You’ve got that nagging feeling. It’s been gnawing away at you for some time now. The feeling that you’ve begun coasting through life. It’s not that you’re unhappy in your life. It’s certainly not that your life no longer brings you joy. It’s just an unshakable feeling that you’re not quite living your best life right now. You’ve settled into a routine that’s alluringly comfortable, yet it’s this very routine that feels like it’s robbing you of your potential. You’re happy and content but a part of you still years for something altogether… More. A deeper sense of fulfillment that you’re simply not getting right now.
The new year is the time to make changes and you want to make positive changes in your life, but you have no idea where to start. If you’re ready to set your life on a new track and reclaim your identity, read on! Here we’ll look at some ways in which you can make changes in the new year and dig yourself out of your rut so that you’re no longer coasting but accelerating onward into a brighter, happier, healthier and more lucrative future...
First of all, losing weight isn’t the only reason you should change up your diet!
If you’re not sure where to start… Start with your diet.
That sentence isn’t intended to cause offense. I’m not trying to tell you that you need to lose weight or improve your appearance. Of course, if you are unhappy with your appearance, eating right can go a long way to improving your physique while returning the luster that’s been missing from your skin and hair. But improving your diet goes far beyond weight loss.
Improving your diet can boost your immune function, reduce your chances of getting sick and picking up serious illnesses like Alzheimer’s, boost your cognitive faculties and improve your productivity at work.
The key to managing your diet effectively lies in meal planning and prep. You need to be honest with yourself and accept that there will be times when you get home and the last thing in the world you feel like doing is cooking. On those nights, you’ll stand a far greater chance of sticking to your goals if you have a nutritionally well-balanced meal in the refrigerator than if you find your shelves there and pick up the phone to order a pizza.
What’s more, shaking things up in your diet is fun too! Try a new cuisine, sample the tastes of a far off land, eat a vegetable you’re not sure how to pronounce or even join the masses who are giving veganuary a try this month!
In your free time
I get it, I really do. After a hard day’s work, sometimes all you feel like doing is collapsing in front of the TV and vegetating until it’s time to turn in for the night. Yet, the way in which you spend your free time can make a surprising contribution to the rut you get stuck in. There’s a certain satisfaction to TV time to be sure, and it should absolutely remain part of a balanced diet of activities, but if you spend night after night in front of the TV it’s not uncommon to feel as though your life is slipping away one night at a time.
Even when watching TV you can still shake things up a little. Watch more old movies, watch more stuff with subtitles. Broaden your cultural vocabulary just a little and you’ll stimulate your mind while you watch, rather than glazing over and letting it all wash over you.
If you only make one promise to yourself this year, make it to find more fun ways of spending your free time. Get out of the habit of treating shopping as a hobby and involve yourself in a more varied array of activities. Take a dance class, learn to paint or sculpt, learn a new language or a new skill. You can either do this alone or get the whole family in on it. Learning new skills will not only enrich your free time it will likely also bleed into the world of work which brings us to...
In your career
In our career, as in our personal lives, it’s common for people to find a rhythm that works for them, yet quickly becomes a career rut. Your job used to bring you challenge and reward, but now it feels increasingly as though you’re treading water.
The beauty of living in the digital age is that not only do you have greater access than ever to a vibrant job market, you also have access to a plethora of online learning courses that can help your career to take a step (or even a giant leap) forward. Whether you want to take your career in a bold new direction with an online policing or criminology degree; view program here, or smash the glass ceiling that hovers over you in your current workplace with industry specific qualifications, online learning can fit around your busy schedule and unlock a new phase in your career. In this wonderful digitally interconnected world there’s really no reason to let your career stagnate. Attend networking events, follow people on social media who inspire you professionally or even start up a side hustle in your free time. At worst you can make a little extra money in your free time and at best you can start up a business of your very own.
If you don’t get the opportunities you deserve, it’s up to you to create your own!
In your relationship
Finally, none of us would care much to admit it, but in our increasingly busy and hectic lives, it’s not uncommon for us to let our relationships or marriages get stuck in a rut. It’s a simple fact that if you allow them to, time and routine can rob any relationship of its spark!
Mixing things up elsewhere will hopefully add some spontaneity back into your relationship but you should also try and revivify your relationship by;
- Making time for date nights
- Spending time with friends (this will help you to see each other in a different light)
- Visit the places you went to when you first started dating
- Flirt with each other
- Leave them little notes just to let them know you love them.
There are no wrong ways to breathe more life in your relationship and dig it out of a rut, so long as you take the time and effort to try!
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