There’s no denying that 2020 has been a mostly terrible year for many people due to the pandemic. Illness, lockdowns, quarantines, and more have affected everyone in different ways. As you can imagine, last year hasn’t offered much positivity to people. I tend to prefer to look for the good in any situation though and this year has been remarkable for me despite having to cancel or decline many "once in a lifetime" travel opportunities. Instead of crying or becoming depressed, I've focused on reinventing myself and building new connections with old friends as well as looking for new opportunities to improve myself, my family, and my businesses.
Spending a lot of time at home over the past year has offered time for many folks to evaluate their lives. It’s now 2021, and hope is here with the ongoing COVID-19 situation diminishing, thanks to a plethora of vaccines to stop the spread of the disease.
You’ve undoubtedly thought a lot about your life during 2021, and you’re likely here today reading this blog post because there are some changes you wish to make. The trouble is, you’re unsure where to start or whether some changes are worth the effort.
Today’s handy guide will give you some help, hope, and inspiration on how you can reinvent yourself this year.
Make An Action Plan To Improve Your Health
The first thing you should do is address anything negative about yourself that causes you to feel sad, angry, ashamed, or anxious that impacts your health. Most people have something that negatively affects their health, and that’s just a part of human nature; no-one is perfect.
However, some health issues can have a detrimental impact on a person’s life. For example, alcohol and drug addiction affect many aspects of an individual’s daily life. It will also undoubtedly impact the people that live with that person.
Addressing things like addictions is challenging. But, the results will be worth it, and you’ll see a significant improvement in your daily life. Places such as Enterhealth Outpatient will provide the therapy and support you need to overcome alcohol and drug addiction issues.
In any case, you should always seek professional help and support for anything that impacts your health. After all, you want to ensure your mind and body are running at peak performance at all times.
One thing you should never do is dismiss something that is negatively impacting your health. Otherwise, the situation could get worse over time and may even end up life-threatening in extreme cases.
Get A New Look
Are you thinking of creating a ‘You Version 2.0’? If so, it’s worth putting serious consideration into getting a new look. One example might be to opt for a new hairstyle and perhaps grow a stubble or a fully-fledged beard.
Another idea might be to ditch your clothes and spend some money on new attire, especially if you’re longing to follow a particular fashion trend or style. Whatever you decide, stick with something that will make you feel fantastic.
Getting a new look is often part of a person’s plans when they seek to reinvent themselves. If you need some inspiration, check out this page on the blog for ideas of where to check out the latest and greatest fashion trends.
Also, if there isn’t a particular fashion trend or style that piques your interest, don’t be afraid to experiment. The idea is to create a new look that you love and makes you feel comfortable and happy.
Make Friends With Like-Minded People (and try crossing into some new communities too!)
You will already have some friends in your social circle. But, some friends likely don’t offer much value to your life and mostly add negativity to it. Such people can be toxic to your mind, body, and soul.
2021 is the year that you reinvent yourself, and you can only do that if you have the right friends and support network around you. Make a start by cutting loose any people that generally bring you down or make you feel worthless.
Next, make new friends with like-minded individuals. These might be people that share common interests or passions and make you smile. Everyone needs uplifting friends like that, not people that bring you down.
One thing you’ll discover is that hanging around with positive people will make you feel happier and more optimistic in your life. And when that happens, you’ll gain a better perspective on the world around you.
Take a look at this interesting article over at SocialPro to learn about the best ways of meeting like-minded people and making friends with them.
Give Your Personal Finances An Overhaul
COVID-19 has meant that many people in 2020 have spent less money than they would have done on social events and impulse buys. The reasons are partly due to lockdowns and quarantines, and job lay-offs in specific sectors such as hospitality.
Even if any of that has applied to you, you must give your personal finances an overhaul as part of your reinvention. Why is that so important, you might now be asking yourself? The answer is simple: having more available money makes life so much easier.
When you’ve got extra disposable income each month, you can do almost anything you want. But if you’re sailing close to the window, metaphorically speaking, your ‘fun things’ options are somewhat limited.
So, with all that in mind, how can you give your personal finances an overhaul? The first step is to make a list of what you earn and what you spend each month. When listing your outgoings, you should include everything that you’re responsible for paying.
Armed with that information, you can now determine which expenses are optional and that you don’t really need to pay. It’s also worth mentioning you can draw up a list of things you can get better deals on, such as streaming video subscriptions and gym memberships.
Once you’ve cut down your expenses and renegotiated some of them, you should look at how you can earn more money each month. There are a couple of options open to you:
Up Your Education And Consider A New Career
There is no standard or set wage that applies to all employers universally. Some companies will pay their staff more money than others for doing virtually the same work. It’s worth comparing salaries from other local employers to see if you’re getting a fair wage or not.
If you’re getting underpaid, now is the time to start looking for a new job. You may find that moving to another company will also mean better career prospects, especially if you’ve had no promotion in your current role for some time.
Get a sideline gig
What happens if you’re getting paid more than a fair salary for your work? Well, if you’re happy with your current job, why not supplement your income with a sideline gig? Each year, millions of people earn extra money from secondary sources.
For example, you could do all kinds of Internet-based work from home when you’re not at your day job. Or, you could moonlight as a taxi driver for Uber if you’ve got a modern vehicle and can get a relevant taxi license.
You’ve got a virtually limitless choice of options for sideline gigs. The beauty of such work is you can fit it around your existing lifestyle commitments. There’s typically no schedule you must adhere to for the majority of sideline gigs.
Make a list of goals to achieve
You might think that this is merely a list of new year’s resolutions. Well, you’re partially correct! The only difference is that you should put a lot of thought into what you wish to achieve this year and plan to stick to those commitments. Some folks fail miserably on their new year’s resolutions as their goals are unrealistic, made in the spur of the moment, or rely on other people to achieve them. How might you create a realistic set of goals that you can accomplish this year, you might be wondering?
Firstly, as mentioned a moment ago, you must put a lot of thought into what you wish to achieve as part of your ‘new you’ for 2021. Next, you should set yourself some milestones to keep you motivated and focused on the task at hand.
For example, if you want to lose some weight this year, you will undoubtedly have a target figure in mind. Use that as your ultimate goal, but set yourself some smaller, easily achievable milestone weight-loss goals too.
You should also offer yourself a reward for achieving each milestone as part of your goals. IT could be anything from treating yourself to a new game for your PlayStation or something simpler like a day off from work, lazing about in front of the TV all day.
If you make it easier and feel more motivated to achieve your goals in 2021, you’re unlikely to fail. Consider writing your goals and milestones somewhere in your home, such as on a noticeboard that you can see every day.
Final thoughts
The COVID-19 pandemic might have written off 2020 for most people, but you can use 2021 to reinvent yourself and take control of your destiny. There are many ways to create the ‘new you’ and lead a happier, more fulfilling life.
Hopefully, you’ve found this article useful today. Thanks for reading it - and good luck with your journey!