Episode: 162
How to Change Your Life in 6 Months: This One Hack Will Make It Happen
a Solo Episode
The next 6 months could change everything.
This is your chance to stop hoping for change and start creating it.
Do not let any more time go by wishing things were different.
This is your opportunity to make it happen.
Why wouldn’t you take it?
Also be sure to check out the free companion workbook to this episode as part of my Make It Happen course.
Listen on:
Time is going to move forward whether you do or not.
Mel Robbins
Featured Clips
Transcript
Mel Robbins (00:00):
Whether you set goals for 2024 or not, I'm just wondering, how's it going? I wanted to use our time today to help you think about the next six months because we're a third of the way through the year, six months from now. What's it feel like in your day-to-day life? What's happening in your career? Are you making more money? Has your health changed? Did you move? Are you happier? This workshop and the episode you're listening to, the perfect thing for you to spend time on today because it will leave you with a big game for the next six months.
(00:43):
Hey, it's your friend, Mel. I'm so glad that you are here with me today because today you're going to answer one question that will determine where your life leads you in the next six months. And I know you're ready to answer it because you chose to listen to this episode and the fact that you did it tells me that you do want to create a better life and that you want to know how to make cool things happen. And I'm here to help you do it because today's episode, I don't really think about it as a conversation. I think about this episode as a free workshop. How cool is that? It's a workshop where I'm going to ask you a question that will help you become laser focused about what you're going to make happen in the next six months because time is going to keep moving whether you do or not.
(01:33):
And after today's workshop, one thing is for sure you're not going to let that time just pass you by because you are going to make something really cool happen in the next six months. Now, I know that we have a ton of new listeners to the Mel Robbins podcast. So first of all, I just wanted to thank you for tuning in for spending some time with me. It's a real honor to be here with you. We also want to welcome you to the Mel Robbins podcast family, and I think it's important that I give you a little bit of background if you're new, okay? I often do these free series that help you take what you're learning on the Mel Robbins Podcast and apply it to your life at a deeper level. I always do one at the end of the year to help you create the best year that you can and to find your goals.
Mel Robbins (02:18):
And this episode that you're listening to, yeah, it's like a free workshop, but it's part of a series that I'm launching right now called Make It Happen that helps you translate what you want into action because I do believe that you have big dreams and they're really important. And I also believe that setting goals is critical to you creating a better life because dreams and goals, they do two really important things. First of all, they give you a sense of direction and they define a game worth playing. And when you define goals and when you have big dreams, it basically helps you lift yourself out of the day-to-day minutiae and create more meaning and excitement in your life. And so as I mentioned, I do these free workshops and there's always one that I do at the beginning of the year. If you didn't take it, no problem.
(03:14):
The one that I did at the beginning of this year was called Best Year, and I led a workshop on how you go through the process of setting goals in order to make this the best year of your life. And I'm really proud to share with you that almost a million of you not only took the workshop on how to create the best year, but you also downloaded the free 29 page workbook that acted as a companion to that workshop. And I filled out the workbook with you and I planned out my goals for an incredible 2024 to make this the best year, and I'm going to come back to that in a minute. But here's the thing. That was four months ago, seems like a long time ago. It was four months ago. And as I'm taping this right now here in the United States, it's April, we are in the height of spring, and that means that four months have gone by since you and I planned out the year. Four months have gone by in your life too. And whether you were part of the best year workshop or not, whether you set goals for 2024 or not, I'm just wondering, how's it going?
(04:26):
Do you even know how you're tracking against the goals you set for yourself? Or if you weren't that intentional about what you wanted to make happen this year, are you thinking about the things that you thought you would take on this year? And I'm pointing this out, not to be a jerk, not to call you out, but to say it is so easy and fun to plan, isn't it? But the devil is really in the details of the execution. So I wanted to use our time today to help you think about the next six months because we're a third of the way through the year and the things that you want to make happen, they're not going to happen by accident. They will happen on purpose. I've shown up here with a really big purpose, and that is to help you define a game worth playing over the next six months and to teach you how to make it happen.
