|
SOME LITTLE STEPS TOWARD BIG CHANGES
Trying to make some changes in your life? Here are a few small steps to start your journey toward meaningful change. Remember, every journey starts with a single step!
1. Relationships: Start by regularly expressing thanks for the things your family and friends do for you…even the small, routine things. Everyone likes to be appreciated, and when your loved ones feel better about themselves, they’ll feel better about their relationship with you too.
2. Exercise: Start by taking a short walk after dinner most nights of the week. Don’t go for any speed or distance goals. Just take a walk. Unlike joining a gym or investing in exercise equipment, taking a walk doesn’t put undue time or financial pressure on you. It is something to be enjoyed…especially if you walk with someone you love. And chances are you’ll find yourself feeling so good as a result of your evening walks, you’ll naturally incorporate more exercise into your life.
3. Diet: Start by making one small change that is easy to achieve. Examples might be substituting artificial sweetener for one teaspoon of sugar in your coffee, mixing your regular soda with diet soda at the fast food restaurant or adding one piece of fresh fruit to your diet each day. After that change becomes habit, celebrate your success with a non-food reward then add one more tiny achievable change. As you succeed with each small change, you’ll find that success builds on success and your goals seem more achievable.
4. Career: Break your career goals down into their smallest components. What changes do you need to make to advance your career? What do you have to do to make those changes? Write each step down and keep the list with you. As you complete each step, mark it off and go to the next one. Before you know it, you will have reached your new career goals.
5. Happiness: Take the time each day to do one small thing that brings a smile to your face. You may have to “excavate” the things that make you happy by thinking back to your childhood or to happier times in your life. Once you have re-discovered what makes you smile, make sure it is a part of your daily routine. It can be as simple as a prayer, a hug, a quiet cup of tea, a bubble bath, a walk, a good book, a nap, a cross-word puzzle, petting a dog or watching re-runs of the shenanigans in Mayberry. The list is endless and so are the opportunities for moments of pleasure.
|
