What if I told you your dream life is 3 years away or 5 years or 10 years. Does that scare you or excite you? Time is going to pass no matter what. It is up to you on how you are going to spend that time.
Doing the exact same thing over and over, hoping for your dream life to fall in your lap is an option.
Or, take intentional daily action doing small habits that align with your big life goals. In order to get started on your dream life you have to know where you are going. I want you to commit to changing your life one habit at a time!
This is the Ultimate Guide to Changing Your Life in 2026
You can complete this challenge within any time frame you chose, 90 Days, 1 Year, 5 Years. It is broken down into 6 categories for you to change your every area of your life.
Finances
Audit your Money Management
In order to change your life you need to address your financials. This can be uncomfortable at times but I promise you once you uncover your limiting beliefs around money and start building a relationship with it as a friend who can help you achieve your dreams. Your life is going to change. Take a look at where all your money is going? Uncover your thought patterns around earning more money. What limiting beliefs do you have around money and why?
Task to change your life: Set a monthly finance day to audit your money each month
Education
Learning about money, money systems and money management is going to set you for life. Why? We living under capitalism. In order to not only survive but thrive we have to participate in earning money. I have always wanted to “earn enough to feel comfortable” and if you think that way too, then that is capitalism. Society is designed for you to be moving the so called bar of “comfort” to chase after more money. If you can understand your finances, see money as a tool and a companion, become financial literate and let your money make you money you are going to see your life change.
Task to change your life: Set 10 to 30 minutes a day to read, watch and learn about money.
Budgeting
You could not catch me with a budget app in my early 20s. If I could change that now would I be better off. I will never know but I was not in the place emotionally, physically or financially to care about my income in my 20s. I was simply surviving. That being said, if you are in a place where you can start budgeting then it is a great tool to use to build your wealth. One of the biggest parts of your financial journey is knowing how much money is coming in (income) and how much money is going out (outcome). On top of that, is understanding your credit cards, line of credits and loans in order to work within this current financial landscape.
Task to change your life: Create budgeting system.
Income Generating Activities
As a society we tend to become passive when it comes to our income. You might get a job, pay your bills and are surviving paycheque to paycheque and it seems like there is just nothing else you can do to fix your financial situation. Not with that perspective there isn’t. In today’s, digital world there are so many ways to make more money. Spend time to look at what other income generating activities you can pursue that fuel your creativity.
READ MORE: 20 Side Business Ideas for Multi Passionate Creative Women
Task to change your life: Research 5 Income Generating Activities that excite you, pick three that seem manageable, start working on one.
Health
Let’s talk health. Your physical well being is extremely important as you build your dream life. Your mind, body and soul is going on this journey with you so it is up to your to nourish yourself.
Reflect
Take the time to reflect on your health. What are your wins? What do you want to work on? Look back on patterns and habits you want to break and why.
Task to change your life: Put on calming music, get rid of distractions and journal for 5 to 10 minutes about your health.
Relationship with food
This is one of my biggest struggles but now my biggest accomplishment. Your relationship with food is essential. You can read more on my journey here but I use to turn to food for comfort. It was my go to method of soothing myself when I had an all encompassing emotion – whether happy or sad or upset or excited – I celebrated or rewarded myself with food. Take a look at how your relationship with food is right now. Then decided where do you want your relationship with food to be. For me, I visualize food as fun, playful, colourful, joyous. It get’s to be a ritual of sorts planning and prepping the ingredients that will come together to bring me the life I want. Not just in weightloss but muscle building, mobility and beyond.
Task to change your life: Pick a brand new recipe and make a dinner date with yourself where you head to the grocery store, come to cook and step into the version of you that has the relationships with food you crave. Look at this as solo date.
Relationships with exercise
How do you feel about the gym? What about a yoga class? Take a look at what forms of exercise make you feel great. What are the stories are you telling yourself about exercise? One of the stories I told myself was that “I did not have enough time” to workout. But that was not true. The reality was I didn’t want to make time to exercise until now. I carve out 30 minutes a day to move my body.
Task to change your life: Turn on a 15 minute dance workout on YouTube and jump around your living room.
Start Small
When trying to change your health habits you need to start small. You will want to change everything about your life but that will not lead to long term growth. Start with one new meal or meal prepping lunches for 3 days. Start with a step goal instead of going to the gym for 5 days. Your health is a forever goal. You get to decided at any point to try something new to build healthier habits that align with your goals.
Task to change your life: Pick 1 health and 1 food goal for the next 7 days and start right now.
Career
Analyze
Are you currently living the career of your dreams? Is there something more you want out of your career? Does your career have to be the one thing that aligns with your impact on this world and creativity? Analyze what you have currently accomplished and be honest with yourself. Is this the life you want? Can you see yourself in this career path for the next ten, twenty years? If not, that is okay. You are allowed to shift careers. You are allowed to change industries and build a new life at moment.
