{"id":5330,"date":"2018-04-24T06:00:24","date_gmt":"2018-04-24T13:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/?p=5330"},"modified":"2018-08-12T05:03:14","modified_gmt":"2018-08-12T12:03:14","slug":"regain-perspective-4-simple-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/regain-perspective-4-simple-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Simple Rules To Regain Perspective On Your Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhen I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.\u201d \u2013 Lao Tzu<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s so easy to get caught up in the chaos of adulting. You\u2019ve got a job to do. You\u2019ve got a larger career to work toward. You have interests and hobbies to pursue. You have family and friends to spend time with \u2014<\/p>\n

Wait a minute. Aren\u2019t these all good things?<\/p>\n

In the hustle and bustle of adult life, sometimes doing the very things you enjoy can start to feel like more piling up on the to-do list \u2014 like a never-ending mountain of chores. When you catch yourself feeling this way, it may be time to reevaluate some things.<\/p>\n

Take the experience of one of my closest friends.<\/p>\n

Her Story<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Like we all do from time to time, my friend hit a stressful point in her life last year. She had just finished school and went out on the job hunt with high hopes and a fresh-out-of-college, I-can-do-anything mindset.<\/p>\n

But the job hunt got to her. She kept getting interviews but wound up hearing a lot of those \u201cWe\u2019ve decided to hire a candidate with more experience\u201d responses.<\/p>\n

After three or four months of this, she started to get down on herself. As a result, she ended up taking a job she didn\u2019t particularly want back in her small college town. She decided to make the best out of the situation, though, by going into that job with a great attitude and telling herself this would put some experience on her resume for future interviews.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, her positive attitude didn\u2019t change the job itself, and the moment her contract was up, she left that unfitting position and moved to a bigger city.<\/p>\n

Unsure what to do next, she turned to her best friend \u2014 literature. She reread some of her favorite books and started questioning why her life didn\u2019t resemble these characters\u2019 \u2014 so full of adventure and promise and uplifting friendships.<\/p>\n

Then it hit her \u2014 fictional characters have it easy. Their stories only exist because adventure comes to them. She, on the other hand, needed to bring the adventures she wanted into her own life. If she didn\u2019t make it happen, it wasn\u2019t going to happen.<\/p>\n

Armed with this sudden epiphany, she started making some changes.<\/p>\n

She set aside the ultimate job hunt for a moment and decided to instead take a part-time position, giving herself time to explore and pursue her actual interests and passions. She also made a social calendar \u2014 literally. She made up a calendar that declared once-a-week girls\u2019 nights, twice-a-month group game nights and regular dinner dates with her family.<\/p>\n

These few, small steps really added up for her. By making time to pursue her interests, she has rediscovered a few old passions and opened the doors to several new ones. And by finding ways to regularly spend time with her favorite people, she has reawakened her old smiley self.<\/p>\n

In the last few months, I have watched her go from downtrodden to eager for the next adventure, and it\u2019s infectious. Wednesday nights \u2014 our girls\u2019 nights \u2014 are now my favorite time of the week.<\/p>\n

Rules to Learn From This Story<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I\u2019ve found myself thinking a lot about her journey, and I keep coming back to four lessons I\u2019ve learned.<\/p>\n

1. Stop Making Excuses<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When you find yourself in a cycle of perpetual discomfort or depression, it\u2019s time to take action. Right now. For my friend, this meant ignoring the social pressure to get the perfect job on the first try.<\/p>\n

Yes, it\u2019s tempting to just say, \u201cI\u2019ll make that change soon,\u201d or \u201cSomething\u2019s gotta give,\u201d but that\u2019s not enough. You are in charge of your life, and so it\u2019s up to you to pinpoint the source of your grief and get rid of it.<\/p>\n

I apologize in advance for the clich\u00e9, but life\u2019s way too short to hold off on finding happiness. Seek that joy now. The sooner you pursue it, the sooner you\u2019ll find it.<\/p>\n

