After creating your vision board (Step 1), and becoming aware and believing that you can achieve it (Step 2), the third step is to take action toward it. This means adjusting your behaviors and proactively making moves toward your goals.

We may feel afraid of failing when we take action — but we must still act, and treat ourselves as if we deserve what we want. Do it with self-respect and love.

Start by imagining that your wish has already come true.

How would you behave in that reality? That is exactly how you should behave now.

Don’t wait until your dreams come true to change — show the universe that you’re ready now. Let your aligned behaviors reflect your readiness.

It’s not just about behaviors; you also need a healthy routine to stay aligned and keep moving forward with focus and energy.

Exercise 1:
List five behaviors you would have if you had already achieved the vision on your board.
Now, start practicing them right away.
Exercise 2:
Choose three healthy daily routines that you believe will support your vision and goals.
Commit to doing them for 60 days in a row.

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For me, I used to make the excuse that my environment and the culture didn’t allow me to be who I wanted to be and behave the way I wanted to behave. Of course, external factors play a part, but I have now learned that internal factors can help me overcome a lot of things.

In general, I have always wanted to behave in the following ways:

• Become more feminine, depending on people I can trust instead of standing alone and tolerating everything alone. Ask for help and support when it’s needed. It does not mean I am weak — it means I trust in other people’s strength.
• Live a slower and more intentional life. Not stay away from chaos, but be brave in it. Not rush after the crowd. Know my own path and speed, so I’m not negatively impacted by others — and I don’t negatively impact them.
• Have deeper and more connected conversations instead of small talk. Avoid listening to negative gossip and instead enjoy every single thing in my life.
• Stop making excuses for secretly harmful people, and stop being overly empathetic toward those who constantly try to manipulate and blame others instead of themselves.
• Decide to stay away from toxic people and environments where I don’t feel trust, and grow positively for myself and the people I love.
• Set healthy boundaries in every relationship — with friends, at work, with family, and with loved ones. Learn how to say “no” when it’s time.
• Never trade anything for my mental health and mindful life together with my son, as I have right now.

In the past, it was always a setback. But in the last two or three months, I have behaved differently and started achieving what I listed above. It hasn’t been long enough yet, but I hope that whatever happens in my life, I won’t forget how I got to this stage — where I feel happy most of the time, and feel gratitude for what I have. I woke up at the right time, to look back on my previous 30 years. I also feel proud of myself for the whole journey I have been through.

My close friend recently told me she wanted to go back to her university days, but I have never wanted to go back to any time in my life. I have always felt enough at every stage I went through, and never regretted what happened, because it happened for a purpose and shaped who I am today.
If there were a chance to go back to the past, I would want to go back as my 30-year-old self and meet myself at 5 or 6 years old — to tell her she will be fine, be kind, be brave, be loved, and be happy. The same way I whisper to my son every night before he falls asleep.

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To maintain these behaviors, a healthy life routine is needed. I have kept these routines for a while, and they have slowly changed me.

I wake up early and automatically turn on an affirmation video — I love all the videos from Lavendaire because of her words and her gentle voice: https://www.youtube.com/@lavendaire.
While listening to the affirmations, I do my personal things and have my own breakfast before my son wakes up, and then I prepare his breakfast.
I bring him to school, then spend an hour reading books and writing my one-line-a-day journal while waiting for the driver to pick me up for work. Sometimes I’m not in the mood for reading, so I may write a random article for this blog instead.
When I get home, I avoid checking emails too often. I attend my Chinese ancient dance class and practice, and then I walk around town for 20 minutes with my son — we both love walking. Then we go to bed early.

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The biggest change is that my mind is still full of thoughts like in the past — but the greatest difference is this: in the past, it was full of worries, exhaustion, and endless questions. Today, it’s full of a brighter future, hopes, reflections on what has happened, pride, and happiness. Somehow, we can’t change how our brain works — I have always been an overthinker — but I can decide which topics I want to think about.

I don’t need to wait for my wishes to come true to define and become the person I want to be. I can already do that today, and be ready for the future I wish for. This is something I can change from the inside — something within my circle of control. I just need to maintain it and keep going.

Thank you.