How to Get Your Life Back On Track with an In-depth Life Audit
I know right! The word “audit” can send chills up your spine. Luckily, I’m not from the government. I’m here to help you grow, and one of the best ways to move forward, is to take stock of where you are now, and how far you’ve already come.
One of the best ways to move forward, is to take stock of where you are now, and how far you’ve already come.
Humans have a habit of looking towards their ideal life somewhere way ahead of them like it’s an horizon line you are trying to get to.
Trouble is, the horizon line keeps moving ahead of you. You never actually get there.
Unfortunately, that means you are left staring at the gap between where you are and where you want to be. It can be discouraging.
Instead, turn your head around and take a look at how far you’ve already come. That way, you can celebrate your wins and pick up a lot of energy to help you keep moving forward.
That’s what a life audit can do for you. It can give you energy, focus and a chance to reset and get back on track.
How To Do A Life Audit
Step 1 – Pull together all the devices you use to keep track of your life.
You will need to be able to scroll or flip through the months to remind yourself of what’s been going on.
Step 2 – Let’s start with what went well.
It’s just so easy to remember all the tough stuff. But every year has to have some wins. Write out a list of what you consider some recent wins. And be aware, these don’t have to be huge. Maybe you took some nice long walks this year. There’s a win. Let yourself be generous and make a nice long list!
Step 3 – Now we can take a look at your challenges.
There may have been many, from losing a job, not seeing a loved one, to trying to finish a big project or being able to save some money. Life is challenging. Take a look and write a list of your challenges this year.
Step 4 – What did you learn this year?
What did the wins and the challenges teach you? Is it something about your resilience? Maybe you learned that you love something that was a win? Think deeply, what did you learn about life, yourself and others this past year or so? Make a list.
Step 5 – Time to look forward.
What do you want to repeat going forward? What do you want to change? Are there things to improve? Where would you like to focus? And yes, make a list.
Done!
That’s it. I hope that wasn’t too difficult for you. The hardest part of doing an a life audit is remembering what happened in the first place. That is why I actually do weekly, and monthly reviews when I am planning my life. That way, I can just look at those at the end of the year to be reminded. That’s something to think about for this year going forward.
In the meantime, you likely uncovered some things you want to keep doing, and some things you want to eliminate.
Tip #1: Get Back To Basics
Take a look at the basics of your life. What are they? For me they are eating well, exercising, reading uplifting books and meditating. When those are on track, I’m doing really well.
What are the basics for you? What did your audit reveal? What can you recommit to going forward? Getting back to basics can really help lay the foundation for a meaningful, productive and fulfilling year.
Tip #2: Create A New Positive Habit
What is the one thing you’ve been wanting to do and just haven’t been able to make it happen? It might be consistent exercise. It might be cultivating more patience with your kids. What is the one thing that if you could make a habit would have a really positive influence on your life?
Be brave. Take it on. James Clear in Atomic Habits gives a lot of great insights into how to make habits stick. To simplify, start really small, make it easy and give yourself a reward.
Try creating a really positive habit this year to help you get your life back on track.
Tip #3: Trust Your Gut More
Getting your life back on track can take a lot of thought. But what if you allowed yourself to listen more to your intuition? So many times, we have a fleeting idea that brings up a little surge of excitement, and then we talk ourselves out of it.
That surge of energy is telling you something. It’s Life Force giving you a direction, a path toward something that is fulfilling for you. It’s true, it may be something that isn’t easy to do or accomplish. But, if it’s meant for you, you will find a way.
Give yourself the permission to trust your gut more. It will help you get back on track.
Tip #4: Pay it Forward
There is nothing better for feeling like your life is worth living and going well than paying it forward. The spiritual traditions are all so clear that what we do for others really does come back to us. It may come back in a very different way then we thought, but the laws of energy say we do attract what we give out.
Finding a way to pay your good fortune forward simply feels good, even if you don’t see those magical returns. When we pay it forward, we get out of our own heads, out of our small lives and connect with love, such a powerful force.
Again, you don’t have to do anything gigantic. Little things, a smile, a thank you card, a dollar in a person’s palm, food to the food bank. Make this year a year of giving back and you’ll see your life get back on track so fast, it will make you dizzy!
Tip #5: Set Some New and Exciting Goals
Your Life Audit will set you up so well for Goals going forward. The Wheel of Life is my favourite tool to help my clients set goals. Draw a large circle with eight segments. Title the segments with one area of life: Finances, Health, Career, Spirituality /Personal Growth, Fun and Recreation, Family/Friends, Partner, and Home. You can make up your own too if you like.
Give yourself a ranking from 1 – 10 as to how you feel about each area. And then write out a few things that could help you bring up your score and help you to feel better about that area.
And voila! You’ve got goals.
Yes, goal setting can be a more involved and strategic exercise, but really these items would be a great focus and a great place to start from where you are right not to where you’d like to go.
Again, try not to limit your thinking on this. Instead, listen to the inner voice and not the critical voice that likes to spoil everything! Go with your gut and write down those goals.
Be sure to find a place to store those goals where you can review them. That way, you keep them top of mind. Make some action plans on how you could implement those goals, and then, take those actions. Finally, review your week and month all year long to see how well you are doing. And make adjustments.
Before you know it, it will be the end of the year and you’ll be getting out your goals and reviews and happily doing a another Life Audit.
Only this time, you’ll be further ahead because you did it now, today.
Good luck. I believe in you. You can make it happen. And you can get your life back on track no matter what these last few years may have brought you.
Talk soon,
Lisa