(05:17):
And I've designed our conversation today to be a workshop so that you can get very serious about the next six months of your life for real, like what's going to happen between now and October, and then we're going to talk about how to make it happen. And so before we kind of jump into the meat of this workshop, I want to give you a few sort of instructions on the logistics. First of all, this episode has a free companion workbook. If you're watching me on YouTube, you can see it right now. It's bright green. It says Make It Happen with Mel Robbins.
Mel Robbins (05:54):
If you are listening, you can kind of hear that, got this in my hands, and I want to tell you something, you want to get your hands on this puppy and you can download it for free at mel robbins.com/make it happen. That's mel robbins.com/make it happen. Now, let me tell you what's going to happen when you go to mel robbins.com/make it happen. First of all, there's going to be a welcome video for me. Secondly, you're going to be able to download this workbook. And third, you'll also see that I've created two brand new video trainings that you can watch on your own time that will help you go even deeper into this free workbook. And it will be an extension of this podcast episode, which is really kicking off this project called Make It Happen. Just go to mel robbins.com/make it happen. Once you download your workbook, it's right here in my hands. I can't wait until you see this. I will send you a link to the video tradings once they're live and you can watch 'em when you want. And one of the reasons why I'm doing this for you, and I'm going the extra mile here is simple.
(07:00):
I'm humbled that your support made the Mel Robbins Podcast, the number five most followed podcast in the world on Apple last year. And we have consistently been ranked in the top 10 podcasts on all platforms in the entire world for the past four months this year. You did that. And as you know, I'm on a mission to empower you with tools to help you create a better life. And I want you to not just listen and learn and be inspired and empowered and to feel like you're not alone and that you're here with your buddy Mel Robbins. But I really truly want you to take action and apply what you're learning to your life because it's only through the action that you will make it happen that you will see change stick and that you will see your life getting better. When I saw that almost a million of you downloaded the guide to creating the best year and setting goals, I was like, okay, I got to figure out how to help you go a little further.
(08:12):
We got to take the next step. Now that you're clear about what matters to you about what your goals are, I want to help you bridge that gap between creating the plan and making the plan a reality where we go from thought to action. And the coaching that I do and the workshop that I do every year at the end of the year is about creating a great year. It's about getting clear about what you want. Here's how this workshop is different. It's a check-in about what you want, but it's focused on translating that to the actions that make it happen. And if you're somebody who's been working on your plan, you've been creating the best year ever, you're going to the gym, you're the novel, you've gotten the new job, you're getting a better mindset, you're taking the steps f fricking fantastic, then you're going to use this training as an important opportunity to really define for yourself even clearer targets that you're going to hit in the next six months.
(09:12):
Maybe you're going to raise the game, maybe you're going to pivot on the game. Maybe you're going to add in something entirely new because you're just kicking ass and taking names. Because if you've already been working on some of your goals, then you've probably learned some things in the past four months. And in fact, I can give you two examples of this from my own life.
Mel Robbins (09:28):
So at the beginning of the year, one of my goals this year was to get my hormones balanced and to take control of my health and to stop complaining about it. And I got to say something, Mel Robbins, you've done good kid. Because for the past four months I've been doing more resistance training. I've been following the expert advice. I've been putting myself through a gut reset program. I've been doing the intermittent fasting, I've been doing a lot of zone two cardio. And you know what? It's working pretty cool, kind of neat that when you take the simple advice that's backed by science and you actually do it, you see the results. However, four months in, I've learned a lot and I'm seeing a lot of progress, and I want to assess where I am and make a very intentional and strategic decision about where I'm going to go next. And let me give you another example of why a pivot is super important because another goal that I set at the beginning of the year when I did the workshop on creating the best year was I really wanted to make it a goal to save money.
Mel Robbins (10:41):
I haven't done squat about it, I mean not nothing. In fact, if I had to guess, I've been so unintentional about it that I've not only not made saving happen, I've probably spent more money than I usually do. Now, this goal still kind of matters to me, but if I plan on saving money and making that happen, then I got to use this workshop to give myself a reality check because I'm going to need to do something different. I got to show up differently in the next six months. I got to have a different approach in both of these examples, whether it's the strength training which has been working, or my goal of saving money, which I've failed miserably at, I will benefit from taking a beat and using this workshop to create a strategic pivot, right? You refine what you're doing and clarify your goals or you remove it to make room for something that you actually care about.
