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Personal Renovation Tips

September 5, 2006 | By: deaneparkes

The need to continually find ways to improve yourself has never been more important than today. Competition is everywhere selling everything and to stay ahead or at least keep up requires a focus on finding ways to improve.

Reading many books over the years I found some basic ‘to dos’ that have really helped me and I hope help you too.

  • Create a personal vision statement and read it each morning. How does your family life look? What shape are you in? What work do you excel at? How do you spend you leisure time? Who are your friends? We attract what we focus on into our life so begin each day with a focus on what is important to you. Write out how your life looks and read it.
  • Have written goals – From your above vision statement take the key areas of your life, family, work, social, personal etc and set goals in each area so you have balance. Example: I will take a 3-week vacation to ______ with my family. I will earn _________ amount of money by [specific date]. I will workout 5 times a week for 45 minutes. What gets put on paper gets done. Read these over at least once a week.
  • Write each day – Take some time each day to put your thoughts, feelings, ideas, desires, etc on paper. Keep a journal or just toss it out. This is a good way to again adjust your focus.
  • Read – Start everyday off reading for 30-60 minutes reading books that will help you reach your goals. Find book from people who have already mastered your interest. Want to be a better _________ or the best at ________? Pick up a book and start reading. This ONE DISCIPLINE will change your life forever, for the better.
  • Listen to experts – Take seminars and listen to CDs by experts in what you decide to be improving.
  • Invest in yourself – Feel free to buy yourself a self-improvement course, hire a personal trainer, buy new clothes, buy a blackberry, take a vacation, or whatever it is to help you be better at what you do. If you look after yourself first you will be able to help more people later.
  • Positive attitude – Life gets at all of us at times however by learning to smile and laugh more really does open you up to a better life. Heck nothing may change in your outer circumstance yet you will find having a smile will ease the stress.
  • Passion – What it is that you are really passionate about? That is what you should be focusing on? Life is way to short to be wasted doing things you ‘hate’ or in a ‘dead-end’ job.
  • Exercise – This is a must. To generate the energy and reduce the stress living in today’s world requires you focus on your health and exercise is a key. This is a must…period.
  • Manage your time – If you expect to have balance in your life you will need to take control of your time. A good rule is planning your week at the start of the week and plan your day at the start of each day. Taking time to organize your schedule will actually save you time and free up more time.
  • Set Priorities – What are your priorities? Family, self, work, play? No one ever wished they spent more time at the office on their deathbed. If you have a ‘to do’ list make the most important ‘A’ [these would be life or death like paying your mortgage], ‘B’ things that have a specific time to be done, ‘C’ no urgency but will need doing, ‘D’ toss out as you will never get to these anyway.
  • Laugh – There is a wonderful saying by Michael Pritchard ‘you do not stop laughing because you grow old, you grow old because you stop laughing’. Check out laughteryoga.org
  • Love and gratitude – These are 2 of the most powerful and life changing forces in the universe. Take time to give love to life and learn to be grateful for the life you have. Whenever you are out of sync take time to write down all the things you are grateful for, even if in the moment it is just being 6 feet above the ground.

If you went to sleep tonight and awoke tomorrow and everything in your life was just as you dreamed it would be, what would it be like?

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