Have you ever made a big change to your life…

[Incogg]

..? And if so, how did it go? (If not, what are your thoughts in hindsight?).

I’m particularly thinking about a move of house with lots of lifestyle change, but interested in wider examples.

Another move one...

I lived in a grotty little flat with awful neighbours, I'd come home from work or being away, and sit in the car looking up at it; dreading going in. I was completely miserable. I worked and worked my arse off, made so many sacrifices, and was able to move to a nicer area and a much nicer place.

I always read; to be happy you have to start with yourself, so I was apprehensive about how much happier I'd be if/when I finally got out of there, wondering whether it wasn't the flat; it was me and how happy I really was with my life.

I've been here 5 months and I love it. Nothing else in my life has changed, but everyday I look around and feel so happy, content and so proud of myself (don't know if self appreciation is allowed on mumsnet :) - but there you have it, sometimes a move or a change of job is the thing that will make you happy.

Good luck in whatever you decide.

Thank you @suki1964 glad it's worked out well for you

Thank you @yadayadayep i too wonder if the dissatisfaction is really inside me. But honestly, I think I’m both ready for something new and I’ve outgrown my current life.

Moved to Tokyo initially for three years, but turned into a lot more. I was recently single had a work opportunity and took it.

A decade or two later I now have a great career, married, and looking forward to early retirement in a few years.

My view would be take opportunities when they arise. You only live once, make the most of it!

Got divorced, remarried, emigrated to NZ, returned to UK when my Dad had dementia, returned to NZ around 7 years ago.

My aim in life has always been to wring every bit out of it, plan for tomorrow but enjoy every day. Life is so bloody short and now I am 67 every single day is a good one, even when they are a bit shit.

@FiveShelties could you say a bit more about how you wring? Tomorrow I will have to get up in the dark and walk about 45 minutes to work. Then I'll work for eight hours in a not very joyful job. Then I'll walk home in the dark. Then I'll cook a healthy meal (when I'd rather have takeaway and/or chocolate) and then I've got a choice between the gym or housework (and I really should go to the gym, but it's cold and dark).
Life feels like a monotonous, relentless treadmill. How do I have a Good Day?

@Incogg I would look for something I could change to improve things. I have had lots of different jobs, and never stayed anywhere when I did not enjoy it anymore. I realise that this option is not open to everyone but I have always taken the view that companies were lucky to have me, rather than the other way around.

Perhaps it is just a mindset or personality thing? I was unable to have children and that may have changed me to just grab everything I can have??? I have lost a few good friends early and I do not want to die regretting something I have not done.

Don't suppose any of this helps but I have made some very bad decisions along the way, my first husband being one of them!

Like @FiveShelties I like to wring as out of each day as I can, I can't manage it everyday, but there are definitely steps I can take (although I will be honest and say that have some disposable income helps).

For the walk to work, is it a nice route, do you get to see the sunrise at all, can you up the pace abit so it feels like you're getting some exercise in and killing 2 birds? Is it a safe enough route that you can multitask? Either listen to your favourite music or chat to a friend (I drive to work and will often call a friend on my drive home). If none of those are possible, can you use the time to daydream or plan your change in life? Sometimes my biggest breakthroughs in what I want to achieve in my life happen in those times when I get an hour to be with my own thoughts, which in itself is a luxury!

For the evenings, what would make you happiest, and it changes through the year. For me going to the gym in the winter if I go home first isn't going to happen. So I make peace with the hibernation stage of the seasons and make my house as cosy as possible, cook a meal that I know is nourishing and put on some music that reflects my mood while I potter doing a little housework.

Sorry this is quite long, but for me wringing the joy from my day doesn't mean not doing the mundane, but finding small amounts of happiness and removing the guilt from my day about what I should be doing.

I was 25, I woke up one day and on the drive to work I decided to just go. Within a week I had sold everything I owned, my car, my furniture, my stuff. I had some money and three changes of clothes in my bag.

I took a train hundreds of miles away, to a place I'd never been to but had always liked the look of. I knew nobody, had no contacts and was by myself.

Three years later I bought my first house and was working in a job I never thought possible.

It was the most terrifying, difficult, challenging, exciting time of my life and I wish I could get that feeling back. There was a cafe I found when I first came here, I used to sit there to fill out job applications and look for rooms to rent. The lady who ran it sometimes gave me a free coffee because I spent so much time there. She also helped me fill out forms and told me the places and people to avoid. It's long since closed down, but whenever I drive past the building I think about her, so, "Kassie" if you're out there, thanks for all your help, you'll never know how a casual "coffee for one" would change the course of my life.