Life Makeover Challenge: Change Your Life in 15 Days

A life makeover might be what you need if you feel:

• bored about everything
• stuck
• unmotivated with life in general.

There are probably some things in your life that are bothering you or things you wish you could do but don’t know what the first step is.

In this post, I’ll show you which small but powerful steps you can take to change your life.

And let me tell you; it’s 100% based on my own experience.

A couple of years ago, I was where you are right now.

I knew I was miserable and had to do something about it, but I didn’t know where to start.

It was frustrating because I had a lot of energy and motivation to start, but I didn’t know how.

Feeling stuck is one of the worst feelings ever, right?

It’s like a dark void that sucks you in and paralyzes you.

It makes you wish you could wake up one day, be a completely new person, and start from zero.

However, it doesn’t work that way.

You have to put in the work and focus on progress instead of perfection.

Your dream life won’t happen accidentally. You have to work for it, and you have to be smart about it.

And in this post, that’s exactly what you’ll learn to do.

If you put in the work and stay consistent, you won’t have to wait long until you start seeing results.

Let’s start with the basics.

What Is a Life Makeover?

In this post, I’m talking about changing your life and changing yourself from the inside out.

This means changing your:

• mindset,
• perspective,
• goals and systems, and
• habits.

Sure, if you want to change the way you look on the outside too, go for it.

Do I Need a Life Makeover?

You would probably benefit from a life makeover if you:

• feel stuck, unmotivated or lazy;
• know you’d like to be doing something different, but you have no idea what that is;
• sometimes feel the urge to move to another city, change your hair, change the way you dress, but deep down, you know that’s not what you need;
• know there’s more to life than feeling meh about it.

How to Give Your Life a Makeover in 10 Steps

1. Do one 10-minute journaling session a day for a week

The majority of your unhappiness comes from a lack of self-awareness.

You feel that I-want-to-do-something-but-I-don’t-know-what feeling because you’re unaware of what you want.

And this isn’t so much about “knowing” what you want.

Maybe you know deep down what you want to do with your life, but right now, you’re having a hard time uncovering it because you’re:

• scared of admitting what you want
• not being completely honest with yourself.

That’s where journaling comes in.

If you want to give yourself a life makeover, journaling is a great way to start because it’ll help you figure out:

• what you want
• what you don’t like about your life
• what you need to do to feel better about yourself.

I talk about journaling a lot because it’s worked for me, and many studies prove its benefits.

For instance, did you know that writing about stressful events can help you improve your psychological well-being?

Yep. It’s true.

Here’s the deal…

Trying to figure yourself out inside your head is like putting a puzzle together without seeing what it looks like when it’s ready.

So, I’m not saying you’ll makeover your life just by journaling alone.

But when you put your thoughts down on paper, it helps you see the overall picture and make better choices.

The best part is that you don’t have to spend months journaling daily to see results.

You can start noticing some improvements in just one week.

Of course, the longer you practice it, the more benefits you get.

But just journaling for a week, 10 minutes a day, can give you enough material to start building a life you love.

And that’s what you want for this life makeover challenge.

Journaling is a written record of your feelings, ideas, and thoughts.

You can keep that record physically or digitally by keeping a traditional journal or docs on your laptop or Google Drive.

There are countless journaling exercises out there, but you can start with “stream of consciousness,” which consists of writing everything that comes to your mind.

It’s like talking to a friend you know will listen and won’t judge.

So, set up a timer for 10 minutes and start writing.

I know it can be intimidating at first, but give it a try.

In the beginning, you’ll feel like the things you’re writing don’t make sense if you read them, but how it sounds doesn’t matter.

What’s important here is to notice:

• topics, questions, and dilemmas that come up often
• burdens or problems that seem small but are actually affecting you a lot
• things you thought were behind you but keep coming up in your writing
• passions to explore.

If you’re new to journaling, you can use these journaling prompts for self-discovery to guide you through the process.

2. Evaluate your current life

This is one of the scariest and most challenging parts of the process.

However, the outcomes are generally calming.

You may think your whole life’s a mess, and that there’s so much you need to do to change it, but you’re probably wrong about that.

Feeling stuck doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t like anything about your life.

For example, hating your job doesn’t mean you hate your whole life.

After completing a life audit, many people realize that there are 2 or 3 concrete things they need to take care of to feel better in general.

By evaluating your life, you’ll identify exactly which areas you’d like to improve to start moving the needle.

To evaluate your whole life, follow these steps:

a. Divide your whole life into categories (money, family, work, hobby, love, friendships, home, etc.);

b. Create a column for each area;

c. Reflect on how you feel about each area and:

• how much you like it (or don’t)
• what you’d like to change about it (if that’s within your control)

d. Rate each area from 1 to 10 and ask yourself why you gave each category the rating you’re giving it;

e. Set specific goals for things you can start doing right now to change the areas with the lowest score.

This is the simplified version of the 9-step life audit, but you can do that one if you want to dig a little deeper.

3. Make a list of books you want to read

Now you’re more clear about what you need to change to feel like you’re doing a complete life makeover.

Go to BookBub or Goodreads and browse book categories that can help you improve those specific areas.

Focus on non-fiction categories like self-help or educational books that can help you solve the specific problem you’re having right now.

For example, if you think that creating a savings plan would help put your life in order, check out some books on personal finance.

Or if you’re a chronic people-pleaser and would like to tackle that first, then add a book on that topic, like Not Nice, by Aziz Gazipura.

If you need inspiration, you can also select autobiographies by people you admire and start from there.

