Live Your Best Life Now: Start by Embracing Change

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Tina Dubinsky

‘Live your best life’ was a motto I adopted a few years ago to inspire myself to change the way I was feeling about myself.

I believed that by taking small steps to change, I could transform my life and attain happiness.

The significant gap in my posts from 2022 to August 2024 shows the difficulty I faced.

Much has derailed my plan as it takes discipline and strength of character to stop bad habits and replace them with good ones. It requires a mindset shift.

Today, I want to address what the phrase living your best life means to me.

Despite lacking progress, I maintain faith in this motto. However, I feel I have to reboot my journey of discovery by addressing some of the elephants in the room. In the interest of full disclosure, this blog entry explores:

  • What does it mean to live your best life?
  • Living within your means.
  • The secret to living an enjoyable life.
  • How do you live your best life?
  • How do you live your best life as you age?

I still believe this path forward brings happiness. First, though, I want to talk about what living your best life means.

A model shops for clothes and accessories. She is a fashion icon,  living her best life by looking glamorous.

What does it mean to live your best life?

It’s true that the inspirational phrase #liveyourbestlife is among popular tags on social media. Its iteration is now over 6.3 million posts on Instagram. We can’t fault you if you thought it applies to seeking wealth, a foundation of strength, or becoming a successful entrepreneur.

Similar to the phrase, ‘the finer things in life’, living your best life has multiple meanings and applications. For some, it means glamour; for others, an unconventional life.

The phrase ‘living your best life’ can encompass finding meaning through others or focusing on personal joy. A balanced life achieves both.

Working in a soup kitchen and serving those who are in need is a meaningful way to find fulfilment in life.

Living within your means and plan

One approach to a fulfilling everyday life is to live within your means. Opt for a job that provides enough income for your needs, while avoiding materialism and embracing a frugal or minimalistic lifestyle.

This approach reduces stress and depression often associated with overspending and debt, but it doesn’t always lead to happiness or a deeper meaning in life.

Instead, you might need to reflect on what you have done in the past that has brought you fulfilment, such as volunteering your time to support a local soup kitchen.

Volunteering your time to assist those less fortunate than yourself, or finding employment that combines earning an income with giving back to the community, is rewarding. It can also result in the development of new skills transferable to your working environment. Helping others brought him happiness.

That’s why this reflection sets out to define what it means to me, so I know what direction in life I’m heading.

I think it is super important to know what your best, happiest life entails in order to journey towards it.

A meaningful plan can help you break bad habits and find contentment in life.

To live your best life to me means doing the things that make me feel happy. It’s about living an aspirational life, learning to be at peace with your choices, and doing things that bring a sense of contentment.

Young tourist poses for the camera. She is clearly happy with a smile on her face and peace sign displayed with right hand and fingers. She enjoys life as she backpacks and travels overseas.

What makes life enjoyable?

We measure a successful life by the short-term and long-term goals achieved.

Money, fame, and lifespan don’t guarantee an easier or happier life. Often, they have the opposite effect.

But by adding achievable goals to a plan, a bucket list, or a vision board we have something tangible to work towards.

When I was much younger, my dream life frequently changed. Sometimes, I would follow a path in life based on my musical aspirations of becoming an opera singer. Other times, it involved settling down, having a family and caring for others.

I had no real plan. There was nothing tangible to hold or see, just day dreams I internalised and mused about with my closest family and friends.

When I reflect on what I could have done differently, I realise I was missing a formal plan for the steps I needed to take to get there.

A formal 5-year-plan includes aspects of life we can start changing and work towards for the future.

A messy study desk with two empty coffee mugs, broken pen, biscuit crumbs and crumpled paper next to a laptop and white headphones.

So, thinking about your current life, what’s one aspect you can change now to make it enjoyable?

For me, it’s the small mundane things, like getting my house in order, that would make my daily life more enjoyable.

Two years ago, I thought starting 10 minutes of Tai Chi a day would make me happy. I enjoyed doing it, but the 28 day rule I leaned on to create a new habit is a total myth. (We’ll bust this one in another time.)

Plus, that goal was about me and I’m at my happiest when I’m doing things for other people.

I don’t like admitting this, but my house is cluttered. If I could declutter it, it could be a wonderful space for the whole family to relax, work and play.

I started on this goal last week by decluttering a space we all share and there was a noticeable positive difference in the house. Now, I am encouraging the family to keep it clutter free.

To create more meaning in life, I’m also going to set several more goals, short and long term, that focus on my dreams in life and helping others.

First, I’ll determine my goals for the next year, three years, and five years. Then, I’ll reflect on my plan regularly and make changes depending on how I feel.

It reminds me a little of creating a business plan, but it’s nothing so formal.

A Muslim woman journals about her feelings and life as part of a self-care routine for emotional wellness.

How does a person live their best life?

When you live your best life, you seize the moment, chase and make your achievable dreams a reality, and are at peace with your life choices.

Your life choices can prioritise self-improvement, supporting others, or both. A successful life is about achieving the goals that make you happy. It’s okay if those goals change along the way.

For me, it encapsulates a holistic approach to learning and growing to be a better person, especially one who is kind, empathetic, wise and generous, who is at peace with their choices, embraces healthy habits and has a deeper feeling of contentment.

It is a commitment to ongoing personal change, improvement and resilience.

Resilience is not about enduring hardships. Instead, it’s about learning how to adapt, embrace the chaos of life, and accept change is inevitable. We need to express our feelings rather than bottling them up.

Your emotional wellness can benefit from journalling. The University of Rochester Medical Centre outlines the benefits and tips on how to journal.

Blog writing regularly also supports emerging adults’ mental health. A previous Hong Kong study and a 2023 study by researchers Tekniker and Cheung concluded that posting written self-disclosures on online platforms (blogging) “gives people a chance to express their emotions, engage in self-talk, and organize their thoughts”

When we journal or blog, we reflect on situations and life experiences. Reflection can lead to better decision making. They are tools for achieving your best life.

Elderly couple enjoying a bicycle ride together and lving their best life.

How do you live your best life as you age?

I’m over 50. More recently, I concluded that I’m not so stuck in my ways. Change is possible and more than likely probable.

And my best life doesn’t entail consuming caviar with a glass of red wine every night.

First, I can’t afford caviar and second, I’m mostly a teetotaler as I’m not so keen on alcohol.

So, it doesn’t matter if you’re old, middle-aged or young. I believe living your best life at any age starts by asking:

  1. What makes you happy in every day life?
  2. What brings you fulfillment?
  3. Where are you in five-years’ time?

Once you know the realistic and achievable answers to these fundamental questions, you can start moving towards the things to get you there.

And now for a simple truth:

The journey always matters more than reaching your goals.

Life is all about change. How we flow with it or decide to create our own path through life matters. Happiness belongs to those who adapt.

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