Do you ever feel like you have gotten to a point in your life where you are no longer growing positively? Where you wake up in the morning only to repeat what you did the day before, or where you find yourself bored with your thoughts or your hobbies? If you often find yourself in that situation where you just want to start over again and try something new for yourself, then try following these steps:

Analyze where you are in your life.

Where is your mind? What do you often find yourself day-dreaming about? Are you bored with yourself or are you bored with your schedule? There is no shame in doing a self-evaluation and taking some time to reflect where you are. Ask yourself, what is it that you are doing and compare it to what you would like to be doing. Once you are done with that, take some time and create a transitioning plan from what you do today and how to get to where you want to be. Give yourself time to get to know yourself by taking yourself out for dates where it’s just you and yourself. Take yourself to that one walking path that you heard has a waterfall along the way, or go and buy yourself a drink and sit and read a book while you wait for your food. After taking some time to get to know yourself, you will find yourself more in touch with what you need or want.

Open up a savings account.

Open up a new savings account for whatever it is that you could go for on a day where you really need a break. After making some money, I try to put some money away for a specific reason. Whenever I’m at work, I like to think that after I’m done with my shift that I’ll be almost 10 dollars closer to being able to go and purchase a car, or that I’m 5 dollars closer to being able to afford studying abroad in college. It really helps me get through the day and once I’m done putting money in my piggy bank, I feel accomplished and like going through the workday was something I did for myself.

Look into joining a gym or start doing daily exercises.

Some people cannot afford to put money aside for outside wants and have to live paycheck to paycheck until they can find a better option, so making plans to travel or taking classes can be difficult. Instead of changing your surroundings, maybe look into exercising daily or joining your local gym to change and improve yourself. It’s really nice being able to watch yourself progress and watch time change you for the better. Schedule at least 30 minutes of running or look into free exercises through YouTube and document your changes through photographs. It’ll be worth it once you start to see yourself grow and change for the better.

Make time for friends or family.

If you get the chance, schedule family or friend time into your day. Pretend it is a job of yours and that you need to put some time into both groups. It doesn’t have to be a daily routine, but if you take the time do work on your relationships at least once a week then think about how much they will have grown in one month’s time. Take photos and make sure that you are in them. Even if you only have time to sit and have dinner, plan to have it with your sibling who is in town or call up your parents and see if they can make it over. It is something you will not regret when you look back at all the new memories you made.

Take 30 minutes every day and clean your place.

If your room has books everywhere, clothes (that you’re not even sure belong to you) hanging around, and shameful amounts of empty water bottles stacked up, then you are probably long overdue for a cleaning. My sister once told me that the best way to keep my room clean was by cleaning it each night for only half an of an hour and then going to bed. After three nights of cleaning for 30 minutes, my room looked amazing. Each night after those first three nights only took about five minutes for me to clean up my room. It was totally worth it in the end because I can see my floor now.

Be patient and kind to yourself.

Please try to remind yourself that you are just a person and that you are trying your best. Even if you find yourself trying to start over more than once, then just remind yourself that there is a lot going on with everyone and you’re doing the best you can. Challenge yourself and be patient with your progress. Thank you for working so hard and for trying to better yourself.

Have fun!!