30
Things to Start Doing for Yourself
Remember
today, for it is the beginning.
Today marks the start of a brave new future.
Today marks the start of a brave new future.
Here it is, a positive ‘to-do’
list 30 things to start
1. Start spending time with the right people. – These are the
people you enjoy, who love and appreciate you, and who encourage you to improve
in healthy and exciting ways. They are the ones who make you feel more
alive, and not only embrace who you are now, but also embrace and embody who
you want to be, unconditionally.
2.
Start facing your problems head on. – It isn’t your problems that define you, but how you react to
them and recover from them. Problems will not disappear unless you take
action. Do what you can, when you can, and acknowledge what you’ve
done. It’s all about taking baby steps in the right direction, inch by
inch. These inches count, they add up to yards and miles in the long run.
3.
Start being honest with yourself about everything. – Be honest about what’s right, as well as what needs to be
changed. Be honest about what you want to achieve and who you want to
become. Be honest with every aspect of your life, always. Because
you are the one person you can forever count on. Search your soul, for
the truth, so that you truly know who you are. Once you do, you’ll have a
better understanding of where you are now and how you got here, and you’ll be
better equipped to identify where you want to go and how to get there.
4.
Start making your own happiness a priority. – Your needs matter.
If you don’t value yourself, look out for yourself, and stick up for yourself,
you’re sabotaging yourself. Remember, it IS possible to take care of your
own needs while simultaneously caring for those around you. And once your
needs are met, you will likely be far more capable of helping those who need
you most.
5.
Start being yourself, genuinely and proudly. – Trying to be anyone else is a waste of the person you
are. Be yourself. Embrace that individual inside you that has
ideas, strengths and beauty like no one else. Be the person you know
yourself to be – the best version of you – on your terms. Above all, be
true to YOU, and if you cannot put your heart in it, take yourself out of it.
6.
Start noticing and living in the present. – Right now is a
miracle. Right now is the only moment guaranteed to you. Right now
is life. So stop thinking about how great things will be in the
future. Stop dwelling on what did or didn’t happen in the past.
Learn to be in the ‘here and now’ and experience life as it’s happening.
Appreciate the world for the beauty that it holds, right now.
7.
Start valuing the lessons your mistakes teach you. – Mistakes are okay; they’re the stepping stones of
progress. If you’re not failing from time to time, you’re not trying hard
enough and you’re not learning. Take risks, stumble, fall, and then get
up and try again. Appreciate that you are pushing yourself, learning,
growing and improving. Significant achievements are almost invariably
realized at the end of a long road of failures. One of the ‘mistakes’ you
fear might just be the link to your greatest achievement yet.
8.
Start being more polite to yourself. – If you had a friend who spoke to you in the same way
that you sometimes speak to yourself, how long would you allow that person to
be your friend? The way you treat yourself sets the standard for
others. You must love who you are or no one else will.
9.
Start enjoying the things you already have. – The problem with many of us is that we think we’ll be happy
when we reach a certain level in life – a level we see others operating at –
your boss with her corner office, that friend of a friend who owns a mansion on
the beach, etc. Unfortunately, it takes awhile before you get there, and
when you get there you’ll likely have a new destination in mind. You’ll
end up spending your whole life working toward something new without ever
stopping to enjoy the things you have now. So take a quiet moment every
morning when you first awake to appreciate where you are and what you already
have.
10.
Start creating your own happiness. – If you are waiting for someone else to make you happy, you’re
missing out. Smile because you can. Choose happiness. Be the
change you want to see in the world. Be happy with who you are now, and
let your positivity inspire your journey into tomorrow. Happiness is often
found when and where you decide to seek it. If you look for happiness
within the opportunities you have, you will eventually find it. But if
you constantly look for something else, unfortunately, you’ll find that
too.
11.
Start giving your ideas and dreams a chance. – In life, it’s rarely about getting a chance; it’s
about taking a chance. You’ll never be 100% sure it will work, but you
can always be 100% sure doing nothing won’t work. Most of the time you
just have to go for it! And no matter how it turns out, it always ends up
just the way it should be. Either you succeed or you learn
something.
12.
Start believing that you’re ready for the next step. – You are ready! Think about it. You have
everything you need right now to take the next small, realistic step
forward. So embrace the opportunities that come your way, and accept the
challenges – they’re gifts that will help you to grow.
13.
Start entering new relationships for the right reasons. – Enter new relationships with dependable, honest people who
reflect the person you are and the person you want to be. Choose friends
you are proud to know, people you admire, who show you love and respect – people
who reciprocate your kindness and commitment. And pay attention to what
people do, because a person’s actions are much more important than their words
or how others represent them.
14.
Start giving new people you meet a chance. – It sounds harsh, but you cannot keep every friend you’ve ever
made. People and priorities change. As some relationships fade
others will grow. Appreciate the possibility of new relationships as you
naturally let go of old ones that no longer work. Trust your
judgment. Embrace new relationships, knowing that you are entering into
unfamiliar territory. Be ready to learn, be ready for a challenge, and be
ready to meet someone that might just change your life forever.
15.
Start competing against an earlier version of yourself. – Be inspired by others,
appreciate others, learn from others, but know that competing against them is a
waste of time. You are in competition with one person and one person only
– yourself. You are competing to be the best you can be. Aim to break
your own personal records.
16.
Start
cheering for other people’s victories. – Start noticing what you
like about others and tell them. Having an appreciation for how amazing
the people around you are leads to good places – productive, fulfilling,
peaceful places. So be happy for those who are making progress.
