Sometimes you think about the lifestyle that you have currently and the lifestyle that you envision for your future…I touched a little bit about our future selves in this previous post if you wanna catch up. Becoming your best self is something that, in my opinion, is one of the most important things to do in this lifetime. It’s something that only you can figure out and only you know the real answers to because nobody else is able to understand your true feelings about something other than your inner self.

A Stagnant Lifestyle

When I started this journey, (by writing to new strangers on the interweb), I thought a lot about how I wanted to obtain a record of what I’m doing and what I’m not doing so that I can make sure I could look back and adjust those things overtime. Basically, collect a journal of sorts to see if what I’m doing is working or kind of just keeping me stagnant. And you know what I found out so far? That it’s really easy to stay stagnant…much easier than a lot of us portray.

Related: You Don’t Have To Do It All Alone: The Road To Finding Your Accountability Partner

I think a lot of us also don’t like to acknowledge the fact that we are in fact stagnant because doing so basically admits to ourselves and to others the embarrassing fact that “we’re not trying hard enough” or doing enough to push forward or get to the next chapter in our lives, but that’s not the case. It’s a journey nonetheless, and a journey takes time and consideration and even reconsideration because if we don’t reconsider the way we do things then we never really know what works and what doesn’t.

So I wanted to talk today a little bit more about something I was thinking about as I ran through the daily tasks of my day job. “When you’re doing something you love, time flies,” isn’t that the truth? It really does go by so fast it that it encompasses all of our being and creates feelings of excitement and fulfillment and pure happiness…and when we’re in one that doesn’t do that? Guess what, time does the exact opposite. Would you agree?

An ideal environment can create a feeling of wanting to get up in the morning instead of dreading getting out of bed. But guys, creating a lifestyle that works for you, but also for those around you is something to consider as well. Because creating a lifestyle for yourself that works best for you isn’t always best for those who you surround yourself with. They might have a different schedule than you or different goals or motivations. They may have different personal or professional challenges than you or maybe they just don’t like the same things as you and that’s okay.

Growing Individually Together

You don’t always have to have an accountability partner that likes everything that you do…and I think that’s a really big part of growing, especially in a long-term relationship. It’s never easy to figure out yourself while you’re figuring out your relationship, but it’s still necessary because once you do, you start to understand how you can flow together better and if need be, hit the brakes on some other things in the meantime.

But, as you grow individually, it’s like your roots are starting to tangle up in how you both become your best versions and then also how you could be the best version of yourselves together as a duo in that relationship. (Whether that be a friendship or a romantic relationship, or even a relationship with your parents or children…not your furbabies though, because they just exude love at all and anytime, they don’t need to work on themselves because they’re already purrfect).

Keep Chasing

The thing is though, that you don’t have to create the lifestyle you want right off the bat, and honestly, you’re probably not going to figure it out for a while anyway so there’s no point in rushing. Often, we have to fail many times…or fall forward as some say so that we can understand fully what it is that we want out of this life and how we want to become as an individual.

That goes for what we want to do, including how we want to work in this life, because working is a necessary part of life for monetary gain to grow your household, your wanted goods, travel the world or invest in beautiful things that bring you joy, nourish your family or previously mentioned furbabies…but it’s also necessary to keep active to continue pushing forward and learning new skills because if we don’t work or do something that we love, then we start to disintegrate and fall apart mentally, physically, and emotionally while we aren’t around others or investing time back into growth for our being.

So, while you’re doing all that growing into your best self, try to remember that it’s not always going to work out the first time. It doesn’t always work out as planned. And guess what, the more years that pass, the more I start to realize that I do believe we all have a plan and we all have to figure out what that plan is. The more that we learn about ourselves in mindfully adaptive situations the more we can run through different opportunities and figure out which opportunity works best for us (and those within our circle) and if you’re not achieving the goals that you’re looking out to do, perhaps you have the wrong environment…or perhaps the lifestyle that you think you want isn’t really the best for your best version.

Lifestyle Transformation: My Story

I’ll give you a personal example ’cause we’re out here being real, mmkay. I’m here to talk about that journey with you which is the whole point of being balanced. I am creating these habits so that I can learn from them and do better each and every day. I am trying to create more balance in my life that allows me to maintain happiness in multiple facets of my life. And as I figure this weird little world of mine out, I want to be able to help you do the same.

…But right now I’m struggling a little bit, because I don’t have the ideal environment and that’s just because of choices that I’ve made up until this point. I didn’t choose a career path. I dropped out of college, twice. I’m still waitressing just like I did in high school. It’s a whole thing.

The wrong thing.

Waitressing isn’t wrong by any means, so I’m not trying to poo-poo on it. 💩 I’m still providing for my family just like my husband is,  I’m still maintaining a healthy relationship with my family and loved ones, including my spouse. But, I feel like where I lack most is maintaining a relationship with myself because the environment I want isn’t secluded indoors; the environment I want is refreshing, is feeling empathy and feeling alive with emotion and happiness and fulfillment.

Build A Lifestyle That Supports Who You Want to Be

So, as I start to map out these new chapters of my life, along with my husband by my side, I have started to realize that as these new paths open up, new opportunities can open up as well and I want to be ready for those changes. I want to be okay with creating a new schedule and a new plan so that I can maintain a better self-care routine, along with providing healthier meals for my family and providing a better life schedule for my pets so that I can hike with them and walk with them more often…so I can take care of them while I’m taking care of me as well so that when we have little munchkins running around, I can provide enough time to spend with them, too.

As I move into this new version of myself, I wonder if it’s what’s been holding me back all along from creating the best version of me. Have I been trapping myself in the wrong environments? Have I not been recognizing that to change my lifestyle, I need to change my surroundings?

I often think, “if only I would’ve thought of this sooner,” but then again, I don’t think I would’ve been ready. I don’t think I would have been mentally prepared for the lifestyle adaptation that it will take to actually work on myself to the best of my ability, until now…

So I’m here to tell you once again, that you are not alone in these struggles.

The struggle I’m having is a struggle that I’ve heard from many others (especially while working odds and edds jobs), and while we all learn who we need to become to feel completely fulfilled in our lives is going to take time, just remind yourself that it’s a step-by-step process that can’t be rushed because once we figure out who we really are and what lifestyle and environment we were really meant to be in to create a new version or to improve our best version of self, that is when we will find fulfillment on our true path to the destiny we’re supposed to be on.

That, my friend, is who you are meant to become. <3

Thank You for Being Here

Thank you for taking the time to read and reflect with me. Sharing this journey—my wins, struggles, and in-between moments—means more than you know.