5 Steps to Avoid a Mediocre Life and Live your ‘Someday’, Today.

Are you in the “someday” trap? Just going through the day, not living out your dreams and living a mediocre life? How do we change? Instead of getting up excited to to start the day, we hit the snooze button for the fourth time; just 10 more minutes of sleep before the chaos of the day, or worse, the mundane of day after day work, home, bed, repeat. We hit the snooze because we don’t have a real reason to get up and be excited to start the day. We have managed to put aside our dreams of our younger days, when we saw life full of possibilities and plans and goals. But now it’s just the same day after day…a mediocre life. But how do we avoid this mediocre life and live your someday, today?

We have been waiting and waiting for the proverbial “someday”, when we have the time, money, effort, energy, etc…fill in the blank. But it does not have to be this way. We all have the ability to change this mediocre life of waiting for ‘someday’. We can make our someday right now and live with purpose, excitement and adventure. Let’s live our best selves, our best life, right now. But it takes a change of mindset and some effort. We must commit to thinking and living differently. But you CAN live that life you’ve been waiting for. Follow these 5 steps to avoid a mediocre life and start living your “someday”, today.

1. Discover your life purpose and commit to it:

If I were to ask you right now, “What is your life purpose?”, many of us would not know how to answer. But without a purpose, a direction, we are just waving in the wind and tossed around in the waves of life going here and there with no real direction. So what is your purpose? What do you want to be, to do? What impact do you want to leave on people? What kind of life do you want to live?

These are not easy questions, but they need to be answered if you are to begin your “someday” life and avoid a mediocre life. You don’t have to figure it all our right now, or have to come up with the ‘perfect’ purpose. It can be very simple to start. And it can change as you change and grow. And it does not have to be a big, monumental purpose like solving world hunger (but it could, because that would be awesome!).

Start with a simple purpose.

But start out with a simple purpose, maybe practicing smiling at everyone to brighten the day of each person you meet. Maybe it’s being the one positive voice and presence in this world of negativity and anger. Or your purpose could simply be, to be the very best version of yourself. By being that very best version of yourself, you WILL have an impact on people. Being your very best will change your life and the life of people in your circle and beyond. Let your purpose be something that inspires you to get up every morning and live in alignment with that purpose.

Take some time, maybe a morning with coffee, and write out your life purpose. Remember, it doesn’t have to be complicated. Keep it simple, especially in the beginning and also remember, it can change as you and your life changes. Then write it down and post it where you will see it everyday.

“We must embrace the fact that if we don’t commit to thinking and living differently than most people now, we are setting ourselves up to endure a life of mediocrity, struggle, failure and regret, just like most people.”

Hal Elrod

2. Work on your personal development:

In order to avoid a mediocre life, we must start with ourselves. Who we are and what we are doing does determine the kind of life we live. We must be willing to work on ourselves; improving, learning, and growing to become our best version.

We must be willing to make changes, maybe big ones, and commit to being different, better, than we were yesterday. This is very simple, actually, but not necessarily easy, because self-improvement and personal development takes commitment and work. But it will be sooooo worth it.

Do your self-assessment.

Take some time and honestly assess who you are right now. What are your strengths? How do you respond to people? How do you respond to difficult or frustrating situations? Can you improve your responses? Do you have a positive (or negative) impact on people? What qualities do you want others to see in you? And so on…

When you start assessing yourself, please remember to be kind and graceful to yourself. Be honest if there is qualities you want to improve or address, but also do NOT beat yourself up because you are not perfect. That is not what this assessment is about. We are not about perfection. We are about growth and learning and being our best version, flawed as we are.

Now that you’ve done your assessment, commit to your own personal development. Self-improvement, growing and learning, is a life long commitment. Try new ways of looking and seeing inwardly. Things like meditation, prayer, journaling, and reading “self-help” books can be wonderful ways to begin the journey of personal development.

Book recommendations for Personal Development:

Here are a few books I recommend to get you started:

• The Bible – There is so much in God’s word to direct your life and improve your self. And there is so much love and grace and life in His Word. Start with this book daily.
• Do It Scared, Ruth Soukup – Ruth writes about finding the courage to face your fears, overcome adversity and create a life you love.
• Eat That Frog, Brian Tracy – the classic book on how to stop procrastinating and get more done in less time.
• The Miracle Morning, Hal Elrod – we are all worthy of an extraordinary life. This book gives amazing insight and secrets into how to stop living a mediocre life.
• The Four Agreements,  Don Miquel Ruiz – this book teaches 4 undeniable truths on how to live in wisdom, peace and freedom.

