Monday 8 January 2007

10 Good Habits for 2007

A new year! A new start! Maybe now is a good time to reflect on some good habits for the coming year. Don't try and change too much too soon take one of these positive habits and work with it. Once it has become a habit you will have the energy and motivation to try another one. Bookmark this page and refer back to it through out the year. I can guarantee that if you practice some of these habits your 2007 will be a great year!!


1) Become a good Listener.

Becoming a good listener is one of the most efficient ways of becoming a more relaxed and effective person. It also puts other people at ease knowing that they are actually being listened to! Ask yourself - are you really listening or are you just waiting to talk?

2) Do One Thing At a Time.

Have you ever seen someone writing an email, phone stuck under their chin and talking to someone else at the same time? Do they look relaxed? Do you think they are being effective? Do yourself a favor and do one thing at a time. Devote your attention to one thing and you will become a lot more relaxed and the quality of your work will increase.

3) Set your Goals.

If you don't know what you want somebody else is always willing to tell you what THEY think you should be doing! Take some time, sit down and examine your life. Does your life have meaning? Are you leading the kind of life you want? Do you know what you want? Are you being the person you were meant to be and not the person you think you should be? Remember goals need to be SMART i.e. Specific, Measurable (how are you progressing?), Agreed (do you have buy in from the your friends and family?- if its needed), Real (not everyone can be an astronaut) and Time based ( I'm going to achieve this by ...).

4) Slow down.

Slow down your speech. Slow down your walk. Slow down your driving. You will become more relaxed and less frazzled. Life isn't a race. Its ok you can go slow and still be effective!

5) Volunteer.

Don't always think of ME ME ME ME! Give some of your time and skills over to helping others. You will gain perspective and learn that there is more to life than work and money!

6) Practice Daily relaxation.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation, meditation, yoga, deep breathing are all methods of relaxation. Take 10-20 minutes a day and practice one of these disciplines. You will then take that feeling of relaxation into the rest of your life. You will go about your tasks in a much more relaxed state.

7) Watch less T.V.

Now I love watching the new Battlestar Galactica but if it stops me from doing something more important like a relaxation exercise - I will record it and I will watch it later. Limit your television watching and you will suddenly find that you have the time to do a lot more. What is more important? A TV program or your health and well being?


8) Forgive others.

If you forgive others you will let go of the negative thoughts and feelings you have about that person. If everyone forgave as readily as they have the potential to - the world would be in much better shape.

9) Don't Live For Retirement.
Now is all you have! Yesterday is gone and tomorrow may never be - all you have is right now. If you are not happy in your current job - don't put off doing something about it - take steps to change. Don't get trapped into the bad habit of thinking that if you put the hard time in now - the good times will come later. Today is the first day of the rest of your life. You deserve to be happy NOW!


10) Don't Sweat the Small Stuff.

The phrase coined by the late Richard Carlson. Don't let the small everyday things get blown out of proportion and worry you too much. I find that if I loose the bigger picture - small things start to bug me. Like why did such and such ignore me today or why is there all this traffic?! Let go off the worry and remember - worrying about something is like trying to solve an algebra problem by chewing gum!

As Richard Carlson would have said "Don't sweat the small stuff and its all small stuff...."


Good Luck,

Allen

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