6 Easily Missed Signs You’re Actually Thriving In Life

It’s easy to know a person is thriving by looking at their recent promotions, their latest expensive purchases, their brand new relationship and the growing numbers on their social media. But the proof of thriving doesn’t always have to be tangible or having more of something positive. It can be doing less of something negative, a change in mindset and outlook in life, which is not necessarily noticeable to the outside world or even to us ourselves, yet it is equally significant if not more.

Here’s the list of 6 signs of thriving you might have missed.

1. You bounce back from mistakes and failure faster than you did before.

You’ve learned many lessons but you haven’t stopped failing and making mistakes. It leaves you feeling frustrated and disheartened, questioning whether you’ve progressed at all. But what you might not notice is that despite all the setbacks, you are now able to recover so much faster than you used to in the past. All those mistakes and failure, though painful at the time, haven’t been wasted. Thanks to them, you’ve known yourself better. You’ve become so much more quipped to handle any mishap. You’re now stronger and smarter and a better version of yourself without you even realizing it. And that’s how you’re thriving.

2. You have less unrealistic dreams and expectations.

You’re trying in life but you haven’t yet gotten all what you dream of — say a high-paying fulfilling job, a long-lasting loving relationship, a beautiful place of your own, and so on. This could easily make you wonder whether you’re falling behind even though you might be doing the exact opposite: thriving. The sign you might have missed is that your definition of “dream” and “perfect life” is no longer too dreamy to gasp. It doesn’t work against you. It’s highly attainable and you’re slowly getting there. Your expectations in life have also become more and more realistic, which is a result of you learning and becoming more level-headed. Your dream land is absolutely possible.

3. Your first reaction to a negative outcome is no longer to question yourself.

A not too noticeable, yet important sign that you’re thriving is you no longer question yourself at first instance when something doesn’t go your way. You don’t immediately ask yourself, “What did I do wrong?”, “Why does this always happen to me?”, “What about me should I change?” You know who you are better and better. You know your value. You have your standards. Thus you’re able to put things into perspectives and understand and accept that not everyone will choose you, not every effort will result in success and bad things can happen even to the best people and it’s okay. This change in mindset doesn’t just come from nowhere but a journey of deep reflection and steadily growing.

4. You have stopped looking for quick fixes.

Another sign that you’re thriving you might not instantly notice is that your decision making in the face of setbacks has shifted from short-term feel-good to long-term gains. Instead of jumping straight to quick fixes to distract yourself from your deep-rooted problems, you now gradually lean towards doing what’s good for you in the long-run. Or at least you’re more able to recognise those long-term benefits and willing to accept the momentarily accompanying pain to get there. This takes a lot of self-awareness, courage and importantly, growing self-love.

5. You’ve taken steps to take care of your health and well-being.

Taking care of your health and well-being might not be an immediately visible sign of thriving, especially if you’re not necessarily at your desired body shape yet or still experience many anxious moments. But even if it’s simply reducing a bad habit or being more mindful of what you eat daily, it means you start prioritising yourself and know the importance of feeling good on doing good, and it is a great sign of progress in your living and thinking. You can’t be stuck in life and still have the motivation to take care of yourself physically and mentally. You’re definitely thriving.

6. You know what you don’t want.

You might not yet know what you want and it can easily be interpreted as a sign of you being lost in life but that’s not true. Knowing what you don’t want is just equally important and telling. You only know what you don’t want because you have given yourself a chance, have tried, have learned from mistakes and failure, have moved forward. It means you now have a direction—where not to go, what not to do—and a better sense of who you are as a person. It’s a big step closer to figuring out what you want and getting it.