With the amount of excellent material available in books, courses
and on the internet these days, it's unlikely that you are short of
ideas about how to improve your life.
But how many great ideas have you read and then forgotten?
Probably a fair few, even most of them, if you're honest with
yourself. And somehow it's all too easy for life to go on, despite
your interest in making things great, just getting more of the same
old results you were always getting.
Why not try making the very most of your life by putting this simple
system in place to gather and implement the changes and ideas
which capture your imagination?
1. Record your ideas
Keep a special notebook where you jot down all your ideas and
notes about improving your life as you come across them, noting
down only those ideas you definitely want to try out. Ideas can be
as simple as drinking 8 glasses of water a day or as complex as
following the whole process in the latest self-development book
you have been reading.
2. One-off actions
Every week select an action, small group of actions or next stage
in a process you want to implement. Have a set day and time to
make your selection each week so you don't forget and then make
sure that you complete the action before it's time to choose again.
Result : 52 one-off actions or steps towards implementing a
program completed every year for the rest of your life.
3. Habits to encourage
In addition, select a great new habit every week. And spend the
week focusing on that habit and making it happen. View this as an
experiment to see if it does anything for you. If it works you can
keep it. If it doesn't show any signs of being of benefit, you can
discard it. Monitor your current set of habits daily until each one
becomes so automatic it's simply part of your routine. Make a game
of seeing how well you can do each day in keeping up your new
habits. Result : potentially 52 great new habits a year, realistically
30 to 40, building your success week by week for the rest of your
life.
4. Projects Big and Small
You can even tackle a big project to lose weight or get a new job
in this way by breaking it down into one-off action steps and
habits. For example, action steps you might jot down in your goal
to lose weight might be to buy a healthy cookbook, join a gym and
get a chosen weight loss program checked out by your doctor.
Habits you can implement step by step might be to take a walk
each lunchtime, replace sugary soda drinks one by one with water
and include 7 portions of fruit and vegetables in your diet each day
to add bulk and nutrients without too many calories.
5. Focus for Visible and Motivating Progress
If you focus on specific areas of your life for 4 to 6 weeks at a time,
you will find that you make huge leaps forward in a short time. For
example, 6 weeks on health and you will have taken 6 action steps
towards a healthier you and added 6 new healthy habits which
you can consoldate while you focus on another area, such as your
home or your relationships.
Copyright 2006, Janice Elizabeth Small
- Prev:Walking For Fitness
- Next:Recognizing the Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder