How to Reset Your Life: 10 Ways (2024)

When you need a life change, you might wish you just had a “reset” button to start fresh.

It isn’t that simple, but you can carve a different path at any stage of life. Hitting “reset” might look like finally quitting your job, creating a new self-care routine, or simply decluttering your living space —whatever feels like a fresh start to you.

Learning how to reset your life doesn’t require tossing everything out and starting over. The goal is to assess bad habits or areas of your life that need realignment with your values. The following changes could be big or small. But by stepping back and looking for meaning in life in a way that works for you, you’ll enhance your emotional balance and sense of well-being.

What’s a life reset?

A life reset is a strategic overhaul of your life. Although taking the steps to “reset your life” may sound like starting completely from scratch, it’s more akin to refreshing any routines or habits that aren’t serving you. It’s an opportunity to evaluate and decide what you need to realign your life with your core values and purpose.

Think of a life reset as a comprehensive audit. You’ll explore important aspects of life, your overall satisfaction, and the changes you want to make toward your short-term and long-term goals. If you find that you want more time in the day to dedicate to self-care, you could wake up earlier. If you realize that your physical environment suffocates you, you could move across the country or to a new apartment. These both count as resets, big and small.

To better understand how to reset yourself, here are some actions you might take to refresh:

• Switch careers to align with personal passions and values, moving away from a job that’s merely a paycheck to one that offers fulfillment and purpose
• Downsize or declutter your living space, opting for a minimalist lifestyle that demands less upkeep and encourages more free time
• Revamp your financial strategy, focusing on effective budgeting to lay the groundwork for long-term financial wellness
• Realign your priorities, choosing experiences and personal growth opportunities over accumulating material possessions
• Enhance your health and well-being routines, like regular exercise, mindful eating, and self-care practices, placing importance on physical and mental health
• Redefine work-life balance, building clearer boundaries between professional responsibilities and personal time
• Streamline your work responsibilities, focusing on tasks that give you significant growth and fulfillment while downsizing or eliminating less impactful activities
• Expand your professional network, actively seeking connections and mentorship opportunities to add to your sense of community
• Hit the reset button on bad habits like not tracking finances, a cell phone addiction, or poor physical health routines

Several of these examples might resonate with you — or they might not, and that’s okay. Remember: you don’t have to do a hard reset to build a new life. You just need to start by understanding why each small or big change is important to you and prioritize the actions that will make the biggest impact.

Why should I reset my life?

Life is never constant. Your career shifts, family dynamics change, and personal interests evolve. But life’s rapid pace and external pressures don’t always give you time or mental space to step back and think about whether your day-to-day contributes to your life satisfaction.

Your routines at work and in life have significant impacts on your overall wellness. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), everything from excessive workloads to harassment at work can deteriorate your mental health. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that not making space for regular physical activity can increase the risk of chronic disease, anxiety, and poor sleep quality.

You might feel the effects of bad habits or toxic workplaces without realizing their causes. Working long hours might lead to a larger paycheck, but it might lead you to neglect your health in the process. Stopping to self-reflect about which areas of your life need to change gives you the chance to find those problems and adjust accordingly, setting you up for success in all areas of your day-to-day. You’ll become more aware of your priorities, make conscious choices, and work toward your goals with intention.

When to reset your life

Understanding the right moment to reset your life lets you embrace change when you need it rather than letting dissatisfaction or stagnation linger. Here are some situations where a life reset can be beneficial:

1. Persistent dissatisfaction: You might continuously feel like your life doesn’t fulfill your expectations or make you feel content. If your work, relationships, or free time provide more stress than fulfillment, those feelings could be catalysts for impactful change.
2. Major life changes: Life-altering events like a significant career shift, personal loss, or parenthood bring a natural break to your routine. It’s a chance to reassess your path and make intentional adjustments to embrace a new chapter with your best foot forward.
3. Feeling stagnant: If you feel stuck in your personal or professional development, it may be time to shake things up with actionable steps toward change. Asking yourself how to start changing your life can be the first step to breaking unhealthy routines and finding new opportunities.
4. Overwhelming routine: When your schedule is hectic and difficult to manage, you may burn out or feel a lack of control over your life. A reset can help you find a stronger work-life balance, from your morning routine to the end of the day.
5. Health and well-being concerns: Neglecting your physical and mental health with poor nutrition, regular negative thoughts, or a social media addiction indicates a serious need for change. A reset focused on health can improve your overall well-being and relationships.
6. Disconnection from values and passions: When your everyday life and personal values don’t match one another, you may feel a lack of purpose. This is an opportunity to reset and harmonize your actions with what you truly value, which can help you regain control of your life.
7. Influence of external pressures: If external pressures like family or work heavily influence your decisions, it could be a sign that you need to take more responsibility for your own life. This allows you to refocus on what you personally find meaningful rather than letting the opinions and expectations of colleagues, social media, or friends dictate your life’s course.

