Last Updated on by Michael Brockbank
For many of us, 2016 was perhaps the worst year ever of epic proportions. Whether it was personal issues or those within society, the events that took place can make anyone leery about seeing a brighter future. However, it doesn’t need to continue being bad. If you want to change your life, all it takes is determination and perseverance from yourself. It’s OK to hope for a better future, but it’s your actions that will make it happen.
It Takes More than Hope to Change Your Life
Too many people sit idle wishing for change only to have life pass them by. A lot of them have hope that an opportunity will present itself and don’t do anything but wait. Although these opportunities sometimes come along, more often than not someone wastes their life waiting for something that never happens. In the end, some may feel regrets that they didn’t do more to improve themselves.
Take writing, for example. Many people, such as myself, would love nothing more than to see their names on the spine of a book cover. Unfortunately, we often make a half-assed attempt at being an author and hope for the best. In reality, this doesn’t work all too well. Sure, you’ll hear stories about people being picked up by publishing houses or movie studios because of a few pieces of content they wrote. Considering how many writers there are in the world, the odds of that happening to you are quite slim.
I’m not saying you should give up on writing, though. The point I am trying to make is that you are the one who will change your life for the better. Sitting around and waiting for some grandiose opportunity is only wasting time. You can’t merely sit and wait for a happy ending without doing something to make it so.
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Believing In Yourself Above All
I believe that nearly anyone can make a positive difference in their life. While some may be in a better position to get started than others, it’s still possible for anyone. A lot of us will hold on to hope and dream of better days. Unfortunately, dreaming is where it stops. Although it’s important to have hope, it’s perhaps more important to make your dreams happen.
If 2016 has demonstrated anything to me it’s that life will happen whether you want it to or not. Change is inevitable. It’s what you do with it that shapes the future and will change your life, whether it’s for better or worse. Sitting and waiting for things to improve just isn’t going to cut it.
Believing in yourself and having confidence in your abilities is where success begins to develop. Without putting in the effort to change your life, the odds of it meeting your expectations are incredibly low. It’s up to you to make the difference and become the person you want to be.
An example I can think of off the top of my head regarding effort is this website. I had high hopes for Writer Sanctuary when I started it in 2012. I had visions of grandeur and wanted to help others succeed in working from home or writing in general. However, I didn’t put in the effort to build the site. As a result, it receives very little attention.
Between my lack of dedication and a lack of confidence in myself, this blog has never been able to reach its full potential. This past year, I found myself holding onto the domain simply for nostalgic purposes.
Take Steps to Fix Your Situation
Some situations are easier to fix, there is no doubting that. However, there still needs to be some kind of effort from yourself to change your life. Whether you want to be healthier or want to find success working from home, it all starts with how serious you are. Determination, confidence and pride in yourself can help drive you to reach goals that you thought were unobtainable.
For me, the biggest failing has to be that of motivation. I have all of these great ideas for writing and getting more out of my life. But in the end, I am just not as motivated as I need to be to make it happen. Lately, that has been changing though. I pulled myself from my family, moved to a new location, and am forcing myself to stay motivated in order to simply survive.
Yes, this was an extremely drastic move on my part. But it was one that I felt I needed to make if I wanted to change how things were progressing. I was in a dark place and lost all hope of getting better. If it wasn’t for this violent push out of my routine, I doubt any good would have come from staying where I was.
Now with the new year upon me, I also realize that being able to sustain myself financially isn’t enough. It was only the first step to rebuilding who I am. Now comes the part of improving my life through my actions. If I want to be a published author, I need to get off my ass and make it happen. No one will do it for me.
Focus on Changing Life for the Better
Not all changes need to be drastic or severe. Even some of the smallest changes can lead to vast improvements. All it takes is a conscious effort to do something different that can change your life. For instance, deciding where to get a cup of coffee this morning can impact you for years to come.
It’s like the butterfly effect. The smallest decisions now can create a ripple throughout your life and change how it unfolds. The trick is to make sure the effect is a positive one. Unfortunately, these events don’t always take a turn for the better. All you can do is base your decisions on previous experience.
I’ll go deeper into detail about the butterfly effect later on, but know that even the smallest decision you make right now has an impact on your life. If I decide not to spend a few hours today writing for clients, it means I have to work harder throughout the week. What if I don’t make enough money by Friday to pay the bills because I decided to watch a movie today instead?
Have Hope, But Make an Effort
Although I am hopeful that 2017 will be a better year, it’s really up to me to make it happen. If I want to reach greater levels of success, it’s starts with the decisions I make today. You don’t have to make severe choices to change your life for the better. You often simply have to make them. Life will pass you by whether you want it to or not.
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