“Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over instead of craving control over what you don’t.”
― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

Well, Steve Maraboli said it best. The day you realize that you have complete and total control over yourself and your decisions may be one of the happiest days of your life. Granted, life also happens, there are many things that are out of our control…but they aren’t worth sacrificing your happiness and freedom to do whatever you want. I am writing this article because before I moved to Spain, I was stuck trying to decide between graduate school, or taking the big leap and moving abroad.

My mind would always wander off during my senior year of classes in college and I was constantly dreaming about living abroad. I’ll be honest, moving to Spain seemed damn near impossible. So many strong and negative thoughts crossed my mind, but my love for Spain and desire to live there was even stronger. The thought of staying in the U.S and going to graduate school right away was terrifying, more terrifying than the thought of moving to another country. I’ve always hated a constant lifestyle. I crave change and I feed off of it. I do best in new environments and situations. I can’t stand being in the same place or doing the same thing, it drives me crazy. I knew that staying and continuing school would have made me very unhappy and too comfortable, it wasn’t challenging enough for me.

As Christmas break arrived during my senior year in college, I knew it was time to start taking my options seriously. I sat down and made a list of “pros” and “cons” for moving to Spain. As I made this list, I took a good and long look at my life. Was I where I wanted to be? Well, there were many signs that were telling me no, and this post contains a few of them. Many people choose to live a life of comfort and are perfectly happy, but most of us choose to live comfortable because “that’s just the way life is.” Some of us are scared of change, some of us don’t realize how unhappy we are, and some of us just don’t want to put our happiness first. However, I hope this post inspires you to take a deep moment of self-reflection so that you can ask yourself if you’re truly happy. If the answer is no, it may be time to make a major change in your life.

9 Signs You Need to Make a Change

  1. You’re constantly jealous of other people’s success.
  2. You put yourself down.
  3. You’re holding grudges and living in the past.
  4. You hate your job.
  5. You feel like you’re settling.
  6. You’re scared to make a change because of what your peers may say.
  7. You always make excuses for settling into a life you don’t really love.
  8. You deal with stress in a negative manner.
  9. You’re all talk and no action.

If any of these apply to you, I highly suggest thinking about and then writing down where you want to be in life. What will make you truly happy? How will you get there? What steps do you need to make it achieve it? Just remember that it is all in YOUR control. The change may be a new job, moving to a new city or even another country, or finding a new hobby.  Whatever it may be, pursue it. Make goals for yourself to strive towards. Find a way to live with passion every single day so that you never find yourself questioning or feeling stuck in your life. Discovering a new way of life can be one of the most refreshing things that you can do for your personal growth and it is so awesome that we have that power. Don’t let it go to waste!

For more lifestyle blog posts, visit my Lifestyle page.


1 Comment

Essi · October 11, 2017 at 10:54

Very great thoughts you’ve shared here. I think these nine signs are something everyone of us should go through every now and then, just to check things out 🙂 I will definitely do that also again in the future.

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