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Don't stay stuck in the same place.
By Akshad Singi — Written on Feb 15, 2023
Everyone wants to change their life. Everyone’s waiting for that turnaround. Everyone wants to evolve beyond recognition.
But changing your life can be hard. However, stopping these things might help.
Here are 20 ways to change your life.
1. Stop waiting.
Stop waiting for the new year.
Stop waiting for the 1st of next month.
Stop waiting for Monday.
Stop waiting for tomorrow.
Stop waiting for later today.
Now is the only moment to act.
2. Stop looking for hacks.
I’m not saying that hacks don’t work. But most people look for hacks in lieu of putting in actual action — and that’s why they don’t get anything done.
Hacks work only if you’re actually putting in the work. Hence, first worry about showing up consistently, then worry about finding hacks.
3. Stop setting average goals.
Setting average goals has two major disadvantages:
- They’re uninspiring, so they don’t make you feel like putting in the work because the outcome will be ‘Meh’ anyway.
- They’re a form of self-disrespect because you subconsciously tell yourself that you’re not capable of achieving big things.
4. Stop breaking the promises you make to yourself.
Every time you break a promise to yourself, your word loses its value. And slowly, it isn’t worth s***. It’s a vicious cycle.
Also, if you don’t respect your own word, why would anyone else?
5. Stop ignoring your pain point and work on other things.
If you’re fat and make a decent living already, working two more hours on your job to get a promotion won’t change your life. Using that two hours to go to the gym might.
6. Stop crediting other people’s success to luck.
It makes you weak. When you think that everyone owes their success to luck, you give up control over your life. You start hoping to get lucky — which you never do, of course.
Because while a rare few might get lucky, most people make their own luck.
7. Stop thinking that the world is out to get you.
There’s no conspiracy. The world is not out to get you.
The world is unfair — yes. For some, more so than others. However, even if that’s true, believing that doesn’t help you in any way — except for giving you a way to save face from yourself.
You can only change your life when you ditch the victim mindset and start working on being better.
8. Stop expecting it to happen overnight.
People launch their product, and five days later, wonder why no one is buying. People write their first article and sit by the phone waiting for it to go viral.
It sure would be nice if those things happened. But that’s not real. What’s real is that success happens over years and decades, and not overnight.
9. Stop speaking in the future tense.
Change “I’ll eventually lose weight” to “I’m losing weight right now.”
10. Stop thinking you’re the smartest person on the Earth.
My brother often says that every middle-class father thinks that he’s the smartest person on Earth. And when I think about it, I don’t think it’s limited to them.
Most people believe they’re the smartest people ever. And hence, it makes it difficult for them to learn from others and try out newer things. Because in a way, they think they already “know” how to do it — whatever “it” might be.
11. Stop critiquing from the courtside.
It’s easy to point out mistakes from the outside instead of playing the game themselves. And such people have a name: “Losers”.
They do it because it strokes their ego. However, it also prevents them from ever changing their lives.
12. Stop saying 'Yes' to everything that demands your time.
When Oliver Sacks wanted to write a book, he posted a big poster on the wall that read, “NO!” It was his favorite word.
He knew that saying yes to everything that demands his time will stop him from ever writing his books. And hence, he reclaimed his power by saying no again and again.
13. Stop quitting things too early.
People dip their toes in a new hobby or a career, and 3 seconds later, they’re ready to call it quits. They say that “it’s not the right fit.” Maybe. But most people quit before they can really tell.
You have to give something or someone enough time to process and only then can you make a decision if it’s a right fit or not.
14. Stop playing too safe.
Don’t gamble your entire life away on a risk. However, stop being so afraid of losing a little that you just never take risks. Take calculated risks, and watch your life change.
15. Stop drooling over the life of celebrities.
Instead, start figuring out how to make your own life so delicious that you never want to taste something else.
16. Stop being afraid of missing out.
Instead, be joyful about missing out. When you miss out, it means you’re at your home, at your desk working on that big dream of yours.
Of course, it’s okay to go out every once in a while, but not so much that you never have time to work on your thing.
17. Stop trying to prove to the world you’re happy.
Most people are so obsessed with decorating their Insta profiles because they’d rather prove to the world that they’re happy and living their best life that they end up forgetting how to actually be happy.
Don’t focus on smiling for the camera. Focus on smiling when no one’s looking.
18. Stop overanalyzing your first step.
Most people spend so much time analyzing and tweaking their first step so much — that they never end up taking it.
Remember this rule. Take your first step ASAP. Iterate later.
19. Stop resting on your laurels.
Achieved something great? Good for you. But get moving again. Life is about constant improvement. You cannot afford to rest on your laurels.
20. Stop reading this article.
And everything else on the internet.
Like I said before, reading, analyzing, planning, tweaking, and everything else can help you ONLY if you’re showing up, taking action, and putting in the work.
So by all means, stop reading my thing. Go make your own thing.
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Akshad Singi, M.D. has been published in Better Humans, Mind Cafe, and more.
This article was originally published at Medium. Reprinted with permission from the author.