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 |
