If you think that life sucks and you’re struggling to find the motivation to move forward, please read this guide carefully.
In my role as a life coach, I am often working with people who are dissatisfied with their lives, helping them to develop a new perspective and a plan to move into happiness.
That’s why I’m excited to be writing this article with 13 expert strategies to help you turn things around.
Let’s dive right into it.
Is It Normal For Life To Suck?
It’s inevitable that life will suck sometimes.
There is death, illness, crime, injustice, unexpected bills. These are mostly outside of our control.
However, you can always control how you react to tough situations.
Once you become a master of this, you can learn to be happy no matter what’s happening around you.
That’s the main lesson of this post.
Below, you’ll find 13 strategies to transform your attitude and turn things around in those moments where life sucks.
Related: 9 Steps How To Change Your Paradigm
13 Strategies To Turn Things Around If Your Life Sucks
The list below features mindset shifts and actionable steps you can take to turn your life around today.
1. Reflect On Why You Think Your Life Sucks
A good first step is to reflect on why you think your life sucks. Write it down. Try to be as detailed and as objective as you can.
“My life sucks because I’m ugly” isn’t detailed nor objective.
“My life sucks because I can’t land a date, and that makes me feel lonely and worthless” gives you much more to work with.
“My life sucks because I’m poor” isn’t detailed or objective.
“My life sucks because I can’t afford to go on holiday. That makes me feel inferior to other people” is more helpful.
This is a great starting point because you can only tackle life’s problems once you’ve identified them.
It’s much easier to find happiness once you understand what’s preventing it.
Related: 11 Steps To Rewrite Your Story And Change Your Life
2. Envision A Non-Sucky Life
Take a break from your everyday life to sit and visualize what your life would look like if it didn’t suck.
What is the life you truly desire? What would be different? How would you feel? Why would these changes make you happier? Write down the answers to these questions in detail too.
This exercise can help to ignite a positive mindset all by itself. After all, the human brain can’t separate real experiences from imaginary ones. The clearer your dreams, the more powerful the effect.
The more you do this exercise, the more you’ll hopefully be inspired to create that dream life for yourself.
There’s a reason why so many successful people make vision boards and meditate on their dream life. It’s because this inspires them to manifest it.
3. Make A Plan
Now you have a clear vision of why you’re unhappy and what will make you happy, you’re free to make a plan to get there.
Most probably, there is someone who overcame the same struggles you have to become who you want to be.
Take the time to research how they did it. There’s nothing stopping from you copying and pasting those same steps for your own life.
Once again, the more detailed your plan, the more useful it will be to you. It will feel incredibly empowering once you realize you’re in control of your own destiny.
Get started with the first step on your list as soon as possible. It’ll feel great to start taking action, even if the initial steps are tiny.
You’ve begun to create positive momentum in your life, now run with it!
These 9 Keys To Living Life With Intention every day should help you too.
4. Leverage This Feeling Of Life Sucks To Your Advantage
It does take a lot of hard work to create a truly amazing life. Indeed, when people have a life that’s satisfactory, they often prefer to stay there, rather than put in the effort to rocket themselves towards greater things.
So, in a way, it’s helpful that times are particularly tough for you.
This pain will give you the emotional leverage to put in that hard work to make life better.
Plus, once you reach that point where things do improve, you’re more likely to appreciate it.
Related: 12 TIPS How To Change The Story You Tell Yourself
5. Remember Setbacks Are Inevitable…And Helpful
Maybe you’re already on your journey towards a better life. The world is still going to throw curveballs at you.
It’s no use feeling sorry for yourself, because setbacks happen to everyone.
A more positive reaction is to ask yourself: “what can I learn from this?”.
Look for the lessons you can gain from overcoming this setback and how this will make you stronger in the future.
Related: 7 Best Life Purpose Coaches + Checklist
6. Practice Gratitude
You don’t need to delay happiness until you reach a certain goal. There are plenty of things going on in your life that you can choose to have gratitude for today. Most likely, if you think life sucks, you’re choosing not to focus on these.
My Ultimate 30 Days Of Gratitude Challenge could help you warp your reality to focus on the good parts of your life instead.
7. Don’t Compare Yourself To Others
If there’s one surefire way to convince yourself that life sucks, it’s comparing yourself to people who have it better than you.
Because these people will always exist!
It could be easy for a millionaire to become depressed if they’re always thinking about how they have less money than billionaires.
You can’t control what goes right and wrong in other people’s lives, so why focus on it?
The only person worth comparing yourself to is your past self. Are you moving forward in your own life? That’s all that really matters.
Related: Proven Strategies To Take Massive Action
8. Focus On Life’s Small Pleasures
There are plenty of small things that can bring happiness to anyone, regardless of how much money, power, status or success they have.
Listening to music. Watching a comedy. Going for a walk in nature. The peace of meditation. The comfort of a hot bath or shower. Sharing deep stories with a close friend, family member or even a person you don’t know so well.
These actions alone can do wonders for your mental health. You’ll often find that the richest, most successful people in the world derive the most joy from these things.