(11:43):
And by taking the time today to go through this workshop with you, as I teach it, I'm also going to be doing it and I assess what I really want to make happen in the next six months. It will help me with both those goals and whether I pivot on the approach or I decide I don't care about that right now and I want to focus on something else, that idea is so important. And most of the time you do not take the time to do that. So whether you've set goals for this year or not, whether you're making progress on your goals or not, this workshop and the episode you're listening to, the perfect thing for you to spend time on today because it will leave you with a big game for the next six months. So go to mel robbins.com/make it happen, get your workbook, get it, and please share this episode and then share the workbook.
(12:39):
Sign up with absolutely everyone. You know what was so cool about the one that we did at the end of the year is so many of you filled out the year end planning guide with your family. Oh my God. And it made a huge difference. You actually got together, you did it in person, and it improved the dynamic and the energy and the relationships in your family.
Mel Robbins (00:13:00):
I also saw so many of you online posting about it with your teams and your roommates and your friends. It was so cool. Well, guess what? This workshop, exact same power and possibility, share it, share it, share it because it's going to translate the clarity that you will have into action. And the truth is, there's no reason why you can't make these next six months amazing. There's no reason why you can't make big things happen, and that's exactly what this workshop is going to do. So please share it. Alright, got it. Good. Let's jump into it. So that one question that will determine where you are in six months is this, what do you want to make happen in the next six months of your life? I'm going to ask that question again. What do you want to make happen in the next six months of your life? And I want you to really consider that.
(14:06):
As I mentioned, I'm recording this in April. We're almost a third of the way through the year already. Just wrap your brain around that because six months is going to pass like that. What do you want to make happen in the next six months of your life? I'm going to ask you to just truly think about it, and I'm going to invite our sponsors to tell you a little bit about what they do because they allow me to bring you this free workshop at zero cost. And as you listen to our sponsors, I want you to think about where you want your life to be six months from now. What do you want to make happen? And I'm going to be waiting for you after a short break to continue digging into your answer. Stay with me. Oh my God, it's spring in Vermont. I'm ready to make something happen.
(15:10):
Aren't you awesome. Let's spring into action because action's the answer. You don't need motivation. You need to know how to make it happen. My free training this year is about execution. I want to teach you the science, the physics, the neuroscience, all the strategies you need to move from thinking about what you need to do to springing into action and making cool stuff happen. It's free more than half a million people have registered. Do not miss out on this opportunity to let me not only inspire you, but teach you what you need to know so that this is the year that you finally execute on everything that you've been thinking about that you deserve to make happen in your life. Alright, mel robbins.com/make it happen, baby boom. Let's do this together. I can't wait for you to see the trainings and to experience the workbook and to see yourself actually doing the things you want to do.
(16:06):
Welcome back. It's your friend Mel Robbins, and today I am asking you a question that will determine where you are in the next six months of your life. And it's a powerful question. And I want to remind you, if you have not downloaded the free workbook right here that goes with this workshop we're doing today, I want you to go to mel robbins.com/make it happen. Get your hands on this workbook because we are going to dig deep into this question. What do you want to make happen in the next six months of your life? And I keep saying that time is going to pass that I'm recording this and it's April here in the United States. We're a third of the way through the year already. And I want you to truly just think about how much time has gone by so fast. It just seems like yesterday that it was new and the fact is six months, it is going to just pass in the blink of an eye when I think about the next six months.
Mel Robbins (17:07):
Holy cow, my son, he's going to graduate from high school. Do you know how fast that time is going to go? We're going to fly through the spring, graduation's going to be here, and then we're going to be into the summer. And next thing you know, I'm going to look up and it's going to be fall and we're going to be dropping him off at college. And wherever it is that you're watching this right now or you're listening to my words, just take a minute and think about the next six months. In fact, close your eyes if you can and time travel with me six months from now and imagine what you want your to look like for me when I time travel ahead. Six months from right now, it's October, I'm turning 56, Chris, and I'll be empty nesters. One of our daughters will have moved to New York, the other one will be out in Los Angeles. Our son will be off at college. Where will you be six months from now? What's it feel like in your day-to-day life? What's happening in your career?
(18:35):
How have your relationships or your friendships changed? Are you making more money? Has your health changed? Are you happier? Where are you? Did you move? I really want you to stop and visualize it. What do you want to make happen in the next six months of your life?
