How to Design Your Dream Life (Without Losing Your Mind)

Goals are nice, but they’re also easy to abandon when life gets tough. Habits, on the other hand, stick around. Start incorporating small, daily actions that move you closer to your dream life. It’s like investing—small deposits over time lead to big payoffs.

The path to your dream life isn’t going to be all sunshine and rainbows. There will be setbacks, boredom, and days when you just don’t want to do the work. Tough. Do it anyway. If you’re not willing to push through the sucky parts, then maybe that dream isn’t what you really want.

Designing your life is a fluid process. What you think you want today might not be what you want a year from now. Regularly check in with yourself and make adjustments as needed. Just don’t use this as an excuse to flake out when things get hard.

If you’re miserable every step of the way, what’s the point? You’ve got to find some enjoyment in the journey itself, or you’re going to burn out fast. If the process sucks, maybe you need to rethink your goals.

Here’s the truth: you’re going to screw up. You’re going to make bad choices, waste time, and fail spectacularly at least a few times. That’s part of the deal. Accept that imperfection is inevitable, and keep moving forward anyway.