How To Build a Life You Love: 8 Things To Consider

Simple Ways To Live The Life You Love

How to build a life you love. Hmm…

I wish that would have been an elective in high school.

Loving our lives. We can all relate to this idea.

We are all making choice after choice on a daily basis. Choices that impact our lives. (for better or worse)

And I believe most of us strive to make choices that serve us well.

I don’t see any of us trying to build lives we don’t care for.

We want to build lives that we are proud of. Lives that make us happy and leave us fulfilled.

This is, however, much easier said than done.

Finding tips to help us build these beautiful lives is not difficult at all. You don’t have to do much searching to find some form of personal growth advice.

But here’s the kicker.

We need to actually apply some of these ideas to our lives. Put this advice into action. And that part is a tad more challenging than just discovering the information in the first place.

So the key is to take in some information, choose an area you want to focus on, and then tackle that thing one small step at a time.

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Here Are 8 Ideas All About How To Build a Life You Love

1) Embrace Honesty

This is not a time to sugarcoat anything. This is not a time to only focus heavily on the positive aspects of our lives.

I do love some positivity but a “good vibes” only mindset is not the answer. It’s no way to build the lives we love.

This may feel a bit uncomfortable. To really dive into the deeper ins and outs of what’s going on with you.

But we all know that sweeping things under the rug doesn’t solve anything.

Grab a notebook and let your thoughts flow out onto the paper. Have a mini-therapy session right there.

If you are having trouble getting started, try writing out some details about your life. And then ask yourself questions about what you wrote down.

2) No More “But”

Have you ever expressed a concern or issue and quickly followed it up with a certain little word? But.

It’s as if we feel bad or wrong for expressing things that we don’t feel will be received in a positive light. Or things we think we shouldn’t be saying out loud.

I’m feeling very stressed but…..

I’m feeling very overwhelmed with everything but…

I used to do this all the time. (and honestly still do because I’m human)

Venting about my life as a stay-at-home mom was always followed by that word. I felt like I had to follow up a not so happy go lucky thought with something that was on the more positive side.

Being home with my kids is really wearing on me but I am so blessed to be able to do it. Let’s replace the word but with the word and.

Two (or more) things can be true at the same time. We don’t have to pick only one thing.

It is absolutely okay to feel however you feel. You don’t have to justify anything.

3) Seek Outside Information

We do not have all the answers. And how lucky are we that we live in a time when there is so much information available to us?

Now, I wholeheartedly believe in information overload. So this is not about digesting every word you can get your hands on and taking it all to heart.

That sounds like the perfect recipe for a serious case of overwhelm.

But being the book lover that I am, I deeply believe books can help us make massive changes in our lives.

We just have to be open to it. Here are some of my tried & true favorite reads.

Oh, and this recent read gets two thumbs way up and so does this one!

There are also podcasts and TED Talks. And let’s not forget about social media. There is some stellar content on social media nowadays. (just be sure to curate the heck out of your social media accounts so they are adding to your life)

4) Welcome ALL Emotions

Remember how I mentioned earlier that you are allowed to feel however you feel? Well, here is another reminder.

Running from our emotions doesn’t make them disappear.

Avoiding them is definitely more comfortable and pleasant. Until it’s not.

That relief is very short-term.

We need to navigate through our feelings. Do not try to go around them and hope for the best.

The more we acknowledge and accept what is truly going on within us, the better off we will be.

5) Prioritize Yourself

Why oh why is it so hard to do this?

Why do so many of us struggle to see that our wants and needs are just as important as the wants and needs of others around us?

Is it because we grew up not witnessing people prioritize themselves? That could be part of it.

I am not an expert on why we behave this way. I just know that it is happening and it is dangerous.

That might sound extreme but everywhere I look there are people talking about burnout.

We put off placing any importance on ourselves for so long and can end up in a sort of deficit. So even if we do something for ourselves, it might not feel like enough or like it made a difference.

On top of that, it can also feel uncomfortable when we start prioritizing ourselves. The idea is so foreign.

But we have to push through the roadblocks.

Prioritizing ourselves is not a one-and-done thing. Real change comes from practicing and making it a consistent part of your life.

Taking care of ourselves (in all its forms) is and always will be one of the most important things we should try our best to do.

6) How Does Your Life Feel?

Do you care about how your life looks from the outside?

I think most of us do to some degree. We feel good when someone comments on how perfect our marriage looks. Or when someone recognizes how much we do for our children.

Who doesn’t love when someone compliments your life or your choices? When someone is impressed by what you have going on.

But those people don’t have to live your life.

This is not about never again caring what anyone thinks of you. That rides the line of unrealistic.

Still, we have to put more consideration into what our lives feel like.

To everyone, my life looked great but I was miserable is not the goal. That is nowhere near what we should be aiming for or accepting.

Put much more weight on how your life feels and not how your life looks.

7) Search for Small Joys

Wouldn’t I love to go to Hawaii with my husband? (DUH)

Wouldn’t I love to build my dream house? Of course. But those big things are not always in the cards. At least not right when we want them to happen.

So am I just going to be disgruntled until they happen? Yikes, that doesn’t sound like a fun way to live.

I used to be so set on having a kitchen with an island. For some reason, that island became everything to me.

If only I had a kitchen with an island then my life would be great. Worthy of loving.

How ridiculous, right? It seems silly to me now but for longer than I care to admit it that idea held so much power in my life.

The secret to life is finding small joys. Things that you can do or make happen on a consistent basis. And they don’t take much effort.

Dancing around the kitchen. Making and drinking a hot cup of coffee. Or trying a new coffee shop. (my personal fave)

Reading a book that makes you feel good. Coloring (adult coloring books are pretty cool). Watching something funny and laughing with your partner.

There are so many possibilities. Building a life you love comes from all those small moments.

8) Don’t Wait

Putting things off is so easy. Too dang easy.

I can always come up with a handful of reasons for not doing something.

But one day you look back and those reasons don’t feel as concrete as they once did. They no longer seem like solid reasons for not following through with something.

Listen, we are human beings so we will all make excuses in our lives. We aren’t aiming for perfection here.

But at the major risk of sounding cheesy… don’t put off truly living your life.

Trying something new. Chasing your dreams. Experiencing amazing things. Wanting things even if they don’t make complete sense or you think others will view them as silly. (remember what we talked about earlier.. those people arent living your life so don’t give their opinion so much weight)

One major part of loving your life is being sure you are an active and present participant in it.

So go on and start living and loving your life. This messy, magical, and mundane life.

You can start by taking a nap this afternoon if possible. Never underestimate a power nap, my friend.

Which of these ideas on how to build a life you love speaks to you?

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