How to Transform Your Future Today: 4-Step Guide

I recently spoke with a woman whose kids are about the same age as mine. She shared that she was feeling a sense of longing to do more besides work. It wouldn’t be long before her kids left home and she knew she would feel a big gap in her life once they left for college. She knew that it was time to explore new possibilities for herself . . . but she didn’t know where to start.

I resonated with this woman’s message because I experienced similar feelings a few years ago. My children would be leaving home soon, and I had no idea what I wanted to do when they were gone. I had a great support system, loving family, plenty of friends … but that was not enough. I needed to answer the daunting question: What will give my life meaning and purpose after my children leave home? What – exactly – is it that I want to do with the rest of my life?

If you are like me, you are a born nurturer — devoting years to taking care of children, husband, parents, and other important people in your life. But there’s a voice deep inside you telling you: This is not enough. I want more. I need more.

If you feel stuck in a rut, or simply uneasy and unsettled, it might be time to make some changes!!

Whether you want to:

• Dust off those sidelined dreams you put on the back burner,
• Leave a job that is no longer fulfilling you,
• Revive your relationship with your partner, or
• Simply explore new possibilities and new directions for yourself,

. . . there are lots of ways that you can find new purpose and recreate your life.

I believe that you have unique gifts and abilities to share with the world!

Here are the 4 steps I took to begin my own own personal transformation:

1. Take Inventory of Your Life

In order to figure out what you need to change to regain control of your life, it’s helpful to take stock of your current situation. Start by asking yourself the following questions:

• Are you mostly happy or mostly sad?
• How do you see yourself?
• Do you feel healthy and fit?
• Are your relationships healthy or toxic?
• Do you have dreams and goals, or do you just live day by day?
• What do you value most and what’s important to you?
• What roles do you have to balance?

2. Visualize your ideal life.

Sit in a quiet place and close your eyes. Once you’re comfortable and calm, try to picture your ideal life. This might mean envisioning people or circumstances that you want to leave behind.

While you are visualizing, you might choose to concentrate on a feeling that you want to create, such as peace or love.

You can also visualize images of where you are, what you are doing, with whom you are spending your time.

3) Write about your new life

Once you have visualized the life you want, put pen to paper. Writing down the details of how your perfect life will look and feel can help make it more concrete.

Choose a writing style that works for you. You can make lists, create detailed scenes, or even write dialogue about the way you imagine your new life playing out.

You might write about a scene where you nail an interview for your dream job, for example.

4) Create Visual Reminders of Your Life Goals

You can use pictures or objects that represent the changes you want to make. For example, if you want to move to California, you could put a map of the state somewhere where you will see it daily.

You could also create a vision board where you gather images. You might pin a picture of a house you like or someone you admire. You could also put applicable quotes and sayings.