“Your level of success will rarely exceed your level of personal development, because success is something you attract by the person you become.”

Jim Rohn

3. Avoid mediocrity. Get out of bed:

Of course we all get out of bed…eventually. But when and how you get out of bed can greatly determine your day, your week, your month and your life. I know this may sound simplistic, but you must have a reason to get up in the morning, to be ready to get up and go when that alarm goes off. This reason goes back to your life purpose. When you have a direction, a goal, a dream you are pursuing and committed to, it makes getting out of bed not only easier, but you will want to get out of bed to get started on your day and further your purpose and commitment. And getting out of bed and having a morning routine is another step to avoiding a mediocre life.

Another strategy to getting out of bed and starting your day in a positive way is to have a morning routine. All successful people that I’ve read about and come across make morning routines a priority. And these people definitely avoid a mediocre life. I know in my own life when I stick to my morning routine, I am already ahead of the game when it comes to productivity and my feelings of accomplishment and self worth.

Importance of a morning routine:

Here are a few reasons why having a morning routine is important.

• Sets the tone of your day. When you go through your routine that you have set up, you’ve already created a positive, self-care, compassionate start to your day.
• It is making time for yourself and self-improvement, which will further your commitment to your goals and purpose.
• You are already accomplishing more in your morning than many accomplish all day.
• You can become healthier in mind, body and spirit. When you create your morning routine, include practices that address all parts of your being.
• It makes you happier. You are choosing to take control and do something that will enhance your life. In turn, this action taking creates a feeling of accomplishment and happiness because you’ve chosen to make this important.

“I’m not a morning person!”

It’s possible you are thinking, “But I’m not a morning person.” I get it. But here’s some tough love…don’t make excuses. It’s up to you to create a life you want to live right now. And when you commit to your purpose and want to make changes that will avoid a mediocre life, that is motivation for getting out of bed, even if you currently are not a ‘morning person’. We all have the ability to change. Don’t ever let limiting beliefs and negative self-talk or excuses stop you from accomplishing your goals and creating your someday, today.

Create your morning routine and get started now. If you are stuck or unsure what to include in your routine, here is my routine as an example. You do not have to copy my routine, but it’s here to get you thinking about how to create your own routine. Your routine will be different, possibly shorter, depending on your goals and work schedule.

My Morning Routine, an example:

• Alarm goes off at 5am
• Up by 5:15am
• 5:15-5:30: Meditate
• 5:30-6:00: Bible reading and prayer
• 6:00-6:30: Read a self-improvement or business book, & take notes
• 6:45-7:30: Exercise
• 7:30-8:00: Time with husband to discuss the day, etc.
• 8:15- 8:45: Walk with husband

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I change up slightly:

• 6:00-7:30: Blog and writing
• 7:30-9:00: Exercise and walk

Please don’t feel like you have to copy my routine, but I do suggest making time for each part of your being, mental, spiritual and physical. I’ve recently started meditation and I am loving it. It’s so good to start the day in a calm, peaceful and relaxed state.  There are several good meditation apps out there. I use both the “Insight Timer” and “Breethe”. Both of these apps have a free version, but of course, you will have access to more material if you use their paid versions.

My advice…start your morning routine tomorrow. You can always tweak it as you find what works for you. But don’t wait to find the ‘perfect’ routine. Just get out of bed and start your day in the best, and most positive way you can.

4. Take chances and be willing to fail.

Another way to avoid a mediocre life is to take chances and be willing to fail, or really, learn from your lack of success. Successful and adventurous people get out of their comfort zone and try new things, take action on new ideas and have the willingness to keep trying despite falling or failing. Often, you just have to do the scary thing, despite your fear, in order to move forward in life.  If you always take the easy, comfortable path, then you will not discover all that life has to offer. You will be ‘comfortable’ but your someday will never happen.

A real life ‘try and fail’ example:

Here is an example from my own life of taking a chance but failing in the end.