How to reset your life: 10 ways

Impactful change is a gradual process —and there’s no better time to start that journey than now. Here are ways to live a fulfilling life that brings you the joy you deserve:

1. Imagine your future life

Reaching your goals is easier when you can clearly envision the finish line. Before taking action, imagine what your ideal life looks like with as much detail as possible. Don’t just think about a future job, family, or new hobby — visualize the experiences you’ll have and the emotions you’ll feel. Picture your apartment, your daily routine. This can help you set goals that are as accurate to your vision as possible.

If you aren’t sure where to start, try to engage with your future life through journaling, meditation, or visualization techniques. Doing so consistently could bring revelations about what you really want from life that you wouldn’t have otherwise found.

2. Determine your core values

Wondering how to reset your life focuses on the process without addressing the starting point. To kickstart a truly meaningful reset, start by identifying your core values. These are the principles that define your identity and sense of purpose, and they’ll inform what life changes you want to work toward.

Think about your personal values —like determination, loyalty, or family — and how they’ve shaped your choices so far. What moments filled you with the most joy? What things do you regret? These self-discovery questions will help you take advantage of a life reset, ensuring new choices resonate with what matters most.

3. Define your priorities

There’s always room for improvement in your life. But trying to attack everything at once can quickly become exhausting, which may make you give up on your growth goals. Instead, prioritize one or two changes and move up from there.

Take time to ask yourself “What do I want?”, weighing each goal and its impact on your life. If you want to set big financial goals, switch industries, or learn new life skills, prioritize the most important changes. Financial wellness might give you the safety net you need to change careers, and that informs what to approach first. Trying to change everything at once is more likely to overwhelm or discourage you, so pick one area to reset before moving to the next.

4. Set specific goals

Define clear, achievable goals for what you want to accomplish. Whether advancing your career, improving your health, or nurturing relationships, specific goals give you the support and direction you need to make concrete change.

Use the SMART framework to make your goals specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. A structured approach will transform hard-to-reach life goals into actionable steps and help you identify what might not be realistic or relevant. A goal might be to reorganize your work-from-home setup, but if you’ll be moving soon, it might be worth it to save that money and energy for your next space.

5. Compile milestones into a monthly reset list

For each of your goals, build small, incremental milestones to help you track progress and stay motivated. If you want to switch industries, those milestones could include attending a set amount of networking events, completing a certification program, and revamping your resume. Celebrating these small steps builds momentum toward your larger objective and reminds you that you’re making progress.

6. Push yourself out of your comfort zone

Routine can be comforting. That’s why you may stick with habits that don’t contribute to your happiness and long-term growth.

Ask yourself what’s getting between you and embracing new opportunities. It may be a fear of failure, lack of confidence, or simply the safe feeling of familiarity. Challenge these barriers by setting specific, achievable challenges for yourself, like taking on a leadership role, speaking at a public event, or learning a new skill. Each challenge you overcome will boost your confidence and strengthen your resilience.

7. Clear your mind

Dedicate time to activities that help maintain mental clarity. This can include meditation, physical activity, or a hobby that calms your mind. A morning routine that includes quiet time or a bedtime routine to wind down in silence can also insert peace into your daily schedule. These habits can help you maintain focus on your goals and stay grounded, improving your decision-making and resilience during moments of change.

8. Reassess your social circle

Take a close look at your relationships and consider how they impact your life. Surround yourself with people who inspire, support, and challenge you. Building a community that values and respects you will positively impact your daily life and personal growth, and that goes the other way around. If someone puts down your goals or makes you feel lesser, it might be worth it to set some boundaries.

9. Defend your sense of joy

Take note of the daily routines, tasks, and commitments that drain you. This could range from unnecessary meetings to a poor sleep schedule. While some bad habits or commitments may be harder than others to remove from your life, build a plan to counteract them with things you enjoy. After a difficult day at work, reward yourself with takeout, or after a bad night of sleep, go to bed early the next day. While you can’t absolve yourself of unpleasantries, you can add joy.

10. Challenge your negative thoughts

Examine any persistent negative thinking that impedes your progress and personal growth, like self-doubt, pessimism, or feeling a lack of control. You can acknowledge negative thoughts by writing them in a journal or pausing to reflect on them as they arise. Then, you can take steps to deconstruct them.

Get in the habit of asking yourself whether your doubts reflect reality or if cognitive distortions are warping your perception. Shift the mindset to positive thinking with some affirmations. Instead of “I’m not qualified enough for this job,” remind yourself, “I’m capable of learning, growing, and achieving new things.” If you’re having trouble conquering these thoughts on your own, working with a coach or a mental health professional could give you the support you need to realize your potential and avoid ruminating on the negatives.

Out with the old, in with the new

Whether you want to switch careers or work on your self-care routines, learning how to reset your life can help you build a life with more intention.

Remember not to rush into anything. Closing the page on one chapter and writing the next takes careful thought and planning — and quite a few challenges along the way. Self-reflection and careful goal-setting will help you eliminate what no longer serves you and make space for the things in life that matter.

Published February 8, 2024