5 Things to Throw Away So You Have a Better Life

Self- development…

We talk about it.

We complain that we don’t have it.

We dream about it.

We desire it.

We crave it.

But most of us don’t know how to take control of our lives to achieve it, that better life.

When starting my journey as a photographer and content creator i certainly didn’t know how.

From the story of my life, there were some things I changed in my mindset and habits that have subtly and slowly changed my life for the better to propel me to where I am today and which I believe will continue to propel me to where I want to go.

Here are 5 things to throw away so you can start living a better life.

You Define Your Own Success

It’s weaved into our very biology to define ourselves by others and what others want us to be.

This is a false perception that we are lead to believe is the glue that holds our society together.

When in reality all it does is strip our own personal happiness, values and beliefs.

To begin your self- development journey and to start living a better life you have to throw away the idea that you have to live up to other people’s definitions of success.

But it’s very hard to do.

Defining ourselves by other people’s expectations or definition of success has become so deeply rooted in our cultural narrative that it becomes the metric on which we value our lives.

It doesn’t nurture self- development.

Society says success is measured on how many followers and likes you have, and how rich and famous you are.

But success doesn’t mean living up to what other people’s expectations are.

Many people with a lot of followers, money and fame live lives that are horribly empty, shallow, unbalanced and unhappy.

The sooner you throw away everyone else’s definition of success the freer and liberated you will become.

You can manifest and grow into the fullest version of who you are and what you want to do.

No one can define your success except you. If you continue to chase other people’s definitions of success, you will never reach it, you will just continue to question.

Throw away that belief, create your own success and achieve it.

Don’t Be A Know It All

No one likes a know it all.

You can’t possibly know everything anyway, so believing that you know it all is a lie you tell yourself and everyone around you.

Throw away the belief that you know it all, that you’re the master and remain a student of your craft, constantly learning and improving.

This is crucial to self-development and living a better life.

The student will always find success over the master.

Believing that you know it all causes comfort and stagnation, there’s no growth and no steps forward to achieving success.

If you want to look like a know it all, you’re fooling everyone including yourself.

Having a better life comes from knowledge and remaining a student of your craft.

You can’t have that if you insist on looking like you know it all.

Stop Using ‘Busy’ As an Excuse

How you spend your days and nights begins to paint a clear picture on the life you will live.

A lot of us like using “I’m busy” as an excuse. It’s like we’re bragging, an ecstasy we enjoy when in fact it’s an empty brag without substance or conviction.

We trick ourselves more than anyone else when we say we’re busy, we believe by being busy we are productive in making progress towards our goals and a better life.

Sorry, you’re not getting any closer.

With self- development and to have a better life you need to stop being busy and become heavily focused.

When you become focused, you become tunnel-visioned with your time and energy on achieving your true goals.

Focus is where the magic happens, it’s where the results start growing.

Most people prefer the quick emotional spike of bragging about how “busy” they are, showcasing a false reality, instead of actually putting in the time and the real hard work.

Choose to be focused, not busy.

Entertainment Is A Distraction

Time is our most precious possession, it’s something we don’t have much of and it’s something we will never get back.

Before we know it our time will be up.

So that’s why we have to make the most of the time we have.

Reinvesting our spare time into doing the things that will move us closer and closer to the better life we want to live is one of the most crucial ingredients to making it all happen.

I get it though, If you’re working a full-time job, have rent or a mortgage to pay, with bills on top and everything in between, you don’t have a lot of free time.

This means that the precious little free time you do have is spent on entertainment as a distraction from a crazy day at the office, not learning and growing.

But this will only lead you to a low-level life.

But true success requires sacrifice.

With self- development and to live a better life, you need to put your head down and work extremely hard.

Entertain your mind with books, blogs, podcasts and appropriate YouTube videos to educate yourself, to expand your thinking and grow your knowledge.

I like aimless free time, it’s downtime and it’s important to your wellbeing no matter who you are or where you’re at.

But if you want to make huge leaps and bounds to achieve a better life, you need to turn off the Netflix and reinvest your free time into learning new skills, putting in the work, trying and failing and being productive.

It won’t last forever. But I believe you need to put in the time now, right now, so later, you can have the life you want.

Not Every Opportunity Is A Good Opportunity

So, I quit my full-time over a year ago in pursuit of a better life.

I understood that I can only do the things I want to do if I have the time to do them.

My goal, to become a full-time content creator to help brands and businesses achieve their goals.

So, I needed the time to learn and perfect my craft, i needed time for a lot of self- development to be able to live a better life.

With a clear map, time, persistence, mentors and a pinch of luck I’ve been able to set my life up so I can pay my mortgage without working full-time, thus allowing me the time to figure out a way to work towards my overall goal.

Along the way, quite unexpected, I would be presented with very appealing opportunities to work for companies that would relieve a lot of the stress and pressure I’m currently experiencing.

I went to the job interviews, got offered all the positions and I turned them all down.

Despite all the perks, none of these opportunities would get me closer towards my overall goal.

In fact, they would consume the free time I had, like write now, I wouldn’t of been able to write this blog if I accepted a position.

There’s more opportunity in saying no to good opportunities.

There’s also great consequences if you spend all your time on the merely “good” opportunities, it means you won’t have time for the truly great ones when they come.

This is The End

Good things come from time, patience and a heck load of sacrifice.

If you want the life you’ve only ever dreamed of, then you must do the things you’ve never done to get you there.

Don’t let anyone define your own success.

Stop lying to yourself about being “busy,” and start being focused.

Don’t believe you know it all, dedicate yourself to learning all you can from everywhere you can.

Spend your precious time wisely, because there’s a lot out there that want your time, attention and energy.

Don’t fall into the trap that all opportunities are good because most are bad.

I have other articles in my Lifestyle Blog that are useful in changing your limited beliefs of yourself and unlocking your absolute full potential. Take a read!