Task to change your life: Journal about your current career and your future career goals. Dive deep into what you want your life to look like.
Research
If you are looking to grow within your career or move to different one, that doesn’t mean quit what you are doing and hope for the best. I want you to do the research. Where do you see yourself going? What career do you have an eye on and why? Can you work within the career you already have a look at side businesses to help fuel the creative side you have. Life is all about balance. Finding a career that you enjoy, pays your bills is enough. And then you can build side gigs, hobbies and habits that fuel your impact and creativity.
Task to change your life: Research 3 different career paths that intrigue you. What do you like about them? What are the qualifications?
Mentorships
When it comes to moving careers or expanding your current one, you want to find mentors that have already done what you want to do. There is the saying that you become like the closest five people in your life. If those people do not have career goals, don’t to learn new skills or are constantly complaining. You are not going hit your full potential. Surround yourself with people who are on the path that you would like to live.
Task to change your life: Follow three people on social media that are experts in your career.
Certifications
Next, you can decided if there are certifications you need for your new roll. Education in this current climate is huge. Having access to education, striving for it can set you apart of from others. It is definitely not a requirement but it can provide insight into your industry but also make you a better critical thinker, listen to other cultures and ideas and change your perspective on the world we live in.
Task to change your life: Pick a skill you want to upgrade and join a free course (or pay if you can) to start that process. You can also watch YouTube videos on the topic as well.
Action
Once you have looked into your career path, done more research, found a mentor and looked into certifications. Now is the part where most people stop. You need to take action. Of course, you can’t just change your life in a day but you can prioritize learning about your industry through articles, youtube video and books recommended by experts in your desired field. You can sign up for your program. You can start budgeting how much you might need to bring this goal to life.
Task to change your life: Make a career schedule where you set 30 minutes a day to work on career related activities like sending out resumes, watching your mentors content, learning a new skill. Book in the time to make this happen.
Home
Aesthetic
What do you want the vibes of your home to be? You can make a Pinterest Board or describe your ideal home in a journal. Get clear on how you want the space to make you feel and look like.
Task to change your life: Make a Pinterest vision board of your ideal home.
Checklist
Take a look at your current space and make a checklist of areas you would like to declutter, DIY reno, change or remove. This simple a big picture to-do list of where your current space is at so you have an idea of what you need to get done over time.
Task to change your life: Write down a checklist of every thing you want to change about your current life.
Declutter
The first way to refresh your home is to declutter what you no longer need. Pick one space to start with like a drawer, a closet or something small to help you feel accomplished in the moment. You can also make a declutter date once a month where you spend time decluttering something so it becomes part of your monthly routines.
Task to change your life: Put in a monthly declutter session in your calendar to tackle one spot per month.
Cleanliness
I am a big believer that your physical space takes up so much mental energy when it is messy or dirty. Making a cleaning routine that helps you stay on top of all those pesky chores will benefit your overall health and wellness. For example, I do a 5 minute tidy before I get into my pyjamas every night which means folding any clothes from the laundry load left on a chair, turning on the dishwasher, cleaning off my desk of any papers or things out of place. So that when I wake up in the morning my space is ready to go.
Task to change your life: Make a cleaning routine chart and do what's on your list for today.
Ambiance
Lastly, learn about home decor, art, feng shui, the power of plants and other ways to bring energy into your space. This is where you host all of your thoughts, fears and dreams. Your home – even if is just a room – is what you make it. Fill it with powerful plans, bright dreams and an inner knowing that you will bring your big goals to life.
Task to change your life: Watch a youtube video on home decor, home design or your favourite DIY creator to feel inspired.
Relationships
Review
I want to note here that this can be a difficult step due to past relationship abuse and trauma. If dissecting the past can make you upset please move to the next step. Listen to your body on how to move forward. Take a look at your past relationships with friends, family and partners. What worked, what didn’t? How did you feel about the version of you within your friendships?
Task to change your life: Journal about your past relationships and who you were in them. How did you feel? What did you need to thrive?
Your Ideal Partner or Friend
In a journal I want you to write down a list of qualities, actions, mindsets, and values that your ideal partner and or friend would have. You can do a list for both. I believe that we thrive on community so having multiple relationships is beneficial. This exercise is here to show you what you are looking for. I would star items on your list that are nonnegotiable so that as you start dating or meeting new people you have a standard to funnel your potential partners through. For example, I am childfree by choice. I will not be having children of my own. Any romantic partner choose to explore would also have to be childfree by choice. My friendships however do not need to be. I can be the fun, witchy aunt that always has a trinket in her purse when I visit.
Task to change your life: On a piece of paper write down all the qualities, actions and mindsets you value in your partner or a friendship.
