Getting The New Year Off To A Great Start – A Few Things To Do To Improve Your Life

Photo Credit: Eustaquio Santimano

Welcome to 2010 and have a very Happy New Year!

Having a great new year is much more a function of your own choices than you may think. Perception does have the power to create reality.

Here are just a few things you can do. Some are easy and some harder, but all of them have the proven potential to incrementally and to radically improve your life.

It’s up to you. Make a choice and act.

Happiness and luck favor the prepared and open mind as well as a body in motion.

1. Commit to stopping the voice in your head that says “I already know (or do) that.” This voice robs you of new viewpoints, information, and ideas that can really make a difference. And besides that, you probably don’t already know it and even if you do, you’re probably not doing it consistently.

2. Take action right away even if only to set deadlines to do things. Action yields results and is the single most important factor in separating success from failure. Act now! Really, stop reading for a minute and actually set a deadline or get out your calendar or write down one of these as a goal or a sub goal. And, resolve to be more fun, interesting and edgy. If you build enough trust you can be more outrageous, memorable, and interesting.

Happiness is a decision but can be affected by small things. According to the experts:

3. Get enough sleep, exercise (which makes sleep better) and make your bed. Apparently, this little thing shows your mind that you’re making positive changes.

4. Happiness and success also seem inextricably linked to getting things done. Try doing things for yourself – eating a nice breakfast, taking a walk, drinking water and rehydrating as well as reading and working on things you want to get done before reading any e-mail. Try it for three weeks. Reading e-mails means you are doing someone else’s work and working someone else’s agenda during one of the most productive times of the day.

5. Make a list of three things and three things only that you WILL accomplish each day and write them down in the morning. Just three things. Make them the most important and then construct your day so that you get them done.

6. Don’t just simplify your to do list, simplify your life. It is amazing how each little bit of simplification makes life better. Have you ever had so much stuff that when you needed something, you couldn’t find what you needed? Was the stuff worth having? If you want to learn more about the process of simplification read a little of this blog each day: ZenHabits.com

7. Be compassionate – to yourself and others – once or twice each day when you might not otherwise have been so. It’s very addictive and makes your life better.

8. Become a better communicator and become more persuasive. Watch the Six Word video for an idea of how to do that quickly and easily.

Good with the strategic stuff? Try these practical life enhancing exercises:

9. Back up your hardware and your life. Most people don’t take the time to do this, and regret it later, but there are a few things you can to to save you hours of time and millions of dollars of lost ideas, work, and effort.

First, copy your entire hard drive onto an external drive and do that today or tomorrow.

Consider using Mozy to do an external and scheduled back up of your computer, and for Mac owners (like me) start using Time Machine or SuperDuper.

But don’t stop there. Consider a backup your cellphone, PDA, and any other personal-information-storing devices.

Make sure to back up your family photos and upload them to a service like Snapfish, Shutterfly, or Flickr.

10. While you’re at it, make photocopies of your wills and trusts, deeds, car registration, credit cards, passport, drivers license, social security card, birth certificate, and other important papers. And, if you keep a journal or hipster PDA, photocopy that. Keep these in a safe deposit box, off site, or at least in a fireproof box rated for at least two hours.

11. Want to start buying and eating healthier foods? Here’s a free e-book from the government on how to eat healthy.

12. Resolve to travel for pleasure – even if only to places you love or for short trips. Consider going someplace new. Want last minute low cost fares? Then sign up for US Airway’s E-Saver, Southwest’s Ding, or any other airline program that offers last-minute travel options so you can take quick weekend getaways whenever you feel like it. Fares can be as low as $50 round trip.

13. Check your credit report for identity theft, or any other misinformation or errors that could harm your financial status and
options. You are entitled to one free check a year at www.annualcreditreport.com.

14. Make an appointment to get a full physical checkup from your physician and a good dental examination with x-rays from your dentist. Also schedule an eye exam with an ophthalmologist.

15. Decide to actually become a millionaire or exactly how much you want to be worth and why. To analyze how much you’ll need to save and then how to invest try this tool recommended by Neil Strauss, author of Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life.

That should be plenty for now. Enjoy 2010 starting with right now.

Dave Frees

P.S. It has been great having all three of my kids home for the holidays. They are awesome and I cannot resist sharing a funny picture of the three all dressed up for a night out with the family. Be well and enjoy those around you this holiday season.