. Listen to your instincts in this case and do what’s best for you. Find your thing and stick to it.
Learn to Manage Stress
In addition to food and exercise, stress management is so crucial for your health. You should learn how to manage stress – a leading cause of mental distress in the modern world, and proven to cause physical illnesses like heart diseases and diabetes when chronic. Stress being inevitable mandates that you learn to manage stress. Speaking from experience, a stressed-out body can never function well; neither mentally nor physically.
Practice Minimalism
Minimalism is a way of living that has gotten a lot of attention in the past few years: for a good reason, I’d say. So, why minimalism? The short answer, it makes your life simpler. It’s not just the pleasing-to-the-eyes, clutter-free environment that it gives that drove these many people towards this new lifestyle. It’s not just about owning less. Minimalism makes you value things that are truly important rather than giving value to materialistic things. Also, a cleaner space promotes a clearer mind, so you can think and feel better. Not to mention it saves a lot of money.
Build a Few Keystone Habits
A keystone habit is a habit that provokes a chain of other activities that are good for you. Getting up early for me is connected to a morning ritual with a healthy breakfast, a long walk, journaling that leads to a positive start to the day.
The earlier you build such habits, the better. Once you make them stick, everything else will improve too. So work on them now and concentrate on other things later.
Here are the best habits you can start implementing now:
- Working out
- Meditating
- Eating healthy
- Getting up early
- Planning your day from the night before
They are proven to work wonders and it’s very important to stick to them no matter what. Just make your lifelong habits and do certain things even if you’re on a vacation, even after you’ve had a bad day, even when everything seems pointless.
Socialise (With the Right People)
Socialising as a part of an ideal lifestyle? Well, yes. It’s a very important factor, which I’m pretty sure introverts may not be happy to read about (I’m an introvert as well). But it is one of those things that strengthens and supports you.
You don’t have to know a ton of people or party every day to socialise. I do not mean that at all. By socialising I mean, spend time and build stronger relationships with people who are important to you. One, two or more: doesn’t matter. Good relationships make you happy, and they always encourage you to do and be good.
Intentional Living
What is intentional living? Having a reason behind everything that you do, is the simplest way to explain its meaning. Intentional living involves living according to your values and beliefs. When you live intentionally your actions are complementary to the way you think and want to live your life. It involves questions:
- What are you doing?
- Why are you doing it?
- How is it going to impact you and the people around you?
Spirituality
Spirituality is defined as the quality of being concerned with the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things.
This could mean anything to you: religion or some other practice. Everyone has a different definition of spirituality, and that’s okay. Some people seek it through religion, seeking God, and the non-religious group seeks it through nature, meditation, yoga, or even a mix of various religious and non-religious practices.
Studies suggest that spiritual people are more grateful, compassionate, more optimistic and have health benefits.
Find Your Passion
Listen to your inner voice, focus on the things you enjoy doing. The point is not to only find it, but also embrace it, get better at it and make it an essential part of your daily life. You will find yourself living a more intentional and fulfilling life.
Manage Your Time
Learning to manage time is one of the greatest life skills that you can learn. If you want to have a life full of experiences then time management is a must. Don’t get so caught in work that you are not left with any time to see your kids grow up, or pursue your true passion. Make a schedule, and plan for bigger adventures.
Manage Your Money
Sure money can’t buy happiness, but it sure buys you a home, bread and butter, and education. And this makes money one of the primary needs for us. Therefore, start saving money! When you get your paycheck, set aside a small percentage for savings and then calculate your essentials and rent from the money that is left. No matter how small your paycheck is, save some money every month, even if that means saving £2.
Money is one concept most adults fail at (I am guilty of this in the past), so try to learn about it. I’m not an expert in the matters of money but I do make sure I educate myself on it.
Few Minutes Each Day for Self-Care
Every day spend 10 minutes on your self-care. The activity doesn’t have to be very complex but you can go creative with it. Maybe it’s just the 10 minutes you spend for your morning or evening routine or making a special cup of tea that you can enjoy in silence, being in the moment. You can even meditate to stop the unhealthy thoughts. Do the ritual that you to do.
Self-care will help with self-image. When you treat yourself in a caring way, you automatically develop self-confidence and become more comfortable in your skin. It is a direct way to practice self-love.
Realise the Importance of Hobbies
Practice your hobbies or learn new hobbies. This will use up your time in doing something constructive and will not leave any time for you to have negative thoughts: Because we all know an idle mind is the devil’s workshop.
Always Be Open for New Things
Try to do something new and something you fear a few times a month. It may be approaching strangers, bungee jumping, public speaking, dancing, visiting new countries, trying new sports, etc. Each time you try something new, you challenge yourself to step out of your comfort zone and grow.
Don’t Forget About the Goals You Made
What are your goals? For tomorrow, next week, next year, next 5 years and lifetime? Okay, I don’t want to pressurise you to make your life plan while reading this post, but we all should at least have short-term goals.
Keep working on them. I believe that we all have to find our purpose in life: what we want to do and where we want to reach. Making plans are important for reaching there. It will give you a sense of purpose and make your life more meaningful. Take one small step every day that will lead you one step closer to your goal and develop skills that will make you better.
Give and Be Grateful
Giving is the best investment and can make you way more content than buying new stuff. So be able to give as much as you can, be it advice, encouragement or resources. Also, never forget to be grateful. Each step of this journey should go along with appreciation. Express your gratitude to everything and everyone you have in life daily.
Conclusion
Our lifestyle defines our life. It decides how happy we’re going to be and how much we are going to grow. That’s why it’s important that you just don’t let your time flow by and rather have a planned lifestyle that will help you live the best life possible: the kind of life you want to live.
These simple changes in your life will bring great changes in your life. Start by modifying your diet and exercise. Practice mindfulness, make your living intentional and save money. Learn new things, and take out time to experience new things. Plan your lifestyle in a way that will bring immense joy and happiness to you.