Embody
The next part here is going to feel weird but it will change your life. All the qualities, actions, mindsets and values you just gave to your future ideal partner and friend are within you. I want you to embody those characteristics towards yourself. You want someone with a sense of humour. Dive into your sense of humour. If you want someone to cook you dinner, cook yourself dinner. Show yourself what it means to love you. Show yourself what it means to value your time and interests. Because if you set the bar while you are single, without friends, then you are going to know what you are worth once you let someone else into your life.
Task to change your life: Pick one thing off the list from above that you can embody for the next week. Example, if you need someone to be patience with you. Practice being patience with yourself. How would your partner talk to you, ask you questions. Do the this exact thing to yourself.
Connection
Find your community of people. You would think with social media we could build connections and community with so many different people. However, I find that social media can be a great tool but it can also be infested with looking a certain way to control the perception of a person. There are communities and groups that you can join to connect with over a hobby or interest. But I would also love for you to look for in person opportunities where you can volunteer, get outside and make connections with people you wouldn’t normally cross paths with.
Task to change your life: Join one group online that aligns with one of your goals. A book club, crochet group, childfree group etc. Something that will help you connect with likeminded people.
Rejection
The phrase rejection is redirection has helped me move through disappointment but rejection still sucks. Whether it’s from a friend, family member or romantic partner being rejected can hurt. Learning about rejection and how you view rejection. If the moment some critics you, you feel like it is a personal attack. That will require some internal work on why that it is. The best way to overcome rejection is self confidence. You will still feel hurt, sad, upset but you will have a foundation of love, respect and understanding with yourself that this rejection means there is more out there for you.
Task to change your life: Write a poem about rejection.
Self Love
Lastly, the most important relationships you will ever have is with yourself. Your mindset, values and dreams are what you should establish. Thing about relationships like expansion packs in the sims. You have the core game that you can build and work on but as you go you want to explore more. A relationships expansion, a friendship expansion pack, a motherhood expansion back and so on. You still keep the core version of you but expand it with relationships and community.
Task to change your life: Plan a solo date where you take yourself out to do two or three things just for fun. Get flowers, thrift, coffee, walk in the forest, come home bake cupcakes. Whatever floats your boat!
Confidence
The last step in changing your life is confidence. I touched on this briefly in the relationship section but I want to dive a little deeper. Your confidence is something you get to build through trusting your self to show up for the things you say you will do.
First impressions
When meeting new people or starting a new job there is a pressure to make a good first impression. I want you to imagine that you are going to meet a brand new group of people or start a new job. What is it that you want them to know about you? What first impression would you want to make? And then ask yourself, why are you judging yourself through the eyes of strangers. You might think about what someone would say about your clothes or make up when in reality they wouldn’t say that. And if they did judge on something, that would be a them problem and not a you problem.
Task to change your life: Write one page in your journal as the version of you living your dream life. Who is she? What is she doing? What does she wear? Where does she live? What is the first though in her head as the morning sun pours in through the curtains.
Style
Building confidence can start externally with your style. Think about the aesthetic you want to portray or a new style you want to try. Make a Pinterest board of this new version of you and then over time thrift new pieces or during sales of your favourite stores start accumulating new pieces.
Task to change your life: Make a Pinterest board of your dream style and or closet.
Skincare
I have struggled with skincare my whole life. I start, stop, start, stop. Currently, I have a routine of exfoliate, serum, moisturizer in the morning and then cleanse and moisture in the evenings that has been working. I never seem to commit long enough to see major results but I will keep trying. I also think skincare can be a routine in taking care of yourself more than just the results. Saying affirmations while you put on moisturizer or listening to calming music at night while you wash your face to transition to bed time can be a powerful ritual.
Task to change your life: Pick a song to go with your skincare routine.
Mannerisms
Another element of confidence is how you carry yourself. I have always been an anxious person. I felt like I didn’t deserve to be in certain rooms for whatever reason. Or my ideas where not good enough for discussions so I kept quiet. However, I have learned to keep my head up, shoulders back whenever I meet someone new – mainly in a work setting – especially if they are higher up in the management team. Think about your current mannerisms. Are you shoulders slightly forward, do you chew on your bottom lip, are you scared to speak up? Ask yourself how can you exude confidence in different settings. Work, school, home, and or community.
Task to change your life: Sit in a quiet room, close your eyes and visualize this version of you that has accomplished everything on this list. How does she talk in a room full of strangers? Is she walking her movie premiere? Turning the open sign over to welcome in her first guests to her coffee shop? Get ready for her book signing? Visualize this version of you and the presence you take up. Take up space. Pursue your art.
The goal with this change your life plan is to get you to review where you are within each category, assess where you want to go and then take actionable steps to achieve those goals. How you move through each category is up to you. Set a short term goal like 90 days, you can do a 14 Day Glow Up for each category and immerse yourself in each one. You can think bigger a over a year do a 2 Month glow up for each category. And lastly, you can try to build out small daily habits for each one that you do daily, weekly or monthly to bring you closer to your goal.