A. Remind yourself the clock is ticking. Don't reach Sunday night and have lots of regrets.
A. Remember this is an ongoing process. Try the Life Fitness Check again to see how you've moved on and spot development needs. Review all feedback and actions on a regular basis.
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Think about it..
We are creatures of habit. Every day we wake up, rush through our busy lives and then go to bed.
But we'll never have that day again. So every morning we face three simple choices:
Choice 1: Forget our dreams – and just get on with our present life, cynically blaming everybody and everything else.
Choice 2: Put it off...but till when? Friday night? The holidays? When we win the lottery?
Choice 3: Make it happen NOW – take some steps today – however small – to start getting where we want to be in life and resolving to enjoy every minute of the journey.
Now think how you would feel at the end of today if you take Choice 1 or Choice 2. Yes, probably the same as usual! But think how differently you could feel, if you take Choice 3.
That's why it pays to get into a new habit – a lifetime habit of thinking and acting in a fresh way that will help you realise your true potential.
Suppose each day represented 12 years. By Monday night you'd be 12 years old, Tuesday 24, Wednesday 36... right through to Sunday when you'd be 84. (You can even enjoy a bank holiday Monday if you stay fit and healthy!)
So which day of the week has your life reached? And how do you feel about it?
However much of your week has already passed, the important thing to make the most of those remaining seconds, minutes, hours and days.
The amazing thing is that it was back on Monday morning – as a child in the playground – that you learned so many valuable lessons for managing your life. As you get older it's too easy to lose sight of what you learned then. So how can you make the playground of life a lifetime habit?
Click on the images to see lists of good habits. If you see some advice that appeals to you, click on it to add that item to your list of good habits, displayed below.
Our lives swing constantly through a series of ups and downs. Here are five good habits to help keep your momentum going.
Click on the ones that appeal to you most.
- Review my skills every three months.
- Think about what makes me special and remember a low point in my life that I turned around.
- Review five things I'm grateful for – today and every day.
- Spot ways I've taken risks and tackled problems in the past so I can beat future challenges.
- React positively to a negative event by accepting the need to change and act differently.
It's your life and you want to enjoy the whole of it.
That means balancing (and if possible blending) the various areas – your working, learning, playing and giving.
Here are five useful habits to build into your daily routine. Click on the ones that appeal to you most.
Click on the ones that appeal to you most.
- Check my life pattern and talk to two people that it affects.
- Find at least one way I can combine my working, learning, playing and giving.
- Bring more play, fun and happiness into the day by doing or thinking one thing differently.
- Choose to smile every day and learn to smile at myself.
- Change my routine to focus my energy on the one thing that really matters to me today – this could be family, friends, personal fulfilment or financial wellbeing.
Life can be like a roundabout – some stranger comes along and spins you round at a hundred miles an hour and all you do is go round in circles, see a blur and feel sick at the end. Here are five habits to gain focus, excitement and well being and create a magic roundabout of life. Click on the ones that appeal to you most.
Click on the ones that appeal to you most.
- Create my own Golden Ticket for the future – and review it regularly.
- Draw a picture of my life in five years time – make it as creative, colourful and detailed as I can.
- Develop a collage of my future out of magazine pictures, headlines and images, placing the most important things at the centre of the page.
- Dream the impossible. Don't have any regrets in life. List three things I would love to do with the rest of my life.
- Discuss my ideas and insights with three people who matter most to me.
We can learn a lot from watching the way youngsters tackle a climbing frame. Here are five lifetime 'climbing' habits.
Click on the ones that appeal to you most.
- Ignore where others are heading. List the three words that describe what getting to the top means to me.
- Imagine the sense of fun and fulfilment once I've overcome an obstacle. Draw a picture of this success and pin it to the fridge. Focus on this outcome, not the obstacle.
- Invent new routes I can take and find my way round any obstacles.
- Get lots of people involved – list everyone I enjoy being with plus people I need for the difficult bits!
- Think differently – it's my attitude towards obstacles that counts – not the obstacles themselves.
Every playground has a bench full of parents, guardians or friends ready to jump up and encourage you when you need it. Here are five ways you can get that support now.
Click on the ones that appeal to you most.
- List all the people I know – and people they know.
- Find positive people who think like me – the more there are, the quicker I'll realise my potential.
- Get at least one mentor or role model onto my bench. Someone with insight and experience.
- Revisit my contacts list, phone friends I've neglected, join new social circles, boost my social life.
- Build my network by helping others – the more I put in the more I'll get out.
Faced with a high slide, brave children always take a few steps up the ladder without worrying about the consequences. The important thing is they never hesitate.
Click on the ones that appeal to you most.
- Stop worrying. Research shows 40% of what we worry about never happens; 30% has already happened; 12% focuses on opinions or situations we cannot change; 10% on our health (which only worsens it). That means 92% of our worries are pointless. Only 8% concerns real problems we can influence.
- Behave as if I've already succeeded. If you look up a staircase, you'll only see barriers. But imagine yourself at the top looking down and all you'll see are possibilities.
- Believe I can do it. Think back in life to all the risks you've taken before – I've already been far braver than I've imagined. So what if I fail? I've still learnt something new!
- Begin with baby steps. Create lots of low-risk opportunities which can combine to make bigger risks. Remember the greatest risk of all is rigidity.
- Boost my bravery by hanging around brave people, starting in a safe environment, packing my bench with supporters and having a Plan B ready in case things go pear-shaped.
The next page will list all the good habits you have chosen to adopt to help you achieve your goals.
To choose some good habits, click on one of the images above and select some habits from the pop-up window that appears.
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