How To Reboot and Reset Your Life When You’re Stuck And Fed Up

Maybe you’ve been tempted to reboot your life for a long time, but you still aren’t sure if YOU need to do it, HOW to do it and WHERE to start. Here are some quick tips and easy actions to help you recognize the signs, and make positive changes to reboot and reset your life when you’re stuck and fed up!

Do you ever feel like you have lost yourself?

Does something inside you keep tugging and gnawing?

You ask yourself:

Is this all there is?

What am I doing with my life?

Is this it for me?

Perhaps it’s been this way for a long time, perhaps it’s an unexpected complication thrown your way that upsets your balance.

On the outside, everything is fine. But underneath that calm surface, wild undertow rages, rushing in a swirling dark chaos, sweeping you along.

You function like an automaton. Get up, get set and go. You do what you have to do to get through your day.

All the while watching in your mind the movie of a life that could have been.

Depressing, isn’t it? Plus, you’re over 40 gal, so the game’s up.

Time, like a startled stallion, has slipped out of your grasp. And you’re wondering, where has it gone to?

You find yourself in a familiar yet alien landscape, wondering how you ended up here. You planned to be in another life, not this one, where disappointments, failures, fears and regrets can’t resist but sneer in your face. Inside, you know you could be more, do more, live more.

Sounds familiar?

You are not alone.

So, How Can I Reboot and Reset My Life?

It’s tempting to fall into sadness, take pills, see a shrink, or give up altogether. For the fight to get back up is too hard and it’s too late anyway…

Okay, so you don’t have a career you dreamed of, the looks you desired, the marriage you wished for.

Maybe you have thought of making changes but that would kinda equate scaling the Everest. In your undies and fluffy kitty slippers.

But not all is lost.

Maybe all you need is a little ‘reset’.

What is a reset and how do you even know you are in a need of one?

Signs You Need Shake Things Up!

The beginning of any meaningful and impactful change is to recognize your situation.

If any of the below resonate with you, you might want to consider pressing that ‘Restart’ button and making some changes.

1. You Are Experiencing Burnout

The first sign that you need a reset in your life is when you are experiencing burnout. It is possible to have burnout even when you don’t feel “busy” constantly.

This often happens when you are either working too much, or focusing so much on one thing, that you neglect everything else.

That means you’re so exhausted with a certain activity or aspect of your life, that the rest of your life is falling uncontrollably behind, and you lose balance.

Perhaps it’s work, perhaps it’s your family life or a life-changing event which has eaten up your energy.

2. You Keep Trying (and Failing) New Things

Have you noticed that you keep trying new things (perhaps toward a specific goal), but then quit pretty soon afterward or lose your steam?

Trying to lose weight and get fit but you only last a couple of days? Maybe you’re experiencing overwhelm and or you’re being pulled in many directions?

This isn’t always just a case of having no follow-through.

Sometimes, it’s because you need to re-evaluate things and remind yourself why you set these goals. Perhaps you need to and figure out a better way to complete those goals.

If this is happening to you, now may be a good time to do a reset and try to find where your values and priorities are.

3. You’ve Given Up On Your Dreams

Maybe you have plans and ambitions that you thought you really wanted, but you never seem to work on them much.

Things happen and lives get busy, I get it.

But if it’s been months or even years since you set any goals or made any plans towards achieving them, it looks like you’ve lost your drive.

If that’s the case, now is the time to either decide how to reach your desires or replace them with something else you are more passionate about.

4. You Feel Stuck, Helpless, or Unmotivated

And lastly, if you have been feeling a little stuck, lost, or just unmotivated, it’s time for serious reassessment.

You may want to figure out what it is that you want and what isn’t quite working for you.

These feelings of stuckness can come from many things. From your mental health, to just being overworked, to simply outgrowing your values.

What Now?

Do you recognize yourself in any of those signs?

At one point in my life I could tick every single one.

Life gets hard. It gets messy. And it can suck.

Maybe you want to set everything on fire and start afresh.

But the thought of a radical change, a proper shake up, is so scary that most of us dismiss the possibility of a change.

The amount of things to figure it all out, the sheer effort of the overhaul, can be so overwhelming that we often abandon any plans for making things better. When things are complicated it’s hard to know where to begin.

But you can change things for the better with gentle practice of a regular life reboot and reset.

So what’s the solution?

Quick Reference Cheat Sheet For Life Reboot and Reset

 Assess:

• First of all, make a decision to change things.

• Commit to the change

• Start where you are.

• Assess your resources.

Set Goals:

• Where do you want to be?