Mel Robbins (19:16):
What do you want it to feel like? And as you really start to turn that over in your mind, I'm going to share with you some of the things that come to mind for me. And as I'm sharing the things that I see when I time travel forward and I allow myself to imagine life six months from now, and I think about what do I want to make happen, I want you to continue to be in your own life six months from now and in the workbook, which helps you dive deep into this question. You're going to see that there are five categories that define your life that will help you consider what do you want to make happen in your life in the next six months?
(20:11):
And these, by the way, are the same five categories that you used when we did the best year planning workshop because these are the categories that make up your whole life. And those categories are health and wellness. What do you want to make happen as it relates to your health and wellness in the next six months? Second category, career, money, school. What do you want to make happen? You may be starting a new school, you may be starting a new career. Has your business taken off? Third category, relationships, love, friendship. What's going on in that area of your life six months from now?
(20:55):
Happiness. I love this category like hobbies and how you feel and your daily habits and what it's like at your home. Are you happier? God, I hope you're happier. And the final category as you really sit and contemplate that question, what do I want to make happen in the next six months of my life? Purpose, spirituality, meaning just really allow yourself to travel ahead. Here's a couple things that jump out for me. When I think about six months from now, and it's October and I'm 56 and Chris and I are empty nesters. So in the area of happiness, that one kind of jumped out first for me. When I go ahead. Six months,
Mel Robbins (00:21:46):
I immediately started to think about my home probably because I said the word empty nester, right? And as I'm walking around my home with Chris, and it's just us and the two dogs, something kind of funny popped into my mind, and this is one of the categories that you will be led through in your workbook to go deeper and journal on.
(22:10):
But here's what jumped out for me with happiness. So I live in southern Vermont and we have lived in this house that we have renovated, and I just love this place. And now we've lived here full-time for two years. Do you know there is not a single framed photo of anyone in my family on any wall of this house? And if I'm being perfectly honest, if I float through and I think about countertops or kind of those nice side tables that people have or shelves, I don't have any photos there either. I mean, we've been living in this house for two years and there's this one wall that is over a bench that we have in this breakfast area off the kitchen. And when we designed the house, you know what I always imagined? I imagined one of those beautiful picture walls. I don't know if you've ever been in somebody's house or maybe this is your house where you have one of those walls that is just so beautiful where it's matching frames and everything's lined up and it's great photos of the family.
(23:21):
I have always wanted a photo wall of the family. And when we designed the house, I'm like, I am going to hang photos there. Well, guess what? I've been thinking about that for two years and it hasn't happened. Why? Because things don't happen by accident. They happen because you make them happen. And so one thing I really do want to wake up and see that I have done in the next six months, it's going to make me happier, especially when Chris and I are empty nesters, is to walk into the breakfast area of the kitchen in October and see that that wall is done. That would make me happier for real. Let me give you another example of something that comes to mind for me in the area of relationship, love and friendship. When I time travel ahead six months, what do I want to make happen in that area of my life?
(24:18):
This is very, very clear for me. I want to look back on these last six months and see that I spent a ton of time with our son Oakley because I feel that I am in that moment.
Mel Robbins (00:24:32):
It's like a melting ice cube. It is disappearing. The time that I have with him is disappearing before my eyes. And so it is super important to me when I think about that area of my life that in the next six months I spend as much time with Oakley as I can and I got to make that happen. And you know what that's like. You kind of set this intention and then you mean to do it and then you don't do it. Why? Because life is busy. That's why you have to get serious about turning this into a project that you're going to make happen. I think about my parents in the next six months.
(25:13):
I want to spend more time with my parents. In fact, my dad has just gone through this situation where three of his friends have had these catastrophic things happen, two have died suddenly, and one of them fell downstairs and broke just about every single bone. And we know that that is a horrible thing to have happen. And my dad is turning 80 this year, and I want to spend more time with my parents in the next six months. I have to make that happen, and it's not going to happen by accident. It happens on purpose.
