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Starting Over In Life: Here Are Your 5 Steps To Create The Life You Want

Photo by Anna Tarazevich

Are you exhausted from being held back by your limitations? It is time to break free from them and start living out your best days.

Life comes in seasons. And life changes. Everyone goes through transitions. People go through life changes, whether emotional maturing, aging, spiritual alignment, retirement, parenthood, or entering or leaving a relationship. However, some people embrace change better than others. When change happens, some may wonder how to begin over and make the best of the new circumstances they find themselves in.

Change is inevitable. It often causes people to examine their values or re-evaluate their priorities. And sometimes, it leads them to this question: What should I do with my life? Should I start over in life? Where do I go from here? You are not alone. It is okay not to know where you are going next. It is okay if you still need to have a perfectly outlined roadmap to your final destination. 

This article walks you through what it means to start over in life and the queries you should ask yourself. After all, everyone gets one life to live. Humans are all on an expedition to find their best version — but you do not have to do it alone. 

5 Steps To Starting Over With Life

You might be ready to dive in and start over. But starting over in life does not mean you have lost everything you have learned, gained, and experienced—quite the contrary. Your experiences have waxed you into where you are now. And today, you are lucky to be wiser than you were just a month ago. 

Use what you know best: yourself. 

Step 1. Start With Reflection. Before making any changes, you must first understand where you are starting. It can be challenging to sit with your thoughts, but it is easy to let your mind wander. This is because human brains are good at putting up defenses. And so, make sure you carve out the space and time for reflection. Sit down and assess yourself and your life. What do you notice? Consider doing some writing to help capture your thoughts, or you can read a good book on uncovering the meaning of life that asks a person to consider the physical, spiritual, psychological, and transcendent development to encompass what life is. The Abba Tradition’s book, on its theory of everything, focuses on seeing the parts and the whole of who one is. It offers a new way of seeing the reality of who people are and the truth that lies in the worlds they live, hinting that people’s perceptions are different from each other. Hence, how one sees himself may differ from how others see him. There is no surefire way of telling whose perception is correct because there is no “locally real” reality, including how one sees himself.

Step 2. Examine Your Value System. This is a big one. Your values have likely shifted over time. If you are evolving and changing as a human and your circumstances or responsibilities have changed, your values often do, too. It is not that you have an extensive change in all of your values. Still, the relative importance usually varies, and some get left behind in favor of various values that reflect your current circumstance, age, and stage. 

Step 3. Revisit And Rewrite Your Goals. Even if you have written a goal, you can continue to commit to it if it no longer sets the path you want to go. It is natural that goals shift and change. You might have yet to think about the personal goals you would like to set for yourself. Take a minute to revisit your goals. They can be lofty goals, too. 

Step 4. Have The Courage To Commit To Change. Committing to change is no easy stunt. It takes bravery, courage, and self-awareness. It also takes a level of intentionality. Once you know your values, goals, and where you are starting, it is time to map out your next move. In many ways, this step is more about a perspective shift and mindset than anything. Think of starting fresh. You get to restructure your new life. Encouragement and positive self-talk can be good tools here. 

Step 5. Get A Coach. Any amount of change can be adamant. You will need a support system if you plan on starting over in life. Aside from family members, loved ones, and friends, it is advantageous to have counseling from an objective outsider who can aid you reflect on yourself. Someone to help provide impartial advice, confide in, challenge you and help push your growth.  

Final Thoughts

It is possible to learn how to start over and make life changes. If you are ready for a new start, there is no better time than now. You can carve a path to a better life and begin to make changes for the better.