• How do you want to feel?

• How do you want look?

• Who do you want to spend your time with?

• How do you want to spend your time?

Plan:

• Start small and gradually implement tiny changes.

• Get a journal and a daily planner

• Eliminate all distractions (social media, TV, gaming).

• Re-evaluate your habits and discard low-value activities.

• Restructure your daily routine.

• Start writing a journal to record what’s happening, ow you’re feeling, and write down where you want to be.

• Write down your goals for the week, review each day, put it in your daily planner, for each area that you want to improve

• Share your goals with someone, get an accountability buddy.

Why You Should Consider Seasonal Life Reboot and Reset

To keep things fresh and on track, it’s worth considering a seasonal reset.

Doing a seasonal reset simply means you are looking at your life, goals, lists, health, and wellness every time the season changes.

Consider whether you are on the right path, or whether you should make some changes.

Don’t be intimidated by it; it is not about starting over. Just being more efficient and selective with your habits and refining routines.

1. Seasonal Reboot and Reset Gives You the Opportunity to Take Regular Inventory

A reset every 3-4 months, as seasons change, will allow you to take regular inventory, see where you’re at and how you’re tracking.

If you’re constantly running on auto-pilot and stay busy, it is really easy to forget about your goals and what your priorities are.

If you wait until the first of the year, there are going to be a lot of missed opportunities.

So many people create these big goals at the beginning of the year but end up falling behind because they didn’t keep up with them, nor did they revisit them.

Do the seasonal reset every few months, and you will be much more inclined to make adjustments that actually help you move forward to your goals.

2. You Can Make Small, Actionable Changes

Reviewing your status annually can leave you in a new rut. Simply put, if you’re not checking in on your progress for twelve months, your motivation goes stale.

But when you take inventory with changing seasons, you can implement changes more frequently and progress faster. Through each “Season” or phase in your life, you’re likely to adjust your lifestyle, habits, and routines as well.

Decide what you need to adjust and calibrate in tiny steps. This is not about completely living a different life, but rather understanding what’s working, how to fine-tune, and what isn’t working for you.

Be open to it, and you will be amazed by what happens.

3. It Motivates You to Focus on Health and Balance

Health and wellness should be more about balance in your life, and not being strict or restrictive.

For instance, when it comes to your diet, you don’t want to be going on a restrictive regime that leaves you hungry and ruins your relationship with food. These types of diets don’t work long-term anyway. But you do want to simply add more fruits and vegetables to your daily menu.

Every few months, take a look at your nutrition and what you have been eating.

Are there some unhealthy eating habits you developed and want to put a stop to? Is there some small thing you can add to your routine to make it healthier?

This is the time to find out!

4. You Might Discover New Goals You Have

A reset has a wonderful benefit of productive reflection.

You’ll see what goals you might be past, and which ones are more of a priority at this point in your life.

As with everything in life, be flexible, open-minded, and ready for change when it is necessary.

Reasons to Do a Life Reboot and Reset in the Fall

People often make health goals right before the first of the year as part of their New Years’ resolutions.

But there is another time of year when it is equally powerful, and that is in the fall season.

There is something about fall that feels like a fresh start. Your summer is over, you probably don’t have any vacations or trips planned for a while, and kids are back in school.

This time of year is perfect to take a look at your healthy habits and lifestyle, and see if you want to make any changes to achieve your personal health goals.

Also, having just comfortably settled into the new refreshed routine will make Christmas season all the more sweeter!

1. Start Your Resolutions Before the New Year

There is no reason you have to create goals only on January 1^st!

In fact, this is notorious for creating unrealistic health goals that only last a few days or weeks, then are forgotten about for the rest of the year.

Seasonal goals can be a lot easier to accomplish than the New Year’s resolutions.

Look at your goals as if you are going to finish them within 2-3 months. That way, they are much more realistic and within your reach, and don’t feel so overwhelming.

If you know you want to have a resolution for the new year to lose 50 lbs, why not start now with small changes that you can continue with in January?

2. Help Balance Out Holiday Treats

With the holidays coming up, you may want to aim for striking a healthy balance, so that you don’t over-indulge when those Christmas cookies come out.

Easing into the holiday season by making smart changes and still allowing some treats helps you maintain a healthy lifestyle. Whether it is coming up on Thanksgiving or you want to prevent binging on holiday treats.

A fall health reset is about choosing small habits to implement into your life that are not just good for now, but you can continue throughout the remainder of the year.

