Getting your life in order is no small task—especially if you’re trying to better yourself, rebuild after some kind of tragedy, or are just tired of not getting the kinds of results you want.
It’s always a good idea to improve our lives.
But here’s the secret.
To improve your life, you’ll need to focus on improving yourself.
The truth is that we all have a lot of power over our lives.
We all have the power to create the life we want.
But it takes work.
Thankfully, goal setting can really help.
I’m a big believer in the practice of turning your dreams into goals, and then writing those goals down to create a roadmap for life success.
And this process works exceptionally well if you’re working on getting your life in order.
So let’s go through the entire process, from beginning to end.
In this blog post, you’re going to learn exactly how to get your life in order, in 14 important steps.
Before You Start: Focus On Organizing All Of The Vital Domains In Your Life
Before we actually launch into the 14 steps, we need to take stock of a few vital domains and assess how your life is currently going in each of them.
These domains were mostly inspired by all of the vital domains listed in the Full Focus Planner, which is one of my favorite quarterly goal-setting systems.
Get out a sheet of paper, write down a line item for each domain, then rank yourself with a 1-10 score.
You can also list your strong points and opportunities for improvement in each domain.
Here’s the list of domains, along with some question prompts and a few tips for what exactly to look for in each of them.
1. Financial
Take stock of your financial situation.
- Are you making enough money?
- Do you have a fully fleshed-out, written budget that you stick to every month?
- Are you paying your bills on time?
- Are you setting aside money for savings?
- Are you preparing for retirement?
- Do you have enough money coming in to afford the kind of life you want (or to at least survive and take care of your family?)
- Are you investing in assets (like stocks, real estate, side businesses, etc.) that’ll help you to earn even more money later on?
If not, then this domain could probably use some work.
2. Marital
If you’re married (or in an intimate relationship), is it going well?
Do you and your partner have a solid relationship foundation—or do you feel like it’s in rocky territory?
If so, this area could probably use some sprucing up.
3. Physical
How is your physical health?
Have you had a physical checkup lately?
Are you exercising, taking your medications, eating healthy foods, and getting enough sleep?
Caring for your physical body gets more and more important as you get older.
It’s important to take this one seriously.
4. Vocational
How is your career going?
Do you have a good job?
Do you have a good education?
If not, do you have plans to get into a career (or start a lucrative business) that’ll help to support you and your family in the future?
5. Emotional
How is your emotional health and well-being?
Is your mental health in a good place?
Is your life balanced and stable—or is it chaotic and all over the place?
Do you tend to treat people well and get treated well, or could these areas use some work?
6. Educational
Do you have any educational goals for yourself?
Here’s the thing:
Even if you already have some education, you should never stop learning.
Do you have plans for how to advance your education in the future, or for how to learn some high-income skills so that you can level up into an even better career and position for yourself?
If not, it’s definitely time to start thinking about doing it!
7. Social/Relationships
How are your friendships and social relationships?
Are you plugged into a positive and healthy community?
Do you have emotionally healthy and supportive friends and family around you?
8. Spiritual
How is your spiritual life?
Do you practice a faith or a religion that enriches your life and gives you a sense of peace, calm, and community?
Do you have a spiritual community of people who help you to be your best self?
Do your spiritual beliefs empower you to live a victorious life of hope?
9. Parenthood
If you have children, it’s really important to take stock of your performance as a parent.
- Are you prioritizing your children and making sure that they’re looked after?
- Are they up-to-date on doctor appointments and dentist appointments?
- Do you have the capability to lead them and invest in them on a day-to-day basis?
- Do you get them to school on time, dressed in clothes that look good and fit them well?
- Do they get adequate meals, go to bed at decent times, and receive plenty of love, hugs, and emotional support?
- Do you sit around the table as a family at mealtimes to give them an opportunity to tell you about their day?
These are incredibly important questions that every parent should be making sure to track and take stock of.
Getting Your Life In Order – 14 Crucial Steps
Now that we’ve gone through 9 important life domains to focus on, let’s begin the process of going through each of these 14 steps.
Obviously, every life is different. So you may have domains associated with your life that aren’t listed above.
Also, not every item on the list above will apply to you.
Those domains are intended to give you a very general guideline for some things to focus on as you begin your journey and start working on getting your life in order.
So now, let’s talk about the 14 steps.
1. Rank Where You Are In Each Of The Vital Domains
Take stock of where you’re at in your life.
If you’re here reading this post, it’s probably because you have a feeling that you need to improve one or more areas of your life, and you’re looking for some information to help you figure out how to do it.
To start this process, get out a notebook, a journal, or even just some blank paper, and start taking notes about where you believe your life is at in each of those vital domains listed above.
