How to Improve Your Life when You Don’t Know Where to Start

Ever been in that place where you feel like you’re surrounded by chaos and aren’t really sure where you should start in making things better, where you can improve your life?

Life has its ups and downs, to be sure. It can be scary, but it feels so good to dig yourself out and work to improve yourself as well as your surroundings.

I think all of us, if we’re honest, can say that we’d like to improve our lives in some way or another. That’s not to say that we aren’t thankful or appreciative of the lives we have, but I think there’s always room to grow, ways to improve. 

No harm in trying to be better than you are. Choose it or change it.

Sometimes, it’s really clear where you need to improve your life. Other times, it’s not so clear.

You might just have a vague malaise. You might get sucked into the vortex of social media too quickly and find that you’re getting nothing done. You want to learn new skills, but find yourself stuck.

You know that things aren’t running as smoothly as they could, but you’re not really sure where to start to improve your life. 

Sister, you are not alone. I’ve been there. I think it would be unnatural if we didn’t find ourselves in that place once in awhile. 

When I get that chaotic kind of feeling, it helps me to get some plans in action, revisit my goals, and think through some strategies to go forward in a new and improved direction.

Here’s my process, aptly titled…

How to Improve Your Life when You Don’t Know Where to Start

Ready to walk through the steps?

1. Ask yourself what you want.

Years ago I realized that I needed to understand the vision I had for my marriage, family, and home life. If I wasn’t clear about those things, I couldn’t very well communicate them to others.

This was key in improving our marriage as well as my life. It didn’t help for me to say, “I don’t like X.” What’s a husband to do with that? 

I needed to be clear on what I wanted to accomplish so that he could understand and we could plan together.

I found that to be honest with myself also enabled me to focus on the positives and the goal, instead of dwelling on what might be missing or need improvement. 

To keep the end goal in mind is key in so many things, but especially when you want to improve your life.

I’ve including a whole page of the Print & Go Planner to this concept and I think it really works!

2. Do a self-inventory.

When you’re not sure where exactly to start in improving things, it’s time for a little self-inventory. There are lots of methods in which we can evaluate ourselves. 

You can talk to your husband and close friends for advice. Do some journaling; look at past goals that you’ve created for yourself.

You can also give yourself a satisfaction survey. Ask yourself: how satisfied are YOU in these areas?

• your spiritual life
• your physical health
• your emotional well-being
• your intellectual growth (are you learning new things?)
• your home
• your marriage
• your parenting
• your work (this could be business or education)
• your skill stack
• your money management
• your hobbies 
• your other responsibilities (such as homeschooling or community service)

In my Fresh Start Planning Kit, I’ve included a number of exercises to work through this kind of personal inventory, narrow down priorities, and get a grip on where I am and where I want to be. Working through it over the last few weeks has been really eye-opening.

3. Choose one thing to work on for the next month.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and you can’t “fix” everything you think needs improving all in one go. Choose just one area to work on and focus on that for the next few weeks or month. This is basically an adaptation of 90-day planning.

In my own self-evaluation, I gained valuable information. I realized I haven’t been giving my home enough attention.

While it’s good that I’ve been investing in other areas, I think that our family’s overall well-being would be increased if I upped my game a bit more on housekeeping. I’ve let things slide a little too much lately.

With school starting sometime in the next month, I want to get us back to shipshape and have some better systems in place. I gave the library a makeover and moved my office, so I’m already on a good trajectory to improving our life as a family.

4. Start chipping away at that one thing.

Start chipping away at your one thing. I’ve heard this called the penicillin method. When you get one area of life in order, the organization can spread like penicillin in a petri dish. Weird, but I like the analogy.

Brainstorm all the things that go into your focus area. Then work out a plan to slowly work through those tasks. 

A good planner can be key to helping you track this type of work.

For me, that started with identifying areas to declutter as well as specify what cleaning tasks need to be done each day or week. I’m moving from zone to zone, getting things in order.

5. Find some resources to help you.

I’ve found that the right resources can really help me get on the path to my new and improved life. You don’t need to pay for coaching services if you’ve got some good books and self-determination.

For some organizational tools and technology are where it’s at. For someone else that might be motivational. Here are the ones that help me:

• The Print & Go Planner, the planner that I use to keep my head on straight
• The Fresh Start Planning Kit, full of exercises to help you envision a brighter tomorrow
• Be Your Future Self Now by Dr. Benjamin Hardy
• The Gap and The Gain by Dan Sullivan
• Atomic Habits by James Clear’

There’s no magic spell that will instantly improve your life. You’re going to have to put the work in. But, it’s not that hard once you get moving. You just need to start in the right direction.