I wanted to have my own dance and yoga studio. So after moving to a small town in Colorado that had neither of those for the community, I took the initiative, and created a dance and yoga studio. It was a lot of work and money, but I made it happen. However, this was one of those ideas that, although seemed like a great one, did not work out in the end.  After a year of effort and money, I had to face the truth that I had failed. And I had to close the studio.

But at least I tried. I followed my dream and I learned a lot along the way.  I took a chance and although it did not work out, I am still glad I tried. And it motivates me to get out there and keep taking chances, because, even though the studio failed, my life still moved forward. I still learned and grew so much. And that is the key to taking chances, even if you fail. 

“Better to try and fail, than having regret of not trying.”

Deepak Mehta

Failure or not, keep working and dreaming.

Sometimes those dreams and goals don’t work out. Sometimes they are big failures. But don’t ever let that stop you from working on another goal or project. Just the fact that you stepped out of your comfort zone and put in the effort helps you avoid that mediocre life. Dreaming, working, goal setting and working toward that goal is one of the things that make life very interesting and gets you closer to living your “someday” life today.

If you have always wanted to be an entrepreneur, or an artist, or marathon runner but haven’t had the ability or guts to do it, take the chance now.

• Be willing to take the first step.
• Find a mentor or at least an accountability partner to keep you going when days get tough. And they will get tough. It’s called the “messy middle”, and that’s where most people give up.
• Don’t quit. You do not have to be one of those that gives up.
•  Keep your eye on what you want your life to look like and don’t’ stop until you’ve reached that point.
• Then keep looking for the next thing to achieve or be or see.

For more practical tips for getting out of a rut, check out this post. The secret to that “Someday…Today” life is to keep taking action, keep taking chances, keep finding new goals and dreams, and never be afraid to fail. Regret is much, much worse than failure.

5. Be courageous:

To live an extraordinary life, to live your ‘someday, today’, and avoid the mediocre life, you need courage to live differently, and to face your fears. It is often said that courage is not the lack of fear, but courage is moving forward and taking action despite the fear. And this is so true. We all have fears, some small, like spiders, and some larger, like speaking in public, or even fear of what to do or fear of the unknown. But the thing is, because we do all have fears of some kind, you are not alone, or weird, or weak, because you have fears. We are all on that same fear boat.

But the difference is how we react, or act, despite our fears. Do we let our fears control us, limiting our ability to make our life the way we really want?  Or do we take action anyway, be courageous and face that fear head on?

My chance to be courageous…

Several years ago, my life took a very unexpected turn and I suddenly found myself divorced and single. It was not a particularly good time in my life. But it also forced me to be courageous and do some things I probably never would have done had my life not taken that turn. One of the more courageous things I did was travel across the country in my little Mini Cooper all by myself, with my two dogs and belongings in tow. It was a growing experience for sure. Not only did it take courage and a leap of faith, but also I had to trust myself and trust that God had me under His wing.

And guess what? It was great. And the best part was that during my trip, I met my future husband. I did not know it at the time, but life has a funny way of surprising you when you aren’t looking. But had I not taken that step and done the scary thing and chose to drive across the country, I would never have met my, now, husband and never experienced all the wonderful things since that time.

What about you?

What scary thing are you avoiding or waiting to do because of fear? Are you wiling to be different and take action? What do you want your “Someday” life to be? Does it include travel? Are you looking to go back to school? Maybe you want to start a new career at 60? Why not?  Have you been dreaming of road tripping across the US, like me? Make it happen and don’t let your fear of ‘whatever’ stop you. Be courageous, take action, dream big and make your ‘someday’, today!

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We can all get stuck in the “someday…..” trap. But if you want to escape and avoid a mediocre life, follow these 5 steps and start today.

1. Figure out your life purpose, starting now, at our age. It’s probably different than when we were 30.

2. Continue to work on personal development. Working on our inner self is a life long adventure. Stick with it.

3. Start every day with a morning routine that you create. You will be so glad you did.

4. Be willing to take chances. There is really no such thing as failure, only steps to success and learning along the way.

5. Be courageous and go do the scary thing. Your life will change when you make it happen.

I hope you find these 5 steps helpful and I truly hope you will take them to heart, put them into action and make your ‘someday’ life, today!

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