5 EasyThings You Can Do Today That Will Noticeably Improve Your Life
As we wind down a busy 2012 and take time around the holidays to reflect, it can quickly become overwhelming, with somany differing theories on ways to lose weight, increase productivity and improve family relationships. While external factors have their place, the only true way to improve yourself is to start at the source: you. Self-improvement is never over, and for some of us, the task is daunting. However, there are feweasy things you can do today – right now – that will have a noticeable impact.No reason to wait until January 1 to set an official “new year’s resolution”when you can do a few things with a couple of weeks of December left; this holiday season, give yourself the gift of peace of mind.
Reignite your passion. Whatever deeply moves you, set it on fire. Cooking gets you going? Call the neighbor you’vebeen meaning to get to know better, email your colleagues, and call up yourcollege buddy whose schedule just hasn’t matched yours lately – you’re hostinga dinner party. Car racing makes you feel like a million bucks? Take your sonto a NASCAR race, or play his car/driver video game with him. Feeling frazzledand disconnected with your significant other? Rekindle the romance! Seriously.The more passion you have in your life, the more creative you’ll be.
Read more. There are so many amazing booksand articles readily available for us all to consume. It’s like having theability to sit down with an incredible thought leader every single night. Whata joy. Dedicating 20 minutes nightly to reading will expand your horizonsten-fold, without a huge time commitment.
Write a gratitude list. The more we canconnect with our deep appreciation for all the good around us will help usconquer all the challenges we face. If you’re reading this, it means you have acomputer (and chances are, that means a roof over your head and clothes to keepyou warm this winter). There’s a lot to be thankful for, and writing everythingdown makes it readily apparent.
Do a random act of kindness. The more yougive, the more you will receive. I know it sounds fluffy and cosmic, but itactually works. Improving someone’s day makes yours better. If you’re walkingback to the office with leftovers from your lunch meeting and someone asks ifyou can spare anything, give him your lunch. He’ll have a meal in his belly andyou’ll have warmed your own heart by helping.
Seek honest feedback. Sometimes ourweaknesses are not as apparent to ourselves but very clear to others. Askpeople for direct advice and you will find the most important things to workon. When confronted, you might realize that your tardiness to morning teammeetings bothers your boss – it’s easy to set the alarm a bit earlier everymorning, and voila – problem solved.
It’s hard to stay on top of things wheneverything is moving at breakneck speed, but on one of these days off from work,figure out a game plan to improve your world. It starts with baby steps – easythings you can do that won’t break the bank, hurt your ego or take a tremendousamount of time. The beauty is there’s no “catch”: just start!
