It is time to take back control. This could be your finances, your home, your fitness, your career, your anything—your everything. Here is a list of tips, tricks, and bits of advice that could help you take back control in your life.
There is nothing more magical than seeing the world through a kid’s eyes. It’s that unabashed Disney outlook where everything is possible and nothing - nothing - is out of reach. You can be who you want to be, live where you want to live, think beyond the confines of everyday logic. You chase dreams so wild you go from being a ballerina in space to a friendly dinosaur that just wants to own his own coffee shop in the castle grounds.
But as we get older, this magic starts to fade and we start to realize there is no pot of gold at the bottom of the rainbow, there is no tooth fairy and that none of us has much control over our own lives.
Well, using the motivation that is the month of January, it is time to make changes relating to anything and everything you feel the need to take back control of in your life. It could be your finances, your home, your fitness, your career, your anything—your everything. So, here is a list of tips, tricks, and bits of advice that could help you slay the dragon and finally embrace that childlike wonder we all wish we had never let go of.
1. Have a Regular Sleep Schedule
Sleep until you feel fully-rested which, you may or may not want to accept, is 7-8 solid hours a night. Some of you may be looking at those numbers and telling yourself that you need at least 10 hours, but that will be feeding into your feeling fatigue. It is not just about getting seven or eight hours, though. It is about getting into a regular routine so that your body knows when it is bedtime when it is time to get up and that the full forty winks have been had. To get all sciencey, it is about allowing your brain to maintain a “healthy circadian rhythm”. Sleep the first step to having more structure and order and this translates into control. A regular sleep schedule is great for time management, read more here.
2. Scare Yourself Every So Often
Baz Luhrmann may have been a tad excessive when he said, “do one thing every day that scares you,” but he was certainly onto something. Life is a terrifying place, it is. It has to be. After all, we are mortal. But, all too often, our fears prevent us from doing the things that we may love; the things that we want to do and achieve. But fear is nothing more than a projection in your mind and very different from danger, so once you get into the habit of facing your fears, you’ll find they have no control over you anymore. That’s when you’ll find wings appear on your back and the self-imposed cage around your mind disappears, leaving you to be as free as you like.
3. Take Back Control of Your Home
We mean this in every sense possible. If you have kids and their toys have started to take over every single room in your humble space, then dedicate a day to cleaning up and create a playroom for your kids.
If you think you have some pests, then it could be time to call in the rodent control professionals. Or if your home is just cluttered, then it is time to start organizing what you have. Mess causes stress. Not only that but the more stuff we have, the more we are shackled to it. We start feeling like the clutter owns us instead of us owning it.
4. Stick to Renting
We live in a society where we feel we should own the home we live in. There are financial advantages to home owning. But there are also big advantages to renting. For example, you know exactly what monthly costs are going to be; no baseline interest rates going up, no emergency repair costs to do battle with, nothing. Owning a home simply means having 515% of your net worth tied up in a single investment. If, however, you rent, then you can diversify your investments. Basically, owning a home - or anything for that matter - means owning a fair amount of responsibilities and obligations too.
Also, when it comes to taking back control of your life, the chance to move somewhere new and change your life at a moment’s notice is something that shouldn’t be overlooked.
5. Delete “Social” Apps
If you want to take back control of your life - like really take it back - then you need to stop wasting time on the rabbit hole that is social media. It is a time-vacuum. It sucks up the most valuable commodity any of us have. Instead, you should use the time you spend on social media to do something else, something worthwhile, something that is enjoyable.
Think about the last time you were scrolling mindlessly through social media. It wasn’t even fun. Don’t get us wrong, there are some amazing benefits to social media, such as chatting to friends and staying in contact with distant loved ones, but you should not be on there, for no reason. Check it once a day and then look up and live.
6. Save What You Can, When You Can
Magic can happen when you have some money tucked away. You could be treating yourself spontaneously without sleeping with regret from your spending. You could go on holiday with your friends, or buy your loved one a surprise. Having money in savings means financial stability, and that means a huge amount of stress has been lifted.
Saving is all about living beneath your means to prioritize other things in your life. It becomes less about making money and more about being able to have experienced. However, to really make this work, I recommend making your savings automatic. Take the temptation to spend and out of your hands by setting up a process where money leaves your current account and enters your savings account automatically without you even noticing. That’s the best way to be sure you are saving regularly.
7. Drop Anything You Do Not Need
We all own things we do not need and we all do things that do not add any value to our lives, so, what you ought to do is to get rid of these things. Get rid of all those objects that are taking up space and tying you down. Stop going to those activities you may have once enjoyed but no longer do. Cut ties with anyone in your life that is chock-full of negativity. Life is too short to do things that do not make you happy and there certainly isn’t space to do things that make you unhappy. Instead, focus on making room for the things that are important to you. Make time, make space, and make emotional energy for these things. You will find yourself in a much better headspace if you do.
8. Make Choices – Take that Control
There are very few things that are set in stone, physically impossible, and totally lock you down. You more often have a choice. You have the chance to say you can do something instead of thinking that you cannot. You also have the chance to say no to something, regardless of your reasoning. It is all a matter of choice and knowing what you want.
Break the cycle of automatically saying you cannot do something and you will find that you are in a way more control of your life. That is the trick though. You have to take the time to pause and think, you have to sit down and think about what your options are, what choices you have and then deciding based on those. Do not allow yourself to automatically think something is impossible; that is a surefire of losing your control over your life.
Now that you have more tools in your belt to take control of your life, pick one and implement it today!
This post was written in collaboration. This means that while I have added to this post and edited its content and formatting, I am not its original author. By posting this content on my blog, I receive financial compensation. Want to write a post for Jihi Elephant? Learn more here.
