Things to Let Go of to Live Your Best Life
I feel like we spend can awful lot of time talking about what we should do and what we should change, but we don’t spend too much time discussing what we need to let go of. I hope here is that this will help you to become aware of toxic or unhealthy habits that you have that you may not have been aware of. As always, everything here can be applied to your life and your business. Let’s dive in.
What does it actually mean to “Live Your Best Life”?
This was a question I had because not only have I been on a journey of becoming and actively being Successful Servant Leader, I’ve always thought about, but never really had an answer to the question above.
For me, living your best life includes a multitude of things.
First lets see. What does it mean to live?
Live (verb, dictionary.com): to supply oneself with the means of subsistence; spend one's life in a particular way or under particular circumstances.
If we are truly living, we are happy, healthy and at peace.
So for me, “living your best life” would include these three things, but since we are all uniquely created in God’s image - happy, healthy, and peace - looks different for all of us.
Maybe you want three kids and being a mother is all you’ve ever wanted. Or she wants to become a judge to help combat systematic racism in her community so kids and a family aren’t even on her radar. And maybe someone else wants it all, a healthy & happy marriage life, the children and the dream job or business.
I like to look at the saying “living your best life” as a cousin to my trademarked identity: Successful Servant Leader.
We’ve all been called to Servant Leadership, but success, well that’s a choice. And just a like, living your best life is a choice as well and its all uniquely dependent on what success or living your best life looks like for you.
So, even though there isn’t one answer to what living your best life is, I do have some really great suggestions of things you should let go of ASAP so that you can start your unique journey to Successful Servant Leadership.
5 Things To Let Go Of To Live Your Best Life
Your past self: You cannot let who you were yesterday, last month, or last year hold you back from becoming the best version of yourself that you can be today. Just because you were not a certain way before, doesn’t mean that you don’t have to right to emerge and evolve into a more mature, more knowledgeable, more capable you. You have the choice today to change the trajectory of your tomorrow.
Other people opinions / expectations (or the fear of).. AKA People Pleasing: Whether coming from a genuine place or mean-spirited, you cannot let someone else’s opinion or expectation of you dictate how you live your life, dictate your happiness, or dictate your sanity. They aren’t you and you aren’t them. We all have our own unique calling and journey. You have to be okay with living your life for God through your own understanding of His Word. You also have to be okay with the fact that some people won’t agree with that.. And that’s okay.
Pressure of Perfection: Even the person that you see as being completely perfect has imperfections. There I said it. We’re all flawed and complicated creatures who will make mistakes, fall from time to time and maybe even take the wrong turn. You have to give yourself permission to not be perfect. I mean literally.. “Victoria, I give you permission to not be perfect, but to give your best self at all times.” What I’m learning is that a person’s true character show up not during good times, but during the storms. How you choose to emerge during or after a fall tells you all you need to know about yourself. I know you’ve heard the song by Donnie McClurkin, “We Fall Down”. The words are true. Because you’re a child of the Most High God, you will always have the option, resources & strength to get back up again. In order to emerge, you have to accept that tripping or falling is apart of life, but you always have to get back up.
Have you ever heard of any of these?
“Theres beauty in imperfection” | “Theres beauty in complication” | “Theres beauty in the struggle”
Timelines: Okay, I may have lost some of you here. Timelines are a GOOD thing. I goal set frequently. But, it becomes toxic when an obsession to have something happen, do or accomplish something by a certain age. I’ve never really been that person to say, “By this age ….” But I have noticed that since I’m getting older, I frequently think about what I haven’t done or accomplished yet and I’m this age. It isn’t healthy. Everything I’ve done or haven’t done up until this point is exactly what was supposed to happen. It’s not about my timing. It’s about God’s timing.
Fear of Change: As I grow older, I am starting to really understand and accept that we truly have no control over many aspects of our lives. We get older. Seasons change. Time never stops. Loved ones pass away. And eventually we leave this Earthen vessel as well. This is reality for all of us so there is no point in fighting it. I am still a work in progress, but I am trying my best to intentionally embrace change in all of its different forms and fashions. Once we accept that change in inevitable, we can stop being afraid of it & live in the moment with it.
Bonus → Comparison & Control: This I think is self explanatory. You can not expect to compare your life to Leah’s or Don’s and be happy or get the same results or experiences that they’ve had. You also can’t really believe that you’ll have total control of everything and everyone in your life; which goes either way → natural and spiritual… But these, these will be continued in another post, stay tuned…
I could go on and on in detail on the topics above and I know that there is so much more I could add to this list but these I believe are the #1s. There will probably even be a part two to this blog (lol if you know, then you know I love a good part two!).
💭 Think about it though, what would you add to this list?
Blessings (until next time),
Victoria Grace, MS
Service Business Coach & Strategist
Faith Mentor
