Each of us has 24 hours every day. We will spend those hours and days generally happy or somewhat miserable. There will be a mix, of course, but too many people exist in life instead of truly living. Too many people choose to accept their circumstances instead of chasing all the dreams and desires of their heart.

The idea of living your dream life or a “happy life” will seem ridiculous to some. I was one of those people for 12 years. I lived my life paycheck to paycheck and in constant survival mode. I didn’t think about hopes, dreams, or a happy life. It took some incredibly difficult circumstances to wake me up.

It doesn’t have to take a tragedy or an extreme circumstance for you to admit what you want for your life. Each of us has different goals and dreams that will make us happy, but what we all desire is freedom. We long to live life on our terms and spend our time on the things that are important to us. Here are five signs you’re not living a life that makes you happy and gives you freedom.

1. You don’t quit a job you hate. Spending 40 plus hours in work that makes you miserable or doesn’t fulfill you has an effect on your life. It can add stress and anger, and take you away from your family. We invest too much of our time working, so it’s important that time is spent bettering the kind of life you want to live. We live in hard times when the economy isn’t the greatest, but there’s still an opportunity to find or create work that fulfills you.

2. You stay in a toxic relationship. Love can be amazing, or it can make you want to hide under the covers. When you’re in love, it’s hard to let go–even when you know you should. It can be a friendship or romantic relationship, but if it’s toxic, you will stay paralyzed in anger, fear, and complacency. To find your happy, you should consider purging toxic relationships. The energy and what you feel inside is screaming at you.

3. You don’t get rid of negativity in your life. As with toxic relationships, negativity can derail your progress and keep you stuck in a “good enough” life. It can be negative habits, people, or environments, but purge negativity from your life to find your happy.

4. You let doubt and fear keep you stuck. Each of us battles self-limiting beliefs. It could be because of how we were brought up or past failure in our life, but we let doubt and fear keep us paralyzed. If doubt and fear have kept you from thinking about how you want to truly live your life, I hope today is the day you say, “enough!”

5. You put off the hard choices for “another day.” It’s easy to feel okay about an area of your life you want to change — just tell yourself you’ll work on it “later.” The problem is, later never seems to come and we keep putting off making the hard choices. None of us will live forever, and we’re not guaranteed a moment past right now. Today is the day to claim the life you truly deserve.

Making any change starts with what you believe. If you believe life is hopeless, and there’s no way out of your situation, you will continue doing what you’re used to doing. You won’t take the necessary to start the journey to your happy life.

Nothing in life that’s worth it comes easily. It will be hard, and it will take time to change major areas of your life. The journey helps us learn to be grateful once we reach the destination. Despite the struggle to make your dream life a reality, it will be worth the efforts you’re making. Life is too short to settle. You can live a happy life, and it starts with making a choice. If you’re not living the kind of life you want to live, start the journey to freedom after you get done reading this.