Simple Ways to change your life for the better!

What do you focus on?
When things don’t go the way you want in life, it can feel very overwhelming and it is not easy to always move forward positively. Do you find that when something goes wrong, you spend the next few minutes or hours, thinking about how unfair it was, trying to work out why it happened, saying ¨why me, I have such bad luck¨….. Running the situation over and over in your mind like a video on auto-replay doesn’t ever help you?

You need to change your focus and focus on solutions and not on the problems.  You can’t do anything about what happened, but you can do something about the way you deal with what has happened. Focus on what you are going to do now, on what you can control of, as you don’t have control of what happened. You will feel more productive and you will start to see opportunities where before you only saw a reflection of the bad situation.

Using failure as feedback
We are told not to make mistakes, not to fail and unless feedback is good, it has to be bad. We need to look for the learning and lesson in every situation, there are hidden gifts. Look for the opportunity, ask yourself what positive experiences can you take forward, how can use this experience as positive feedback?

When things don’t work out the way you expected, don’t write it off to failure immediately, instead look for the guidance in the lesson. What can you do differently to get a different result next time? Maybe you only need to make small adjustments to succeed, don´t give up because you have misperceived the event.

Questions your beliefs and thoughts
The way you see the world, everything you think, you believe, see and hear has developed since you were a baby. They are not facts about the world. Always ask yourself: ¨Is this thought I’m having a belief or a fact.¨  Most of your perceived challenges and your ideas about the situation are not real, they are your opinions but not facts. Your thoughts lead you to react and your actions give you the results you have, so you need to start looking at your thoughts.

Does this way of thinking serve me? If not, start to change the way you think about that situation. Be aware of your thoughts, change the negative thought patterns, and the results will be invaluable. Instead of just thinking  ¨he thinks that, or she did this because of that¨, challenge yourself to come up with more possibilities, not just the one idea you have¨. Become conscious of the thoughts, feelings, beliefs and attitudes that are creating your world. Take control of your thoughts or they will control you.

Spend your day thinking towards happiness.
Do you start your day excited about experiencing another awesome day or do you find it difficult to get out of bed? Do you go to work expecting traffic jams, delays, meetings you don’t want to go to, thinking about the end of the day? Does that just sound like a bad way to start your day! How different would it feel to think that things will go right today, you will have a great day and everything will go well. Just by changing your thinking to expect positive things to happen and not negative, can make the world of difference in what you attract and how you feel throughout the day. Start afresh and choose to believe that anything is possible and everything will go well. Have faith everything will work out and it all happens for a positive reason.

Take Responsibility
Do you blame other people of your actions and your behavior?  ¨He made me do that or you made me say that!¨ etc We seem to look at other people and not ourselves. Thinking like this is living like a victim and you will never feel empowered or have control over your results and your life.  You need to take responsibility for your life, how your life is. The more you take responsibility for your life, the more you will be able to change it. Responsibility is freedom and empowerment.

Make peace with yourself.
If you don´t love yourself, how can anyone love you? The most important relationship you can have is the one you have with yourself.  Whatever happened in the past is the past, forgive yourself and balance your perception of what happened. Nobody is perfect, ever, so don’t hold ideas that you need to match up to this person or that. We all make mistakes and we all have our flaws. We cannot change the past but we can change the future. The more you love and accept yourself, the less you will judge others.

Identify and incorporate your passion into your life.
Everyone has a passion, something he/she loves to do, really enjoys spending their time on and makes them feel good. If you are not sure, professional guidance can help you get clear on your passions.  Start to include this activity into your life, even if it is once a month!  It will make you feel alive and reconnected with yourself and happiness. Also make a list of things you want to do in life before you die. Make a plan to do them. Writing them down and planning gives it the impetus to make it a reality! By doing things that we love, we feel more alive, vibrant and we enjoy life much more.

Live in the present and be grateful.
How often are you thinking about tomorrow, later that day and most often, the past? Make an effort to consciously be in the present, fully live the moment. What can you see around you, what can you hear and what can you feel?  Being fully present allows us to relax, to stop and take a breath and be grateful for life. We need to enjoy it, it is about the journey and not the destination.  When you remind yourself of everything that you have to be grateful for, and I’m also talking about having two functional legs, being able to see! These are all gifts, things that if you didn’t have you would have a very different quality of life. When you stop to be grateful, you open your heart and it puts you into a state of happiness that automatically lifts your soul.

Respect and care for your body.
If we don’t have health, how can we enjoy our family, our friends and the money we make. Health is the most important, without it, we cannot enjoy everything else. Unfortunately people only do something about their health when it becomes detrimental to their well-being, but it’s sadly too late sometimes. You might not only end up with a life-changing disease but you are not living life experiencing the full amount of energy that you can! Saying that you don’t have time to exercise or eat well is not an excuse. You can find creative ways to exercise during the day without even going to the gym. Read my article for my ideas – click here

Start by taking on one new habit and then another one. Drink a bottle of water a day, cut out that one can of Cola-Cola, aim to eat one fruit or one vegetable a day. Whatever it is that will make you feel that little bit better, its goes a long way! Also, ensure you sleep enough; you will not feel good if you are tired, you will most probably feel irritable, unhappy, with no energy and feeling negative. Start taking care of yourself, your body is yours for life!