(25:52):
The next category, if I travel ahead six months is career money or school. I've got so much I want to do there, but what I got to do first is take a short break so we can hear a word from our amazing sponsors. But here's what's going to happen. I'm going to be waiting for you after the break. I want you to continue to think about that question. What do you want to make happen in the next six months of your life? And when we return, I'm going to share what I want to see happen in my life, what I'm going to make happen I should say in my career because it's some pretty big stuff and I know it's going to inspire you to think big too. So stay with me. We'll be right back. Hey, it's your friend Mel, and I've been thinking it's time that you and I take our relationship to the next level.
(26:36):
This may be a little bit forward of me, but I've got a gift that I want to give you. I've been working on this for a little while. It's a brand free two-part video training that I created for you using principles of physics and neuroscience and all kinds of research to help you go from thinking about what you want to actually making it happen. See, I want you to not only be inspired here on social media,
Mel Robbins (26:57):
I want you and I to take it to the next level and get off social media and let me coach you and teach you on how you, yes, you can make the next six months of your life the best six months of your life. It's not going to happen by accident. It'll happen on purpose. Homey wants you to do it too. There he is. Hi. You've got a gift for them too. Oh, my gift is better because it's a free training that'll help you change your life. All you got to do is go into the comments and type free FREE. I'll DM you a link to the training. That's how easy you can make this training happen. Last time I did this last year, more than half a million people accepted this free gift. I hope this year you'll take our relationship to the next level and let me coach you on making the next six months of your life extraordinary. Let's make it happen together.
(27:48):
Welcome back. It's your friend Mel Robbins, and I'm so thrilled that you're here. You're listening to a workshop about how you can make some amazing things happen in the next six months, that by October when you look up, you will see things that you've done that make you so proud. And I've been asking you over and over this one question that's going to determine what happens in your life over the next six months. What do you want to make happen? Imagine that it's October and I want you to think about your career and think about money or think about school and allow yourself to drift to October and look up what have you done that you're proud of. For me, when I think about where I am in October, holy smokes, I am going to publish my next book, the Let Them Theory. Yep. I'm writing a book about the Let Them Theory and it's coming out in mid-September, which means six months from now, I am going to be in the middle of a massive book launch.
(28:55):
And that doesn't happen by accident. I got to plan for success just like you need to plan for success. So that's going to have to be something I'm journaling about in this workbook. I got to get going on that. That's going to take a lot of work, and if you want more success in your career or in school, it's going to take work. And so let's start today in making that happen. Here's another thing I think about. I don't know if I've talked about this on the podcast or not with you guys, but I have this desire to launch a product company in the women's health space. I mentioned that I'm in this super confusing supplement routine for my hormone balance. It's working, but it's so confusing that it has lit this fire inside me that I'm like, I got to do something about this. I got to simplify. I got to figure out something in this space to help everybody translate this confusing expert advice and all this supplement stuff like I got to do something
Mel Robbins (29:52):
And six months from now if I really get quiet and I time travel and I go, what do I want to make happen? Here's what I see. I see that I have done the research on the space, that I've got a business plan sketched out that I know where the funding is coming from, whether I'm going to fund it or I'm raising money, and I also know who I'm going to recruit to be the CEO of this thing. That's a lot, but that's what I see, and I can wish for it. I can want it, but that doesn't make it happen. If I truly want to make it happen, I got to convert that wanting and wishing into a plan of action. And what I'm realizing as I say this is something else, because those two things have come up in my career, this massive book launch for the Let Them Theory, which is coming out in mid-September and this desire to spin off and launch this incredible company is that you know how I said I had that goal of saving money, that that was part of the goal setting that I did for Best Year.
(31:14):
Here's what I'm realizing. I don't really care about saving money right now because I have too much going on, and the fact is I have been saving money for years. I mean, I'm like a squirrel hoarding my nuts. I have been squirreling away money because I'll tell you something, if you've ever faced bankruptcy, I have.
Mel Robbins (31:36):
If you have ever been in such financial distress that you can't pay for groceries, I have you get to a point where you never let yourself do that again. So I have been saving for years. I'm extremely risk averse. I've lost so much money in the past that I am not going to let that happen again. But here's what I realize in this moment as I'm talking to you, is that I don't care about making that a project right now. I don't care about making that happen. I already kind of do that anyway, and just being able to say that this isn't a priority, this is so liberating.