How to do a Weekly Life Reboot and Reset

A weekly life reboot and reset is simply a routine you do once a week that helps you get ready for the week. A good day to do this is Sunday before your work week starts. But if you work different days, you can do it the day before your week begins.

1. Catch Up on Tasks You Fell Behind on

Before you do anything else, take some time finishing anything you didn’t get done, that you are able to do right now.

That way, you aren’t getting even more behind when the new week begins.

Try to do this on Saturday if you can, so that Sunday is freed up for the rest of your reset routine.

2. Get Your Home and Workspace Clean and Organized

The weekly reset is also a good time to do some cleaning and organizing. Particularly with things that will help you when your work week starts.

Waking up to a decluttered home, laundry not put away, and a messy kitchen is going to take away from your productivity as your week begins.

Go through your house to tidy up and take a little time to declutter and organize areas within you dwelling. Clean and well-ordered space is very important for your mental clarity and contributes to the general sense of wellness.

3. Meal Prep and Planning

Don’t stress about meals this week! Instead, plan ahead and get as many things prepped as you can.

Plan your meals by figuring out what you want to cook and eat for each meal of the day throughout the week. It helps to start by looking at ingredients you already have, then going from there.

Get your groceries, then see what can be prepped ahead of time.

This might mean rinsing and cutting fruits and vegetables, making hardboiled eggs, marinating chicken or meat, or putting rice in the rice cooker.

Some foods can be made ahead of time, while others just need to have their ingredients prepped.

I am a converted prepper and planning my meals ahead has saved me so much time and extra kilos!

4. Prepare for the Work Week

Whether you work for yourself or for an employer, getting yourself ready for the entire week ahead will save you so much time and headache.

Beginning with your clothing, make sure your clothes are laundered, your wardrobe organized, and you have an outfit for every day of the week.

Just make sure you finish your laundry and put everything away. To save even more time in the mornings, get your outfits ready to go and put toward the front of your closet so you can just grab them quickly.

To be highly productive, have a dedicated notebook just for your work life. Before your work week begins, spend some time writing down the most important things you need to get done and a few things that you want to achieve in the coming week.

Review Your Schedule

Finally, take a look at your schedule regularly, write tasks and to-do lists in your planner, and make sure you are ready for any appointments coming up.

This helps you figure out if you need to get any paperwork ready, adjust your schedule, or make room for certain tasks this week.

Take a Look at Your Daily Routines

Your daily routines are simply the activities you do each day, in a certain order or sequence. Most people are not even aware of their habits and routines because they just do them on auto-pilot. But understanding more about what you do and why you do it can help tremendously for making positive changes.

1. Make a List of Your Routines

Before you can figure out if you need to adjust your routines, you need to understand what they consist of right now.

You have routines, whether you realize it or not, from how you get ready in the morning to what you do after you get off work.

Take some time to journal out what your routines are.

Here are some times of the day to write about, if you’re not sure where to start:

• What you do when you first get up in the morning
• Your routine when getting ready for work
• Your lunch break routine at work
• The afternoon routine after picking up kids from school
• Your bedtime routine
• Your weekend routine

Write as many details as you can, paying close attention to certain tasks you always get done, but also tasks that seem to be missing.

2. Is There Anything Missing?

Once you have your list of routines, you can see if anything is missing. What do you feel like you are not spending enough time on? What habit do you want to add to part of your routine?

When you wrote down your routines, you probably saw some things missing.

Maybe you noticed that spending time with your family isn’t happening often enough. Or you have no down time. Or you keep forgetting to drink water first thing in the morning.

It doesn’t matter what it is, but if it’s important to you, the life reset is when you should start figuring these habits out.

3. Do You Have Habits That Don’t Benefit You?

You should also cross off anything in your routine that isn’t serving you. Have you noticed that every day when you get home from work, you spend over an hour just browsing social media on your phone?

If this is causing you to lose time for other more important things, try to change this routine by limiting social media time, and adding something else in its place.

Maybe you set a timer to use your phone for 20 minutes, then get up to make a snack, go for a walk, or write in your journal.

Reboot And Reset Your Life Now

Remember, you can always get yourself unstuck. Implement regular life reboot and reset practice and you will eventually achieve a significant change. By taking consistent action, whether in small or big steps, and keeping your destination in sight, you’ll bring a zing back into your life!

Disclaimer

This article was written by Zuzana Halliwell. I am not a doctor or health professional and cannot be held liable for the information written here. This article is meant to provide information about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle and diet. The content is based on my own personal experience and on information provided by medical professionals that is available to the public. It is not intended to provide medical advice. Do not use it as an alternative to seeking help from a medical professional.