Cheer for their victories. Be thankful for their blessings, openly.
What goes around comes around, and sooner or later the people you’re cheering
for will start cheering for you.
17.
Start looking for the silver lining in tough situations. – When things are hard,
and you feel down, take a few deep breaths and look for the silver lining – the
small glimmers of hope. Remind yourself that you can and will grow
stronger from these hard times. And remain conscious of your blessings
and victories – all the things in your life that are right. Focus on what
you have, not on what you haven’t.
18.
Start forgiving yourself and others. – We’ve all been hurt by
our own decisions and by others. And while the pain of these experiences
is normal, sometimes it lingers for too long. We relive the pain over and
over and have a hard time letting go. Forgiveness is the remedy. It
doesn’t mean you’re erasing the past, or forgetting what happened. It
means you’re letting go of the resentment and pain, and instead choosing to
learn from the incident and move on with your life.
19.
Start helping those around you. – Care about people. Guide them if you know a better
way. The more you help others, the more they will want to help you.
Love and kindness begets love and kindness. And so on and so forth.
20.
Start listening to your own inner voice. – If it helps, discuss your ideas with those closest to you,
but give yourself enough room to follow your own intuition. Be true to
yourself. Say what you need to say. Do what you know in your heart
is right.
21.
Start being attentive to your stress level and take short
breaks. – Slow down.
Breathe. Give yourself permission to pause, regroup and move forward with
clarity and purpose. When you’re at your busiest, a brief recess can
rejuvenate your mind and increase your productivity. These short breaks
will help you regain your sanity and reflect on your recent actions so you can
be sure they’re in line with your goals.
22.
Start noticing the beauty of small moments. – Instead of waiting for the big things to happen – marriage,
kids, big promotion, winning the lottery – find happiness in the small things
that happen every day. Little things like having a quiet cup of coffee in
the early morning, or the delicious taste and smell of a homemade meal, or the
pleasure of sharing something you enjoy with someone else, or holding hands
with your partner. Noticing these small pleasures on a daily
basis makes a big difference in the quality of your life.
23.
Start accepting things when they are less than perfect. – Remember, ‘perfect’ is the enemy of ‘good.’ One of the
biggest challenges for people who want to improve themselves and improve the
world is learning to accept things as they are. Sometimes it’s better to
accept and appreciate the world as it is, and people as they are, rather than
to trying to make everything and everyone conform to an impossible ideal.
No, you shouldn’t accept a life of mediocrity, but learn to love and value
things when they are less than perfect.
24.
Start working toward your goals every single day. – Remember, the journey of a thousand miles begins with one
step. Whatever it is you dream about, start taking small, logical steps
every day to make it happen. Get out there and DO something! The
harder you work the luckier you will become. While many of us decide at
some point during the course of our lives that we want to answer our calling,
only an astute few of us actually work on it. By ‘working on it,’ I mean
consistently devoting oneself to the end result.
25.
Start being more open about how you feel. – If you’re hurting, give yourself the necessary space and time
to hurt, but be open about it. Talk to those closest to you. Tell
them the truth about how you feel. Let them listen. The simple act
of getting things off your chest and into the open is your first step toward
feeling good again.
26.
Start taking full accountability for your own life. – Own your choices and mistakes, and be willing to take the
necessary steps to improve upon them. Either you take accountability for
your life or someone else will. And when they do, you’ll become a slave
to their ideas and dreams instead of a pioneer of your own. You are the
only one who can directly control the outcome of your life. And no, it
won’t always be easy. Every person has a stack of obstacles in front of
them. But you must take accountability for your situation and overcome
these obstacles. Choosing not to is choosing a lifetime of mere
existence.
27.
Start actively nurturing your most important relationships. – Bring real, honest joy into your life and the lives of those
you love by simply telling them how much they mean to you on a regular
basis. You can’t be everything to everyone, but you can be everything to
a few people. Decide who these people are in your life and treat them
like royalty. Remember, you don’t need a certain number of friends, just
a number of friends you can be certain of.
28.
Start concentrating on the things you can control. – You can’t change everything, but you can always change
something. Wasting your time, talent and emotional energy on things that
are beyond your control is a recipe for frustration, misery and
stagnation. Invest your energy in the things you can control, and act on
them now.
29.
Start focusing on the possibility of positive outcomes. – The mind must believe it CAN do something before it is
capable of actually doing it. The way to overcome negative thoughts and
destructive emotions is to develop opposing, positive emotions that are stronger
and more powerful. Listen to your self-talk and replace negative thoughts
with positive ones. Regardless of how a situation seems, focus on what
you DO WANT to happen, and then take the next positive step forward. No,
you can’t control everything that happens to you, but you can control how you
react to things. Everyone’s life has positive and negative aspects –
whether or not you’re happy and successful in the long run depends greatly on
which aspects you focus on.
30.
Start noticing how wealthy you are right now. – Henry David Thoreau
once said, “Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.” Even when
times are tough, it’s always important to keep things in perspective. You
didn’t go to sleep hungry last night. You didn’t go to sleep
outside. You had a choice of what clothes to wear this morning. You
hardly broke a sweat today. You didn’t spend a minute in fear. You
have access to clean drinking water. You have access to medical
care. You have access to the Internet. You can read. Some
might say you are incredibly wealthy, so remember to be grateful for all the
things you do have.
