Four years ago, I had a profound moment in which I realized I needed to completely change my life.

I needed to do it fast, and I needed to do it right… but most of all, I needed it to stick because I couldn’t even imagine living another whole year the way my last several months had gone.

My realization came one evening as I was making dinner and I found myself crying without any idea why at the time… I was newly graduated (but jobless), newly married (but his work hours were insane), and new to a city where humidity and flying roaches were the summer norm…

It was the perfect trifecta for “I hate it here” and “what the heck am I doing with my life”. Let’s just say I spent a lot of time sleeping.

It was that one moment in the kitchen that I realized I needed a change – and a big one at that. I had no idea where to start or what to do but thank God for Google and Pinterest.

I spent hours drinking out of cutesy motivational coffee mugs I found at Marshalls while searching for info, tools, books… the perfect shirt to wear that would obviously make me feel empowered… Inspiring quote pins were pinned, and kick-butt songs were listened to… literally anything that would keep me rolling in the right direction.

TIME FOR A CHANGE IN MY LIFE

It’s been four years and I’m so grateful every day for my “rock bottom”  moment in the kitchen that day. My life looks completely different than I ever could have imagined it would now.

If I’ve learned anything on this personal development journey of mine, it’s that changing your life can happen in a moment – it’s one simple decision to not be in the same place in one year that you are now.

I completely changed my life in a year. The only thing I look back on these days is to celebrate how far I’ve come.

Maybe you find yourself in the same place… Can you imagine living life and in a year, you’re in exactly the same place you are right now?

Maybe you’re saying to yourself “it’s time for a change in my life.” Maybe you found this post while sipping out of your own motivational coffee mug and blasting your own kick-butt playlist (and if you’re not, I highly recommend both of those things, for real though).

Either way, here we are and it’s time for you to go from feeling lost to finding some new direction.

Here’s how I completely changed my life in a year and how you can too.

How I Completely Changed My Life in a Year

1) DO A LIFE AUDIT

When we’re in the thick of life, it can be difficult to see the bigger picture. Doing a life audit is crucial for pinpointing where to make adjustments and jumpstarting your new journey.

Start by figuring out where you stand in the 8 areas of life – health, finances, personal development, career, relationships, self-care, home life, and free time.

What changes would make the biggest impact in your life for each area?

Doing this first played a big part in how I completely changed my life in a year.

2) FOCUS ON ONE AREA OF IMPACT AT A TIME

Once you know what changes would make a difference, pick the one that would make the biggest difference and then go all-in on that one area for now.

Two things will happen – first, the area that has the biggest impact on your life will start to get better, and second, so will other areas of your life.

Have you ever heard the saying, “a rising tide lifts all ships”? It’s the idea that when one area of your life starts to get elevated and improved, other areas will naturally follow.

So focus on the biggest impact area and watch how other areas start to change too.

3) MAKE A MINDSET SHIFT

I strongly believe that mindset is everything. Your mindset is what sets the tone for everything in your life. Changing your mindset is what will change your life. What we think and believe is what we act upon.

If you want your life to change, change your mindset… here are a few tips for doing that:

Change your perspective about anything – from now on anytime anything negative happens, instead of feeling like a victim, ask yourself what you can control or change. I don’t mean in a control freak kind of way. I mean in a way that takes back the power we let others have on our lives, our circumstances, and our mental states.

You may not be able to control how a stranger treats you, but you can control how you react to it. You might not be able to control what someone says to you, but you can decide how you’re going to let it affect you. Have you ever wondered why it is that two people can go through similar horrible experiences and come out of it with two totally different perspectives? It’s by choice.

Choose to be happy, choose to keep going, and choose to be more grateful for the things that are already good.

4) SWAPPING YOUR INFLUENCES

Once you do a life audit and decide to be open to a mindset shift, it’s time to do a little influence swap.

Ditch the negatives – the people, the music, the voices, the shows, the social media follows anything that doesn’t exhibit the things you want in your life. They say your life is the average of the five closest friends (or biggest influences) in your life. So whatever you spend your time consuming, is what will play out in your life.

Find the right resources – find books, podcasts, ted talks, communities, and influencers that do exhibit the kind of life you want.. This might differ for different seasons and/or different areas of your life.

This right here was the thing that had literally the biggest impact in completely changing my life in a year.

One of the other most impactful things I did was to join a Mastermind with other like-minded and goal-oriented women. Masterminds are a great way to find community, accountability, and help on a more personal level. You can find a mastermind for almost anything these days with a simple Google search.

5) EMBRACE YOUR AUTHENTIC SELF

Self discovery played a huge part in changing my life. Understanding who you are and what you want in life is so important.

How can you be confident in who you are and what you want if you don’t even know the answers to that yourself?

Not knowing who I was, really contributed a big part to feeling lost a few years ago.

Discover what’s right for you – it doesn’t have to be perfect. Figure out what you value and what makes you feel good about your life and live by those values.

Which brings me to my next point…

6) KNOW WHAT YOU VALUE IN LIFE

Figure out what truly matters to you in life and live passionately by them. You’ll find that when you let your values guide you, it brings a whole new meaning to life.

Living by your values helps bring more fulfillment and allows you to feel more present in life.

My favorite resource for establishing your values in life is the Value + Vision Course.

7) PUT IN THE WORK AND CELEBRATE YOUR PROGRESS

I wish I could say the change was as magical as making a decision that you want it, but the truth is that there is no change where there is no action.

You have to put some work in, take action to make the changes, and change the course of your life. Brick by brick you can pave the road to your future.

Give yourself some grace on the way. If you lay down the wrong brick, just readjust and keep going.

Most importantly, don’t forget to enjoy the journey. What’s the point of completely changing your life in a year if you’re still miserable doing it?

Celebrate the progress you make. Changing your life isn’t always easy and acknowledging the work you’ve put in to do it can be powerful for your motivation.

Last Thoughts

I’ll leave you with this little quote I often remind myself of, “in the same way it has taken us one day at a time to get where we are, it is going to take one day at a time to get where we want to be.”

You absolutely can change your life in a year. In fact, they’ve done the math and found that just a 1% change each day, will make you 37 times better in a year. (source)

Take a 1% step every day and in a year your life will look nothing like it does today.

I completely changed my life in a year by living a 1% lifestyle – 1% change a day is all it takes.

And in case no one else tells you today, I believe in your ability to completely change your life in a year.