6 Key Steps To Live Life To The Fullest

“Love thy neighbor as thyself.”

You could say that in life we are motivated by two basic forces – love and fear. Love opens us to the passion and excitement that love has to offer, while fear causes us to withdraw from life and hide away, terrified of hurt and pain. John Lennon said something along these lines and noted that without the ability to love ourselves, we can't truly love others.
Fear is holding you back from tackling life and living it to the full. It can stop you in your tracks and keep you from chasing your dreams, and often, we don't even realize what fears are haunting us. We are terrified of failing, of losing love, of being lonely, of having to change, and of the unknown, too. We are veritable cowardly lions.
While there is a time and place for fear, which often protects us from truly dangerous experiences, they can also be destructive. With these six steps, you can put fear to one side and start living your life to the fullest.
1.   Be Clear in Your Goals
Before you can make the most of your life, you need to know what you want to get out of it. What goals are you looking to achieve? This will help clarify and allow you to shift your focus to your priorities. Just knowing isn't enough, though. You need to recognize potential and understand how to leverage it to move you closer to those goals.
2.   Mentally Prepare
Yes, plenty of amazing opportunities are out there just waiting for you to grab them. Not everyone can leverage all of them, but the biggest reason you can't is a failure to prepare. You should be prepared mentally for any eventuality and have the knowledge and skills necessary to make the most of any opportunity that comes your way.
3.   Network
If you don't have the skills or knowledge, you should know someone who does. That's why a strong social and professional network is imperative to unlocking everything life has to offer. Not to mention that many of those opportunities could come through your network – and without a network, where would you be? People are the key to grabbing life.
4.   Ask Questions
Opportunities don't come out of nowhere, a lot of the time it will be a subtle opportunity. That's why it's vital that you ask questions of everything and force yourself to think creatively and look at life from every angle. Your curiosity could be the key to unlocking opportunity.
5.   Recognize Opportunities
It's not going to land on your lap gift-wrapped, the greatest opportunities in life are often disguised as something else entirely. Which is why asking questions is important, but it's equally as important that you are able to recognize the opportunities that do crop up. The reason we fail to recognize them is that we expect them to be obvious and that just isn't how life rolls.
6.   Take Risks
Not just any risk, though, calculated risks. When you recognize an opportunity and understand how to take advantage of it then you need to take risks. Before you do so, review the pros and cons and seize the day or move on to the next opportunity. There are no guarantees in life; it is what you make it.
You can use these six steps in business and in your personal life, the truth is that they're more alike than we care to admit. The key to unlocking your happiness and seizing everything life has to offer is fully within your power. You just have to grab everything that comes your way and learn to practice gratitude for everything you achieve.