3 Decisions You Should Make TODAY to Take Control of Your Life

Let’s face it, changing can be difficult, but you must if you want to take your power back and be in the driver’s seat of your life. There are three particularly important decisions that you need to make if you want to take the reins in your life. They are not easy, but if you commit to them today, I know that you will reap great rewards in the future. Are you up for the challenge?

Below are the three major decisions that I hope you will make today:

1) Decide to take full responsibility for your life.

If you want to reclaim your power, the best decision you can make in this moment is to take complete responsibility for every facet of your life. No more blaming others, no more victim mindset. Each time you choose to blame others or outside events for your problems instead of looking within, you give your power away to people or circumstances.

How can you change things if you refuse to see the part you play in the problem? How can you improve your relationship with your partner if you hold him or her responsible for everything? When you fail to acknowledge that you have some responsibility in the things that happen in your life, you wind up passively hoping that circumstances will change for the better instead of being proactive. This prevents you from acting as a driving force for change in your life.

It is not easy to admit that you are responsible for that which occurs in your life. It is hard to admit that you play a role in the unpleasant circumstances that you experience. Your ego would rather be right than experience positive change and peace. As such, it encourages you to blame outside forces as opposed to accepting the fact that you may be contributing to your problems.

What areas of your life are you unsatisfied with? Are you genuinely taking responsibility for the situations in those areas? Decide today to set your ego aside and take full responsibility for your life. It isn’t an easy step to take, but you will love just how empowering it is.

2) Decide to implement small daily habits in your life.

Many people bemoan their lack of willpower. Yet lack of willpower is not the real problem as willpower is limited and can only take you so far. In reality, adopting a new set of healthy and productive habits is what creates genuine change. When engaged in on a daily basis, these habits can work wonder in the long run and, if done properly, they eventually require little to no willpower. Daily habits also create a powerful momentum that motivates you to implement increasingly empowering habits in your life. Unsure of how to create and implement new habits? Read on for a list of helpful tips on this topic.

• Select a habit that will, if done daily, will have a positive impact on your life. It could be exercising, writing, meditating, or practicing an instrument. It all depends on what your ultimate goals are and what brings you fulfillment.

• Start very small. Ask yourself the following: “If I’m doing this activity for X amount of time, could I do it everyday, even when I’m sick, tired or busy?” If the answer is no, lower the amount of time until you find something that you can stick to no matter what. Let’s say you want to begin meditating to reduce stress, imagine your bad days and about how long you could stand doing it on those days. If it’s 30 seconds, that is perfectly fine. Consistency is extremely important, so commit yourself to things you know you can stick to, no matter how small. When it comes to forming new habits “Consistency over intensity” is the Golden Rule. After a month or two, the habit will become relatively automatic, at which point you can devote increasingly more time to it.

• Choose a trigger for you habit. In order for your habit to become automatic, you need to associate it with a specific action or event. For instance, you might decide to meditate right after you wake up, in which case waking up serves as your trigger. Triggers are essential as they will play a huge part in automating your habits.

After a while your habits will become so automatic that you’ll do them without even noticing. Starting small is a very powerful technique that provides amazing, long-term results. It isn’t necessarily that hard to do, but it’s definitely easy not to do, which is why the majority of people don’t do it. Join the minority who do and watch the remarkable changes that occur in your life. So, which habit are you going to start today?

3) Record your goals.

One of the best things you can do is take the time to set specific goals that you want to accomplish in each section of your life. Setting clear goals sends a signal to your subconscious mind as to where its focus should be. Your subconscious is a powerful machine that is better at seeking and finding opportunities than your conscious mind. Just putting your goals on paper transforms them from the contents of your daydreams to abstract components of the real world.

Making clear decisions on what you want to accomplish enables you to empower yourself to begin actively moving towards your goals instead of passively hoping that circumstances will change or something will magically solve your problems. You become the master of your destiny.

Setting goals is also a great opportunity reflect on your values, what means the most to you, and what you want you want your life to entail. By ensuring that your goals line up with your core values and that which is important to you, you will be able to set goals that truly inspire you and make you jump out of bed each morning. You won’t waste time pursuing things that don’t truly matter to you, nor will you be fooled by the illusory and fleeting happiness that empty achievements provide.

So why not take some time today to create a list of goals for this year by deciding what you want for your finances, health, career, relationships, and general lifestyle?

Here is a special bonus for you

Why not go further in your personal development journey? If you like this article I’m sure you will benefit from my free e-book. You can download it below:

The 5 Commandments of Personal Development

Thibaut Meurisse is the founder of whatispersonaldevelopment.org. Obsessed with improvement, he dedicates his life to finding the best possible ways to durably transform both his life and the lives of others. Check out his free e-book “The 5 Commandments of Personal Development” or order his new book Goal Setting: The Ultimate Guide To Achieving Goals That Truly Excite You on Amazon now.

The post 3 Decisions You Should Make TODAY to Take Control of Your Life appeared first on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement.