5 Ways to Live Your Best Life Now While Striving Toward Your Goals

If you are striving toward a goal you may already realize, getting there is not always a straight line process.  Yes, your goal is the destination, but the path you take that’s your journey. The events along the way, well, that’s just life and while you will often encounter the unexpected, ultimately your journey is meant to be enjoyed and shared.

In our hustle and hurry world, it can be easy to forget that the journey is as important as the destination.  Here are five simple Strive Steps you can take to help you live your best life as you strive toward your goals.

#1 Take a Moment or at Least Take a Deep Breath

Work, appointments, deadlines, kids’ sports and school activities, friends, significant others, community commitments, family life...you name it; your life is filled with good and important stuff and some not so good and unimportant stuff. The pressure to constantly “do” something can take your breath away, literally.   

Strive Step #1: Take a few moments every day and throughout your day and simply breathe deeply, filling your lungs as much as you can and slowly releasing the air.  Want a challenge? If you can, get up and walk outside, yes, really. Take a moment and take notice.  What’s the weather like? Is the sun shining? Is it hot? Cool? Now, if this sounds silly to you because you already do it, then skip this one, but if you have ever spent your entire day inside, “getting things done,” then I’m talking to you.  

How this Helps: The simple act of filling your lungs to capacity and releasing the air helps recharge and energize your system.  Fresh air helps clear your head and helps you focus. This simple act, done throughout your day, can help your body relax and help you enjoy life “now.”

#2 Remember That Relationships Matter

It’s time to call it a night but if I just take five more minutes, no 15...three hours later!  Sound familiar? Whether it’s three hours before leaving work or stopping work at home to spend time with people in your life that matter, only you can prioritize the relationships in your life.  How well you balance work and relationships or balance your time with other goals impacts you, others and the life you want.

Strive Step #2:  If you find it hard to pull yourself away from work or a goal then it’s time to get tough with yourself.  Enlist the help of others by asking them to hold you accountable. Plan and agree to connect and have a conversation about the steps you are taking to do better in this area of your life.  Keep in mind, this will only work if you are motivated and committed to doing what it takes to improve.

How this helps:  Let’s face it if this is your challenge and you could handle it on your own you would be over it already!  Being accountable to someone can help you stay motivated and keep you moving when you are not motivated.

#3 Rest While the Baby is Asleep

This is advice given to new mothers but the analogy applies to your living your best life by getting the rest you need.  Anyone who has been around a sleeping baby long enough knows that it is only a matter of time before they wake up. Observe a bit longer and you’ll realize that once a baby is awake there’s little time for anything else and there is always something to be done.  Unless you make yourself rest when the opportunity presents itself, you will find yourself sleep-walking through your day and doing weird things like putting your keys in the freezer. The point here is this...there will always be something more to do when you are striving toward your goal (your baby.)  Put the baby to bed and make rest a priority.

Strive Step #3:  Know yourself, then outsmart yourself.  Consider what gets in the way of you resting then set yourself up to overcome the challenges.  Do you have problems sleeping because you cannot turn your thoughts off? Create a habit of doing a “brain dump” at night. Set aside a few minutes at the end of your day to list thoughts either on paper or by recording them.  If you find yourself watching tv to fall asleep only to then become caught up in it, try listening to white, brown or pink noise via a smart device app that can help you drift off to your favorite soothing sounds.

How this helps:  Getting enough rest is essential for good mental and physical health.   Creating a bedtime routine can help settle and calm your mind and allow you to rest well.  Whatever you decide to try, don’t worry if it doesn’t seem to work right away. Allow yourself time to get into a routine.  Don’t get upset if you try something and it doesn’t work. The point of this Strive Step is to figure out what will work best for you.  You’ll know you’ve outsmarted your brain when you begin to feel your body respond (relax) each time you begin your routine.

#4 Celebrate or at Least Acknowledge Small Steps

Have you ever experienced growth in leaps and bounds?  If you have, you may have noticed that type of growth doesn’t happen every day.  When it happened, did you celebrate? Most likely, you did because that kind of growth usually happens after you put in a lot of effort or have overcome a tremendous challenge (or a few.)  

Well consider this, your baby steps toward growth also matter.  Your baby steps are every bit as important because, without them, even your leaps and bounds would fall short.  So while you may not choose to break out the band and celebrate those accomplishments the same way you do for big ones, you should always notice and acknowledge them.  

Strive Step #4: Give yourself a gold star or some small ‘free’ (fat-free, money free, stress-free) acknowledgment of your accomplishment.  Note it on your calendar, journal, take a selfie, share it on social media. The point here is to commemorate your progress as another step in the direction of your goal(s.)

How this Helps:  When you take time to notice the small steps, you empower yourself with the truth that “you are making progress!”  This is the truth that you can use to quiet your negative inner voice when it tells you-you're not getting anywhere.

#5 How You Strive Matters so Strive Right

You strive every day but it’s how you strive that determines your success or stress.  Merriam-Webster defines striving as, “working toward a goal” but it also says it is “to struggle against something.”  So, how are you striving? Take a mental inventory of your priorities and goals then look at how you are spending most of your time each day.  Do your priorities and goals align with how you spend your time? Or, are you spending most of your time on things unrelated to your goals and priorities??

Strive Step #5: If you find that your goals and priorities are not consistently aligned with your actions consider working with me.

How it helps: As your personal Life Coach I can help you figure out how to strive successfully and consistently toward your goal.

You Must Choose

When it comes to enjoying your best life now, the important thing to remember is you must choose to do it.  I can help you learn to make simple but intentional and repeatable daily changes to your routine.  

When you apply Strive Steps to your leaps and bounds, you will never come up short, you will always make it to your goal.