4. Buy one of those books and read ten pages

Making lists of books to read isn’t enough.

You need to start reading those books you said you were going to read.

To start, pick one of those books on your list, buy it, and read ten pages.

And then read ten or more pages each day after that.

Did you know that reading ten pages a day can take you around 20 minutes and that you can finish an average book in one month by reading just ten pages a day?

That’s right.

I recommend reading non-fiction because it can give you actionable steps to change your life.

In my opinion, it’s a life hack:

By learning about what others learned before you, you’ll reduce the time it’ll take you to learn those lessons on your own.

So, take advantage of what others can teach you to improve your life.

5. Identify your bad habits

Once you’ve completed your life audit, it’s time to take responsibility.

Which is not the same as blaming yourself, ok?

It’s about assessing what you could have done better so you learn from your mistakes and know better in the future.

I’m sure many people find it scary, but if you think about it, it’s liberating:

When you take responsibility for your life and how you’ve responded to circumstances, you realize you’re the master of your own faith.

Let’s think about your habits for a second.

Bad habits, to be more specific.

You probably have some (we all do) that have slowly turned your life into a life you don’t enjoy.

Now it’s time to ask yourself:

What are the tiny, little actions I do day after day or week after week that have taken me to where I’m now?

Maybe you’ve spent too much time complaining about things out of your control instead of focusing on the problems you can solve.

Or maybe you spend time with toxic people who love to judge others and gossip, which leaves no room for authentic and nurturing friendships.

Some bad habits are worst than others.

Some affect your physical and mental health, while others may have little consequences only if you keep doing them for years.

Whatever the case with your habits may be, list them.

But don’t forget this is about self-reflection and learning from your past mistakes, not blaming or punishing yourself.

6. Make a list of good habits you want to get into

It’s time to replace those bad habits with new ones.

Instead of engaging in harmful habits, what would you like to do?

Check your list of bad habits and write right next to each which new and healthy habits you want to start practicing instead.

Maybe instead of watching so much TV on weekdays, you want to enroll in an online course or read.

Or maybe you can stop scrolling mindlessly through Instagram and start watching educational YouTube videos about an exciting topic you like.

Brainstorm new habits for at least 10 minutes and start implementing them slowly, starting today.

7. Get clear about what you want

Discovering new things you like is an exciting process that must be part of every life makeover.

By now, you’ve been analyzing and working on what you don’t like, so now it’s time to focus on what you do.

Make time to:

• explore old hobbies
• journal about your dreams
• develop new skills
• trust your intuition and try that thing you always wanted to do.

I want you to keep something in mind while you’re at this: don’t get obsessed with “finding your passion.”

Instead of trying to “find out” what you want to do “with your life,” focus on exploring different interests and trust that the dots will connect.

In my opinion, you can make a lot more progress by focusing on what you want right now than on finding the “right” passion.

In reality, the majority of people don’t work that way.

Careers are more like a curved line that adapts to your growth than a straight, perfect one.

You’re constantly growing and evolving, so stop putting too much pressure on yourself by trying to find what you’ll want to do for the rest of your life.

And focus on what interests you now.

Interest will lead you to new opportunities you don’t even dream about right now.

8. Browse online courses

And save the ones you’d love to attend.

Whether you want to explore new career options or new hobbies that excite you, online courses are the perfect way to go.

They’re usually self-paced, so you can watch classes whenever you prefer.

There are courses for each topic you can think of, and you can watch them without leaving your home.

Plus, there are many very affordable options to get started.

If you have no idea where to start, I highly recommend browsing Udemy’s massive catalog of online courses.

They’re organized into many categories, and I’m sure there’s at least one course for everybody there.

So go ahead and give yourself some time to browse all courses and mark the ones that get your attention.

Then go to your list of favorites and pick the one you’re starting today.

9. Design your dream life

There’s something (or many things) you don’t like about your life.

But what are you going to do about them?

You’ve already analyzed what you like and don’t like, and you’ve gathered different ideas of things you can do to improve your life.

Now what you need is a plan to implement your new habits and achieve your most meaningful goals.

If you like using digital tools to plan your months, here’s how to use Trello or Notion to design your dream life and make it happen month by month.

You can also find ways to incorporate your new habits into your daily routine.

10. Take action

Plans look nice and pretty, and they can make you feel brand new.

But they’re useless if you don’t take action.

I know it’s a no-brainer, but sometimes you need to hear this: if you don’t change what you don’t like about your life, nobody will do it for you.

Start that course.

Read that book.

Do whatever it takes to improve what you don’t like.

Set up a system that can help you work on your new habits and your biggest goals little by little.

Or get an accountability partner who can help you stay on track.

Another great tool to keep yourself accountable is journaling.

By keeping a record of how you feel and what you’re doing to change your life, you’ll be able to realize that you have the power to makeover your life.

Life Makeover Checklist

Take It to the Next Level

If you want a clear roadmap to have a life makeover without feeling overwhelmed, check out the Get Unstuck Workbook, where I teach you how to:

• uncover what you want
• fix what you don’t like
• and design a 30-day realistic plan to change your life for the better.

You’ll have a clear and realistic roadmap to your goals by the end of it.

This beginner-friendly workbook is designed with the right balance of autonomy and hand-holding; you’ll feel like I’m there with you but also have the freedom to come up with your own answers.

You’re going to love it.

The Bottom Line

Your life is yours, and only you have the power to change it.

By focusing on what’s within your control and on your current interests, you’ll be able to make progress in no time.

As you can see, there are many small and not overwhelming steps you can take to feel better.

So stop postponing this and get the ball rolling today.