- Maybe your health and wellness are really on-point, but you want to level up your education and career to make more money.
- Maybe your relationship with your kids is great, but you want to work on your marriage.
The point of this step is to just figure out what you want to work on and accomplish, and make some notes about those things.
The first part of fixing your life always involves identifying the problems.
2. Visualize What You Want Your Life To Look Like In The Future
When striving to get your life in order, it’s important to visualize the future and to imagine what it could be.
A lot of people don’t allow themselves to hope that their future can be something positive or bright.
But this is such a shame.
Every single human is full of potential.
You are full of potential.
And the truth is that if you really want to sort your life out and get on track, you can do it.
But it’s really important that you visualize it.
This visualization part of the equation is really important because if you can dream it, you can achieve it.
But first, it’s important to dream it and believe that it’s possible.
Also, don’t be afraid to dream big.
I’m a big believer in the process of dreaming big, turning those dreams into goals, and then writing those goals down to make a plan.
Speaking of making a plan…
3. Make A Plan
Visualizing what you’d like for yourself in the future is the first part of the equation.
(Another important part of the ‘visualizing’ process is to ask yourself why you want to achieve that dream, and to discover the purpose behind it.)
But the second part is that you have to make a plan for it. You’re much more likely to find success in life if you legitimately make a plan to create it for yourself.
It’s crucial that you take your future seriously, and that you take initiative for what you’d like it to look like.
A lot of people don’t do this.
A lot of people just continue to spiral into chaos.
That’s sort of like drifting lost at sea without a map or a compass.
With a plan and a vision for the future, however, you’ve got a great shot at achieving what you want to achieve.
4. Start Writing Down Your Goals
Once you make a plan for yourself, it’s important that you break that plan down into a set of goals that you can write down and follow.
This is how you create a roadmap for success.
Start using SMART goals to plot specific milestones for yourself so that you can work your way to success in all of the vital domains that you care about in life.
If you’ve been struggling to have enough hope in life, this is a fantastic way to help boost your hope and motivate you to continue forward.
A lot of people don’t make a plan.
But when you make a plan and then write down goals using the SMART goal system, you drastically increase the odds that you’ll succeed.
5. Get Specific About What You Want Your Future To Look Like
As you begin the process of making a plan, setting goals, and then beginning to work toward those goals—your vision for the future may start to shift and change a little bit.
This is very normal. It’s difficult to know exactly what you want in the future at first, especially if you haven’t put much time into thinking about it.
But as you begin to make this plan, and as you start working to achieve your goals, it’s really important that you get as specific as you can about what you’d like your life to look like—and then to adjust your goals as needed to fit that specific vision.
Getting specific is a really important part of the process.
6. Start Writing Down Daily Goals Every Day
Writing down your goals on a daily basis is absolutely critical to success.
You can write your goals down in a planner, on a goal setting sheet, in a calendar book, or even on a blank piece of paper.
Making a daily to-do list that matches up and aligns with your medium and long-term goals is incredibly important.
There are many different goal setting and goal achievement systems to use—and we’ve written about some of our favorite ones on our resources page.
But at the end of the day, the system that you choose is never as important as just deciding to get started.
This is how you begin your journey to success and crush it.
Need some help? Download my weekly goal-setting sheet, print out a few, and give it a try.
You can also sign up for my email list to get my free Goal-Setting Essentials Starter Kit.
7. Review Your Long Term Goals On A Daily Basis
When you write down long-term plans for yourself, you’re going to be that much more likely to stay focused on them if you review them every single day.
Every morning, set aside some time to review your long-term goals and your plan of action for the day.
This is a powerful habit that’ll help you to be more intentional about the things you should be doing while getting your life in order and creating the destiny you desire for yourself.
8. Move On From People Who Hold You Back
There are two kinds of people in this world.
- There are people who lift you up, challenge you to be better, and help you to become the best version of yourself…
- And there are people who discourage you, hold you back, and influence you with bad habits.
The people who influence you with bad habits and hold you back are basically weights that will keep you from moving forward.
Unfortunately, these types of people are all too common in the world.
But if you want to be a high achiever and succeed in getting your life in order, it’s essential that you walk away from these types of relationships.
9. Increase Your Standards For Yourself
Having high standards is important when you’re getting your life in order.
We must constantly be striving to hold ourselves to higher standards, and to pursue excellence to a higher degree in life.
At first, we can make small incremental steps to help increase our standards in life.
But over time, these small steps will add up to big positive changes.
It’s all about getting just a little bit better every day, and learning to be more focused and more intentional about how you want to live your life.
The truth of the matter is this:
If getting your life in order is important to you, you can achieve it 100%…
…If you’re willing to raise your standards for yourself in life.