(32:14):
Is there something that you created as a goal at the beginning of the year that you're realizing now that it's April? You're like, I actually don't really care about that. I just kind of said that and I cared about it then, but the truth is life has changed or I realize the work that it's going to take and I'm being honest with myself. Why have something on your list that you have no desire to make happen? So here's another takeaway, your friend Mel Robbins, I'm giving you permission right now as you go through your workbook, mel robbins.com/make it happen. As you go through this workbook, there is a page in here where you can list out the things that were once a priority that are just not a priority anymore. That is a moment of honesty that you need to have with yourself. Clear away the guilt, seriously clear it off your to-do list, take it out of the best year goals and create room for something that you care about that you actually will make happen.
(33:11):
And let me tell you why this matters. It matters because it's so easy to find yourself lulled into this kind of robotic autopilot mode in your life where one day blends into the next and it's basically get up, go to work, come home, make dinner, clean the kitchen, go to bed, get up, go to work, come home, make dinner, clean the kitchen, go again. It's just like, what the hell? You've already forgotten what it is that you cared about. You're so exhausted. Next thing you know, you're like, wait, four months have gone by six. It's October already, and I didn't even do anything not happening to you. Defining a game worth playing over the next six months will create meaning and excitement in your life. Sometimes the only thing that's missing from your life is a project that's worth getting out of bed for. I mean, think about it.
(34:08):
When you have a kid that's playing a sport, right, and they're like driving towards the championship and a winning season, you're driving towards something and the fact that they're playing that big game of having a winning season, that creates excitement and meaning. When you're planning a wedding, when you're looking for a new apartment, when you're training for a marathon, when you're taking a class, it creates excitement and meaning, and don't look at these things that you want to make happen as a chore. That's not what the next six months of your life is about. You get to choose. This is an opportunity to infuse the next six months of your life with something better, something worth getting out of bed for, something worth not getting lulled into that, oh, get up and go to work, and I just see the same old shit all the time.
(34:55):
And look, you want to know what's so cool is that I've only covered the first few pages of the workbook for real. As I've asked you to time travel, as I've asked you to consider this question over and over and over again, what do you want to make happen in the next six months of your life? Think about these categories and the workbook is going to take you even deeper. This is such a gift to give to yourself and look, I could keep going, but here's what I can feel. I can already feel your desire to download the workbook. I can feel your desire to start imagining some kind of project that you can take on and design for yourself. Something is going to make the next six months just awesome, something that you want to make happen. And look, it could be something that is kind of simple and crafty like my photo wall.
(35:47):
Do you know how happy I'm going to be that I actually made that happen and it's going to take a lot more work than you would think. I got to pick the photos. I got to figure out the measurement. I got to figure out the, it actually will take time. It sounds kind of stupid, but it doesn't matter if it sounds stupid to you. This is something that matters to me, and this is really important. If you want the next six months of your life to be awesome, you got to pick something that is personally important to you that if you were to work on it and see yourself chip away at it, it would give your life a sense of purpose. It would create some momentum. It would really infuse you with this energy and this enthusiasm. That's why this matters. Yes, we're going to talk all about how you translate this project into action, but first, I got to get you to start dreaming a little bit.
(36:44):
I got to get you to define what would really help you come alive. And so here's how this is going to work. The second you go to mel robbins.com/make it happen, you will see a little video from me welcoming you. You will get a copy of the workbook right there, and I've even taken the steps with my amazing team. You can download it, you can print it. We even have a low ink format. This is bright green and really colorful. You can do one in black and white or we've created an electronic format for you too, all for free. That's all you have to do to be registered for this free workshop. Just go to mel robbins.com/make it happen. And then what's going to happen is there are two in-depth video trainings and those video trainings will help you translate this into action. I'm going to walk you through all the remaining exercises in the workbook, in those videos, and I'm going to teach you a bunch of principles, some that are strategies that business consultants use with some of the top companies in the world.
Resources
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- Forbes: How to get yourself out of a rut
- New York Times: 7 ways to reset your relationship
- Harvard Business Review: How to keep working when you’re just not feeling like it
- Forbes: How to set goals for success
- Harvard Business Review: What does it take to create a new habit
- New York Times: When small steps can change your life
- Harvard Business Review: 5 ways to set more achievable goals
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