Are you feeling like you’re in a rut lately? Like every day is the same and you want to do a mini life upgrade? If you’re looking for inspiration to bring more joy into your life and stop living on autopilot, then this post is for you.
I covered 8 different areas of your life that you can upgrade. We’ll talk about mindset, goals, habits, relationships, and more.
There are going to be a lot of journal prompts and ideas for action steps you can take, so grab a notebook, and let’s dive in!
1. start your mini life upgrade by doing mindset journaling
Whenever you want to make a change in your life, I encourage you to start with self-awareness around where you are currently.
Instead of saying how you want to change your whole life, gain clarity on what is it specifically that you want to change.
Questions for reflection:
How have you been feeling in the last few months? What’s been going on?
What specifically do you want to change in your life?
2. check-in on your goals or set new goals
“When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.”
― Elon Musk
Then, gain clarity around where you want to go from here.
Think about goals you set a month or a year ago. Are they still relevant?
Questions for reflection:
What goals have you been working on in the last 6 months? Are they still relevant to you?
If you could achieve one goal in the next 6 months, what would it be?
If you’ve been falling off track, download my free workbook to get back on track in 5 steps. Inside this workbook, you’ll find habit trackers to keep you accountable, self-coaching exercises, and a daily planner template to set yourself up for success.
Next, let’s upgrade your daily habits.
3. start doing…
What are some things you want to start doing?
Maybe it’s the start of summer when you’re reading this and you’re thinking about going to the beach a few times a week. Or it’s fall or winter and you want to get into the habit of cozying up and reading for half an hour before bed.
Write a list of things you want to start doing and schedule them for the next 7 days so that you can move from wishing to doing.
Just thinking about things we want to do without making an effort to put them in our calendar is a sure-fire way to never do them.
Here are some ideas for things to start doing:
– do a 20-minute clean-up as a part of your night routine (schedule it in your Google Calendar so that you don’t forget about it)
– do a 10-minute morning meditation (download a meditation app so that you don’t forget about it. P. S. I use Insight Timer and love it.)
– go to the beach on Fridays (plan how much time you’ll need and dedicate time for it in your calendar in advance)
– start using daily affirmations (FREE DOWNLOAD: 111 powerful affirmations to uplevel your life)
– make a list of 3 things you’re grateful for every day
4. stop doing…
“In order to change ourselves, we must first believe we can.”
― Marie Forleo
What are some things you want to stop doing?
Maybe it’s a habit you want to quit or a distraction that’s wasting too much of your time.
Ideas for things to stop doing:
– stop spending more than 30 minutes on Instagram
– snoozing your alarm
– buying your morning coffee and instead making it at home
After you made a list of things to stop doing, ask yourself what would make it easier to follow through.
For instance, what would make quitting snoozing easier?
Or what would make spending less time on Instagram easier?
Think about 1-3 ways you can make quitting these things easier for yourself.
5. upgrade your relationships
What I mean by upgrading your relationships is bringing more joy into the relationships you have with others.
This can look like reconnecting with someone you haven’t seen in a while or even cutting cords with people you don’t enjoy being around.
If you noticed that there are some people in your life that you’re just not compatible with, maybe it’s time to rethink those relationships.
Make sure that the people you’re around are your hype people. People that are there to support you, that are genuinely interested in how you’re doing, and that you just love being with.
If they only talk about themselves, never ask how you’re doing, and don’t even give you time to respond and instead make their own conclusions, it might be time to distance yourself from them.
You deserve people in your life that bring you joy and positive energy.
If you leave conversations with certain people needing to recharge for two days, then those are not your people.
6. tidy and declutter your physical space
If your Human Design type is a Reflector, you might even want to start with this one. A lot of times our environment can impact our mood and our energy.
Does your bedroom look like a storage space? How does that make you feel?
If you live with someone else, there’s no need to try to control or declutter their things. Focus on your own.
Even if you’re an extremely organized person and you live with the messiest person you know, don’t let those differences come in the way of you upgrading your environment.
Here are some things to do for a mini life upgrade of your physical space:
– do the laundry
– change the bedding
– clean the kitchen counters
– declutter your closet (donate or sell things you haven’t worn in the last 12 months)
– declutter your makeup/toiletries (sell or give away stuff you don’t use – check with your friends if they’d like a perfume or even some nail polishes you want to get rid of)
Related:
6 Things to Declutter for a More Organized Life
3 Things You Need to Know About Living With a Non-Minimalist
7. do a mini life upgrade of your appearance
“Never dull your shine for somebody else.”
― Tyra Banks
You can be all about mindest but also want to do a complete makeover. Why not?
If you’ve been feeling stuck lately or you’re craving a change, I encourage you to include a mini appearance upgrade, as well.
This can look like:
– scheduling a hair appointment and trying out a new hairstyle (or even just trimming the ends)
– creating a new workout plan or trying out a new form of exercise (rock climbing, Muay Thai, spinning?)
– selling clothes you don’t like anymore and introducing a new color palette to your closet
8. upgrade your reading list
If there’s a specific topic you’d like to learn more about or it’s been a while since you picked up a good fiction book, I recommend adding a few new books to your mini life upgrade.
Want some ideas?
Here are some non-fiction books I love:
Jen Sincero – You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness
Brene Brown – The Gifts of Imperfection
Joe Dispenza – Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself
Also, here’s a blog post on 5 self-development books that changed my life and what I learned from them.
As a fiction recommendation, my favorite I read this year is Shari Lapena’s The Couple Next Door. I finished it in one afternoon and I highly recommend it if you’re looking for some exciting thriller. It’s such a page-turner and I loved the ending.
On doing a mini life upgrade…
The reason why I called this process a mini life upgrade is that doing this will give you only temporary results.
You might get a new hairstyle, plan your next 6 months to a T, order some self-development books online, but working on this long-term requires taking consistent action.
We’re all familiar with setting new goals and feeling excited and motivated for the first few days. But what happens a week or a few weeks later? We go back to where we were before doing this mini life upgrade.
If you’ve been on your own self-improvement journey and you want to dive deeper to make a change in your life, check out my journaling bundle.
The bundle includes 3+ hours of guided journaling workshops for building confidence, creating the next-level version of yourself, reframing your limiting beliefs, and setting goals. It’s so powerful to help you dig deeper within yourself and start making a change in your life so that you can reach your goals. Sound good? Then get your bundle on the link here and dive right in!
Until the next time,
Ivana
Helen Story says
September is the perfect month for a reset and a bit of solid selfcare- great post!
Antonia says
This is such an amazing post! You shared so many valuable tips. I am currently going through a very stressful period of my life and a mini life upgrade is definitely something I need.
Deanna | Life by Deanna says
Great post! I love the “stop doing” list. Would for sure help with a little upgrade 🙂