These activities are free to everyone. So, how about you spend more time enjoying them too?
Related: [21 Reasons & Benefits] Don’t Take Life Too Seriously!
9. Reach Out To Others
It can be tempting to spend time alone after something bad happens to us. Perhaps it feels too embarrassing to share your emotional torture with another person. Maybe you think that will make things worse?
However, humans are primarily social creatures.
Spending time with friends and family members is another one of the joyful experiences in life that doesn’t cost any money.
Most friends and family members will want to give you the support to get through tough times. So, don’t shy away from them. We humans are stronger together.
If it seems like you don’t have a trusted friend to discuss your feelings with, you can always hire a coach or a therapist.
Failing that, there are charities or churches with individuals ready to hear you out. There is someone somewhere for you to reach out to.
Indeed, it’s our connections to other people that really matter in this world. This brings far more joy than money or material possessions.
To learn more about how a life coach could help you, see this guide: I Hate My Life – Effective Ways a Life Coach Intervenes.
10. Be Present
It’s inevitable that things will happen to make life suck. However, it’s your choice to keep focusing on them.
It’s argued that it’s impossible to be unhappy when you’re fully present.
As Lao Tzu famously said: “If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present.”
Presence means you’re at peace from the negative voices in your head telling you that your life sucks.
Instead of being stuck in your head, how about you start a daily meditation practice to help separate yourself from these negative voices?
Meditation has tons of physical and mental health benefits, which is why it’s recommended by so many people.
11. Forgive Yourself
It’s one thing to think that our life sucks, it’s even worse when we blame ourselves for this.
Perhaps you did make some mistakes that made your life suck a little bit more. Perhaps you lost money or got fired from your job.
It’s OK to accept that this was your fault.
But it makes no sense to hold onto these feelings of guilt. You’re best off figuring out how to release them as soon as possible.
I hope my list of forgiveness exercises will help you to free yourself from this blame.
You might also appreciate this post listed 31 Reasons Why It’s OK That Not Everyone Is Going To Like You.
12. Indulge in Self-Care
Meditation and hot baths can count as self-care. But it doesn’t end there.
When we take care of our bodies via healthy eating and exercise, this creates a sense of pride within us and extra energy for us to take on the day.
When we indulge in massages, manicures, facials or pedicures, we often end up feeling better about ourselves and the world around us.
So, don’t feel bad about treating yourself now and again. It’ll make the world seem like a better place.
Related: Fallacy Of Helplessness – 13 Expert Insights And How To Overcome It
13. Realise It’s Not The End Of Your Story
If something bad has happened to us and we lived to tell the tale, it’s not the end of our story.
Remember that bad things happen to everyone. The important thing is how we bounce back.
In the best stories ever written, the hero has to overcome some sort of pain or heartache. Without this, there can be no epic happy ending.
So, please accept that there are going to be low points in your life. But, also that you’re strong enough to overcome them. You’ve got time to do it. The show isn’t over, yet!
If your life sucked in the past, that doesn’t mean it’ll have to suck in the future. This too shall pass.
Frequently Asked Questions
I wanted to round off this post by writing some short answers to some common questions on this topic.
Why Do I Suck At Life?
People who ask this question usually aren’t looking at life from a deep enough perspective.
They see this world as the home of ‘winners’ and ‘losers’, based on one’s competence in a few shallow categories such as making money, having a good job or being attractive to the opposite sex.
The truth is: there are far more categories in which you’re free to judge your own success.
How kind are you? Are you a good friend to others? How well do you know the difference between right and wrong? How much do you enjoy your own company?
When focusing deeper on your strengths, you’ll usually find there are plenty of things that you don’t suck at in this life.
And remember: it’s not the end of your story.
If there are things you wish you were better at, you still have plenty of time to improve.
I Gave Up On Life
That’s an unnecessary attitude. Don’t walk away from happiness. I know you’ve got the mental strength to turn things around.
As Mohammed Ali said: “You don’t lose if you get knocked down, you lose if you stay down.”
Winners are people that failed and tried again. Losers are people that gave up.
Sure, it’s a bit tempting to stay on the ground when you’ve been knocked down countless times, but then you have nothing to live for.
Hopefully, this article has shown there’s plenty of your life left to live, no matter how many times you’ve been knocked down.
But it’s up to you to start improving your situation. No-one else is magically going to make things better for you.
Why Does My Life Feel Meaningless?
It’s common for life to feel meaningless when you don’t have a goal you’re moving towards. If you’re simply going to work, earning enough money to survive, engaging in a few hobbies, then doing the same thing next week, that can seem a bit meaningless after a while.
The first four tips in this guide can help you break out of that cycle and start engaging in a more purposeful life.
I wish you the best of luck on that journey!
Do You Have Any Questions For Me?
Thanks for reading my article! It was a pleasure to write.
I hope this advice helps you accept that you’re not stuck. There is a reality where your life doesn’t suck, but it’s up to you to get there.
If there’s anything else you’d like to know related to the topic of this post, feel free to write a question in the comments section below.
It would be great to hear from you and provide some additional support.
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