Are you living how you want to live? Are you caught up in the past? What would it take to REALLY change that?
Thankfully, it’s not as hard as you might imagine! You can use this 8-Step process to start living the life you want to live sooner than you think. Before you know it, you’ll be enjoying the benefits of living your new lifestyle instead of just thinking about it.
FOLLOW THESE STEPS:
Know where you want to go. What are your goals? What is your version of the ideal life? You can’t define your ideal self without knowing where you want to end up. Your ideal self will be capable of creating your ideal life.
Define the type of person that can reach your goals as quickly as possible. Now that you know what type of life you want to have, think about the type of person that can make it happen.
- What would it take to go from where you are to where you want to be as quickly as possible?
- What would this person be like?
Define the habits of your ideal self. Consider everything you can possibly think of. Here are a few items to stimulate your thinking:
- How many times a day does this person brush their teeth? Do they floss? When do they floss?
- What time does she go to bed and get up? Does she read in bed? What does she read? Does she have a daily reading habit at another time of day?
- What is his morning routine like?
- Does she work out? How long? How often? What type of workout does she do? What does she eat? How often? How much does she weigh?
- Does he journal? What does he journal about?
- What does she think about when she’s waiting in traffic?
Fill in details of their traits. A person is more than just their habits. Let’s consider some more traits.
- What does she wear? What type of car does she drive? Hairstyle?
- Attitudes toward dating? Would he just approach an attractive stranger and strike up a conversation? Date just one person or several at a time?
- Is she bold? Cautious? Calculating?
- Giving? Selfish? Practical?
- Religious? Spiritual?
- What are his values and beliefs?
- What skills does she have?
- And everything else you can think of. Imagine you are creating a character for a movie. Be highly detailed.
Use the SWISH pattern. This is a powerful technique for encouraging yourself to behave like your ideal self.
- Have a clear visual image of your ideal self with all the habits, qualities, and characteristics you desire. The image should only contain your ideal self without a background or context. Just a blank screen with your ideal self standing in front of it and looking at you.
- Whenever you find yourself tempted to behave in a way that isn’t congruent with your ideal self, bring up that image and then behave appropriately instead. This technique is also known in the recovery community as “acting as if”, it is very helpful.
Get started. Take a look at all the habits and characteristics you listed. Pick a few of the easier ones and incorporate them into your life. Repeat this process until you’re living all of them.
Look for evidence. Whenever you catch yourself acting like your ideal self, draw your attention to it. You can even say to yourself, “See, I am becoming my ideal self. I am the kind of person that only eats ___________.”
Keep a journal. Keep track of your progress. This will get you in the habit of focusing on this important part of your life. Being aware of your progress will keep you motivated.
Working toward becoming your ideal self will bring you joy, enable you to experience greater life satisfaction, and give you motivation to continue along the way. With all these benefits, what are you waiting for? Get started today!