11 Tips For Living Your Best Life
It Was My Birthday (Lessons From a 20-Something Travel Girl)
I celebrated my 26th birthday (?!?!) a few days ago, and while I'm still technically young (though the age 26 makes me feel old AF), I've picked up a few things along these past few years that I feel contribute to living a positive, fulfilled life whether I am at home or traveling and I hope you find them helpful too.
Being in a positive state contributes to living your best life: You're more well-rested. Healthier. Happier. You're more likely to prioritize your goals and get things done!
Here are 11 tips I have for anything related from self-development, to positivity, creativity, and travel:
1. Learn how to speed read.
instagram: @allyarcher
You can learn so much by reading books, as long as you take action on the advice they give.
With so many good books to read and things to learn, it can be overwhelming to know where to start.
Enter: speed reading
Quadruple how fast you read so you can absorb the material and move on.
Learning new skills, whether for your career or for personal interest, can only enhance your life. And sometimes reading fiction is more exciting than whatever you're currently binge-watching on Netflix. [Here are more benefits you get from reading]
I found this book on how to speed read at a used bookstore for $4.95, but if you're looking for a free resource, Tim Ferris has a great blog post on speed reading.
2. Pursue a creative outlet and learn about whatever interests you.
Photo by Kat Gaskin
Even if your job is in corporate accounting but you have always wanted to learn how to sail...take a sailing class! Or painting. Or kick boxing. Or coding. Whatever you've been putting on the back burner.
You don't necessarily have to pay for your creative project (like signing up for music lessons, for example) - it could be as simple as journaling or playing music or watching YouTube tutorials on smartphone photo editing techniques.
Choose two days per week you commit to pursuing this creative outlet. Bonus points if doing this gets you to a new location (travel excuse, anyone?).
You never know what breakthroughs, ideas, or energy will come out of pursuing a creative project.
After all, the creative ideas we seek are already inside of us, we just need to extract them.
Plus, it's fun! We should always make room for fun.
3. Create "Done" lists in addition to "To-do lists."
There's nothing wrong with a to-do list; in fact, I make those all the time. To-do lists can help you remember the seemingly never-ending tasks you need to do.
However, the longer the list, the more overwhelm starts to creep in.
A tactic I came across for combating to-do list overwhelm is creating a "Done" list. Instead of only crossing off completed to-do list tasks, make a separate list for the tasks you've already completed and keep adding to this list whenever you finish something.
Seeing a physical list of all you've accomplished, no matter how small, will give you motivation to be productive with the tasks you haven't yet completed.
Don't knock this 'till you try it!
4. The law of attraction...
...is nothing without action.
Here is one of my favorite audio clips on YouTube on law of attraction. It's only 10 minutes long and a great intro for those new to the law of attraction, or a nice refresher for those more well-versed.
When you're focused on what you want to attract in your life (versus what is missing or what you don't want to attract), you're subconsciously putting yourself in motion, aligning yourself with your goals.
5. Focus on the positive. Seriously!
Or life may "seem" to fall apart.
Look for the lesson or silver lining in most situations.
It feels good to feel good.
:)
6. ...But be realistic (just not negative).
Take ownership of your actions. Balance emotion with logic. Trust your intuition.
7. Focus on self-improvement with a strong mindset to be your best.
Strive to be your best and better self every single day.
When you're competing against yourself to be the best YOU, you can only improve.
Every day, compare yourself to who you were yesterday instead comparing yourself to your friends, co-workers, or people you follow on social media.
Some of my favorite self-improvement practices include:
Five-minute Journal every morning and evening
Freeform (stream of consciousness) journaling
Exercise classes
Yoga
Meditation
Reading
I aim to choose at least three practices from my personal list and devote at least five minutes to them every morning before starting my day, even on busy days or while traveling.
Find what works for you by creating self-improvement rituals that lift you up. Make your own personal list and strive to do a few minutes of each (or at least 1-3) every morning.
Some people may think that an "average" person doesn't have the "time" to do that every day.
My question to you is, why would you want to be average when you can be extraordinary?
And yeah, maybe doing those things doesn't make a person extraordinary, but you can become an extraordinary person by focusing on yourself and your health.
And if you truly prioritize your physical and mental health, you need to find a way to make your healthy lifestyle part of your day.
Speaking of health...
8. "Health is wealth."
Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. (Anyone else catch this Legally Blonde movie quote?)
You know the saying "You'll never regret a workout" (or whatever the saying is that's always on Instagram and Pinterest)?
Take care of your body now. It is never too late to choose nutritious food that will fuel you for your day, heart-pumping exercise that makes your body feel amazing, and waking up in the mornings feeling well-rested from a good night's sleep.
9. Surround yourself with good people.
Positivity breeds positivity.
Same for negativity. If you're constantly surrounded by people who cut you down, talk about how horrible their job/life/the world is, maybe you should rethink who you spend your time with.
They say you are a combination of the five people you spend the most time with.
Who are those five people to you?
10. Love yourself, your soul.
We really don't know why we are here on this planet, but we may as well enjoy the ride while we can.
Love yourself, your soul, and the exciting journey that is life on Earth.
11. Break your routine with travel.
Routines and habits are essential to life (it's how we brush our teeth on autopilot and zone out while driving to work every day). Routines also give us a sense of structure that we need to be productive in our days.
Then why do you want to sometimes break your routine?
To wake up your brain. I've mentioned in previous emails - breaking your routine means you are experiencing something unfamiliar. It forces you to be in the present moment, soaking up the experience while you are alert and observing your surroundings.
Psychology Today explains that time seems to go by slower when we are kids because we're constantly experiencing new things. As adults in monotonous routines, we often have the case of, "Wow, these past few years have really flown by!"
It's why on the first day of school when your teacher asked you what the highlight of your summer was, and you probably replied with whatever vacation you went on, or perhaps a weekend away at the lake, or a concert from your favorite band. It's something unique to your daily routine.
So why travel?
Travel wakes the brain up.
Even if you're doing the same things you do at home in a new city (eat, sleep, walk around a city), you're eating different foods, sleeping somewhere different, and walking around a somewhere new. It forces your brain to wake up to the unfamiliar sounds and sights and smells. You experience these sensations as your brain processes this new information.
Living your best life means not passively letting moments, opportunities, and experiences pass you by.
Travel is one of many ways you can spend time living your best life.
And if you're interested in finding unique and creative ways to pay for or work while you travel, definitely check out my website packed with all the information you need to get started.
I also have a free guide that goes over the basics of a work + travel lifestyle if you're interested.