2. Start Prioritizing<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Seizing the day takes some courage, especially if you feel like my friend did \u2014 like the changes you need to make are pretty major.<\/p>\n

For some, making a change for the better is as simple as having an epiphany and projecting a new attitude. For others, writing or talking out some thoughts helps them prioritize. For still others, a guiding voice \u2014 like that of an understanding therapist \u2014 provides the push they need. No matter which kind of person you are, don\u2019t wait. Start prioritizing now and acting on your epiphanies as soon as they hit you.<\/p>\n

But don\u2019t stop there. Once you get the ball rolling, keep pushing for even more. Challenge yourself every day to make your life \u2014 and the lives you affect \u2014 even better.<\/p>\n

3. Be Present With Others<\/strong><\/h3>\n

If you don\u2019t already maintain a strong social calendar, I highly recommend it. Waiting to call your buddies until your head\u2019s about to explode just isn\u2019t healthy. You need regular doses of positive people \u2014 meaning the ones that add real value to your life.<\/p>\n

But remember that socializing isn\u2019t just for you. It\u2019s for them, too. So be present with the people in your life. When they have something to say, really listen. Turn off the TV and have a real conversation. Don\u2019t let your mind wander. Don\u2019t just be waiting for your turn to talk. Listen, empathize and react like a friend.<\/p>\n

Yes, this one does take some practice. But honing your listening and empathy skills makes you a better communicator and a better friend. Not only that, but regularly being present with others means always having new opportunities to gain and share<\/a> a fresh perspective.<\/p>\n

4. Be Present With Yourself<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Being present with yourself is just as important as being present with others, and the premise is similar.<\/p>\n

Seek out and really listen to your inner voice. When something feels off \u2014 when you\u2019re feeling lonely, lost or out of place \u2014 that means you need to sit down with yourself and explore the root of the feeling.<\/p>\n

If this kind of meditation feels foreign to you, that\u2019s okay. It takes some practice to really connect with your inner self. But even if you aren\u2019t sure how to fix an \u201coff\u201d feeling, you do know when you\u2019re having one. And when those moments strike, don\u2019t hesitate to explore possible solutions with meditation, reflection, therapy, discussions with friends or good old trial and error.<\/p>\n

A New Kind of Happy Ending<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The thing about gaining a new perspective is that you never really reach a \u201chappy ending.\u201d That\u2019s not to say the new viewpoint doesn\u2019t make you happy. It\u2019s just that your life is still going. You won\u2019t reach an ending \u2014 just a new chapter of your life.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s check back in on my friend as an example. Her life didn\u2019t magically become perfect. She didn\u2019t land a job earning six figures at a big corporate office. In fact, she did quite the opposite \u2014 right now, she\u2019s volunteering at a non-profit she truly believes in, she\u2019s working part-time at a local store, she\u2019s taking French classes for fun and she\u2019s spreading the joy by smiling. A lot.<\/p>\n

When I asked her what she plans to do next, she smiled \u2014 of course \u2014 and said, simply, \u201cI\u2019m going to take my time right here where I\u2019m at. I\u2019m helping people, I\u2019m learning new things and I\u2019m questioning what kind of career I want to have. I couldn\u2019t be happier about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

If that\u2019s not a fresh perspective, I don\u2019t know what is.<\/p>\n

About The Author:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kayla Matthews is a self-improvement and productivity writer, whose work can be found on The Next Web, MakeUseOf, The Huffington Post and Tiny Buddha. To read more posts by Kayla, you can\u00a0subscribe to her blog’s newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you enjoyed this article, you may also be interested in:\u00a0https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/find-souls-purpose-using-intuition\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhen I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.\u201d \u2013 Lao Tzu It\u2019s so easy to get caught up in the chaos of adulting. You\u2019ve got a job to do. You\u2019ve got a larger career to work toward. You have interests and hobbies to pursue. You have family and friends…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":5332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifepurposeandsoulpath"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5330"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5454,"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5330\/revisions\/5454"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youwealthrevolution.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}