How To Make Positive Changes To Life

It can be all too easy to fall into the status quo of life. The pattern of eat, sleep, work, repeat is something that a lot of us have been guilty of falling for. Taking a pause to ask yourself if you’re happy with the situations you find yourself in isn’t easy, but it is necessary. Here we are going to take a look at some of the ways you can make changes to life, breaking the routine and getting happiness from the parts of living that take up most of your time.

That word, time, is important here. We all only have a finite about of time to live our lives, so you should do everything you can to make sure you are using it wisely. Keep that notion in mind as we explore the options open to you to make positive changes.

Career

The first place to start is by taking a look at the career that you are currently leading. For a lot of people, happiness starts with the workplace. And while there may be several studies and professionals who tell you that isn’t the way to view fulfillment, it isn’t always possible to remove yourself mentally from the ties to your career. That is why we are going to take a look at some of the options that you can explore if you are someone who is frustrated with your working life, or just looking to improve that part of your life.

The most important thing when looking at career is to remember that you shouldn’t let anyone hold you back, yourself included.

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• Education

No matter your career choices, you will find that there is a level of education that is required, and the greater you have that developed the more opportunities that open up to you. That is why we are going to take a look at how you can give your CV a boost by adding to the education section. There are plenty of things to consider when it comes to qualifications and that is why we have broken this section into two parts.

• Degree

For a lot of people, when you say education they immediately think of a degree qualification. And there is good reason for that, mostly that a lot of jobs require some sort of formal certification to be under the company’s employment. This can put a lot of people who are years into their working life off of applying for a career change, because they don’t have the exact degree or subject qualification on their CV. But that should not be the case.

Your application for a new role shouldn’t be deterred by the lack of formal education, but if you want to change that aspect of your resume then there are great options out there for you. One of the best things about living in the age that we do, is that universities and colleges have gone digital, which means you can do a part time course online around your own schedule. Someone who wants to get into the world of policing and security, can do so by getting themselves a Bachelors of Criminology, while someone who wants to add travel to their working life should looking into language degrees online.

If you already have a degree, you can also make the most of these online tools by getting yourself a masters. You will find that the greater the level of your qualifications, the higher the number of doors that open for you will be.

• Skills

While a degree is good for the CV, it isn’t for everyone. For those of you who aren’t interested in getting yourself a degree, or another one, then you might want to look into websites like LinkedIn Learning and Google’s Digital Garage. These are just two examples of major companies that are providing courses for people to boost their CV. You can become an expert in commonly used workplace tools like Microsoft Office, communications and digital marketing. They will help you boost your CV and open up new career opportunities for you without requiring the dedication of time that a degree would need.

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• Freelance

If your full-time job isn’t quite fitting your needs, then you might need to consider getting yourself into the world of freelance. There are fantastic opportunities out there for people who are able to organise themselves into a self-employed position. We are going to take a look at two of the ways the digital landscape has opened up this type of work for the majority.

• Web-Based

The internet has been great for many things, and one of those is the opportunities for employment that it has opened up. This is never truer than when we discuss freelance work. Websites like Fiverr and Upwork have created marketplaces for people with a wide range of skills to advertise themselves and be offered work by members of the general public as well as professional institutions. There is a broad range of skills on display on these websites, so where freelance used to be a relatively closed market, you will now be able to sell your skills in almost any field.

• App-Based

The internet is not alone in being a new part of life that is able to provide you with career choices. The smartphone currently sat in your pocket can also be a tool that can be used to find work. Companies like Uber and Deliveroo use applications to give work to people looking for a job that works around their own schedule. So now you can be a private hire driver in your own time using just an app and a GPS.

Photo by GDJ from Pixabay

Health

As well as boosting your working life by changing or developing your career choices, another aspect of a positive life is to have good health. We all know that we should take greater care of minds and bodies, but we can fall into the same old patterns that stop us from doing so. Here we are going to take a look at how you can create time in your busy schedule for two of the major contributing factors to a healthier lifestyle.

• Exercise

There will be some of you that have read the word exercise and are currently in the process of rolling your eyes. But once you’ve got your eyes back on the page, it is time to recognise that we all need to be active. Now, when we refer to exercise that doesn’t mean that we are going to provide you with some great fitness scheme or encourage you to develop Hulk Hogan muscles. No, the idea with exercise here is to demonstrate to you that you can have an active lifestyle without drastic change.

The Mayo Clinic recommends that we all get at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise per week, with three days of strength training. That means you can dedicate one hour over three days to fitness and be meeting your minimum. With 168 hours in the week, we should all be able to find that time. Whether that means taking a break from your schedule to go to the gym or finding a slot in your time at home to get the yoga mat out.

For those of you not sure what exercise you should be doing as part of these recommendations, here is a list of ideas:

• Strength Training

Push-Ups

Squats

Lunges

Planking

• Aerobic

Running

Cycling

Swimming
Rowing

Brisk Walk

Exercise isn’t just good for your physical health, but also your emotional health too. Being active has been demonstrated to improve mental health through the release of endorphins and serotonin. These two chemicals, which are natural reactions in the body to exercise, alter your mood in a positive way and promote a better state of mental well being.

• Diet

As well as being active, we should all be focused on the intake of food and drink that we have on a daily basis. Now, that doesn’t mean that you should be following any fad diet that comes along. The reason for that is that quite often these diets will ask you to eliminate or reduce your intake of one of the six essential nutrients that your body needs to operate to its optimum levels.

• Carbohydrates
• Fats
• Proteins
• Vitamins
• Minerals
• Water

These are the food groups that your body needs and they all play different roles. Carbs and fats will provide you with energy, proteins help rebuild cells and vitamins will boost your immune system. That isn’t to say that you can have as much of each category as you wish. To create positive change in your life, you should find a way of incorporating a balanced diet of the six essential food groups into your diet. Use apps like MyFitnessPal to see how you’re doing in terms of getting the balance right, and find recipes online to give you the food you need.