10. Get Counseling
If your life has really gone off the rails and/or if you’re dealing with trauma, mental illness, etc. then it’s really important that you get some counseling or therapy to help you overcome some of those challenges.
In fact, this is actually a good step for everyone.
We need our minds to be in tip-top shape.
Don’t be ashamed of the fact that you may need to get some counseling.
The truth is everyone needs to talk to someone sometimes.
11. Get An Accountability Partner
As important as it is to walk away from negative people who will drag you down, it’s equally as important to find yourself an accountability partner who will help to hold you accountable to your new goals.
When you’re getting your life in order, it’s always a better idea to find an accountability partner who has already done what you’re trying to do.
For example, if you’re trying to get your life in order by getting out of debt, it’s always a better idea to find an accountability partner who’s already accomplished that goal and understands the process.
This will really help you and guide you as you challenge yourself and strive to succeed.
12. Find Positive Influences To Look Up To
There are many incredible people in this world.
You may not be able to personally have relationships with all of them, but you can learn from them and look up to them.
One of my goal-setting students is a huge fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
He’s read his books, listened to his speeches, and watched many of his videos on YouTube.
He’s inspired by Arnold’s journey, and looks up to him as a positive influence.
This helps him as he sets goals and strives to achieve more in life.
The truth of the matter is that Arnold has accomplished some pretty amazing things.
He’s a very positive influence, especially for someone who really wants to chase success and achieve their goals.
So find some people who you can learn from and look up to—people who have already walked where you plan to go in your own journey.
13. Review, Revise, And Go
Getting your life in order is a process that isn’t going to be perfect.
When you first start out, you’re going to learn things—and you’re going to need to adapt quickly.
You’re going to experience things, and you’re going to realize that some of your plans may need to change—and that’s okay.
This is why I often tell people that they’re going to have to review, revise, and go.
In other words:
- Review and take stock of your progress
- Revise the plan as needed
- And then, go and get back to work
You’re going to need to do this many times over the course of your journey.
But that’s okay. That’s all part of the process.
14. Stick With It, And Don’t Give Up
Getting your life in order isn’t always an easy process.
In fact, it may be downright difficult.
It may take you a few weeks, a few months, or even a few years to start seeing the kinds of results you want in life.
But once again, that’s okay.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, and your life doesn’t have to get completely organized or fixed overnight.
Making small measurable steps in the right direction is really what it’s all about.
And I can’t stress this enough:
Dreaming big, turning those dreams into goals, and then writing down those goals to create a roadmap for success will undoubtedly help you in this process.
FAQs
How do you become a sorted person?
You become a ‘sorted person’ by taking responsibility for the important parts of your life.
We live in a complex world—thus, taking control of your circumstances and acting responsibly to make decisions as a functional human isn’t always easy.
However, the effort is well worth it.
An orderly life that’s well maintained and seen-to with a decent level of responsibility is going to be a much happier and healthier life.
How do you maintain orderliness in life?
You maintain orderliness and life by diligently working on the things that need to be worked on.
Far too often, people just try to escape from their problems.
And as a result, the important tasks required to sustain and maintain order in their lives aren’t accomplished.
But if we want to live orderly, happy, accomplished lives, it’s vitally important to make sure that we’re putting in some work and maintenance in all of the crucial areas that matter.
A structured, successful life takes work. There are just no two ways around it.
How do I get my life back on track?
To get your life back on track after a tragedy or disaster, figure out where it’s going wrong. Then, visualize how you’d like your future to be different.
Turn those dreams into goals. Then, write those goals down and create a roadmap for success.
If you follow this plan, you really can’t go wrong.
Just keep trying. Work hard at it. Be responsible, and don’t give up.
You can do it!
I believe that anyone can do it.
How do I jumpstart my life?
The best way to jumpstart your life is to start dreaming big right now.
Dream about the future you’d like to have, and visualize what you want it to look like.
Then, start making a plan.
Start writing down your goals and reviewing those goals on a daily basis.
Use the SMART goal system to start crafting goals that’ll help you to achieve what you want in life.
This is so crucial. And yet, so many people overlook it!
But it’s really important to remember.
And last, but definitely not least—you’re capable.
You can do it.
You can actually create the life of your dreams, as long as you’re willing to set some goals, do the work, and stick to the plan.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this post has helped you to understand how you can begin the process of getting your life in order today.
Don’t delay.
Your life is important. And you deserve success.
But nobody is going to drop it into your lap.
It’s crucially important that you make a plan and get to work.
You’ve got this.
I believe in you.
Now get out there and make it happen!
Best wishes…
Jay O’Donnell