Are you living life at 10 out of 10? Probably not, but here's how you can...

We asked award-winning leadership development expert Anne Mulliner for her tips on how we can start living life at 10 out of 10.

Do you ever feel like you're sleepwalking through life? Before you know it, months and months have passed and you've achieved nothing you set out to. If this sounds familiar then don’t worry, you're not alone. Here are 8 ways you can start living your life at 10 out of 10.

1. Be honest with yourself. Unintentionally we can find ourselves living lives that someone else wants for us, we go through the motions out of habit or a belief that it is what we should want (you're not the only one who slaved away at university for a career path they weren't too sure about in the first place or got a mortgage when they really weren't ready), but you need to be honest about what you really want. Then you can start to take action to close the gap.

2. It's okay to not be okay. Life will throw us curve balls at times and that's okay and completely normal. In fact, having the odd low point means we are better able to notice and appreciate the high points. By accepting this as fact, you will notice that you will bounce back from any setbacks faster.

3. Failing isn’t an option. One of the things that make people most unhappy is having experiences that don’t work out the way they think they would and so they label it as a failure. But don't think of it as a failure, think of it as research. That's right. If something didn’t work out as planned, change something and try again. So list out all the things that you believe are failures in your life for one last time and when you look at the list tell yourself it was all research and you are free to try again, but do something different until you find the right combination for you.

4. Maximize your personal brand. It is really easy when you are feeling a bit down to take less care of your personal image, but if you want to show up at 10 out of 10 – even if you are only at an 8 – you need to dress like someone who is 10 out of 10.

5. Who do you spend your time with? Quite often the people we spend our time with are who we become, so if you hang out with people who suck your energy it will be difficult to get to 10 out of 10. There are people in your life who give you energy and boost your mood just because of how they see life, spend more time with those type of people and it will become easier to achieve the perfect 10.

6. Vision boards. This is a simple and effective way to design what your 10 out 10 life will look like. All you need is lots of magazines, a piece of paper that is A3 or bigger and some glue. Flick through magazines and cut out any pictures or phrases that resonate with you and stick them as a collage on your piece of paper and put it somewhere where you can see it. Over time the things that you have included will start appearing in your life.

7. Create your ultimate playlist. Create your own special set of songs that will energise you and allow you to be the best version of yourself.

8. You are already there. You actually have everything you need in your life right now to be at 10 out of 10, you just need to stop comparing yourself to others. There will always be people who have more than we do. But there are even more people who have much less. So when you hear the negative voice, or feel any envy or disappointment about your circumstances, just think about someone who is far worse off than you, the more dramatic the better and allow yourself to feel happy and glad for everything you do have.

Anne Mulliner is the author of “Empowered! – How to change your life in your coffee break” (£12.99 Panoma Press) and is an award-winning executive coach and leadership development expert, who works with clients all over the world. For more information visit her website.

Looking for more career inspo? It's not too late to book tickets for Marie Claire's @ Work Live, in association with Cointreau and Next. A one-day event on 23 April 2016, featuring advice, tips and inspiration from incredible speakers.