1. Understand there are good and bad days

Some days you feel like nothing can stop you. Other days you feel utterly hopeless. Most of the time you’re somewhere in between. Understanding the pattern of positive and negative emotions will help you put your feelings in perspective. Next time you feel down, remember it will go away. It is not permanent.

2. Look at the Big Picture

Look right now for an image of the Earth. Look how big and magnificent it is. Now think about you. Do you think you are important in this world? Not really. Then, why are you so depressed?! Think of it as a freedom contract. If you are not a big deal, then why take things so seriously? As a world, we look smaller against the galaxy, and even smaller against the universe. So, find happiness in what you are, find problems as insignificant, and forget about depression.

3. Look back to your triumphs

Think about what you have done in your life. Even when you will tend to go back and look at it, as a failure, take a few minutes to remember your past accomplishments and build yourself up. What have you learn in your experience? Use it now, know you can succeed again overcoming depression.

4. Appreciate yourself.

Stop comparing yourself with other people who are far better-off than you. Instead compare yourself to the less fortunate. Before you complain about the food you eat, think of someone who has nothing to eat. Before you complain about your job, think of the unemployed and those who wish they had your job.

5. You are not a failure

You are not perfect. You are not all-powerful. Self-change is hard, so it’s not terribly surprising that you didn’t get it right the first try. So, stop feeling so bad. You are not a failure, life is hard, so accept it, and keep going!

6. Don’t drink

Maybe this is very obvious, but when you are depressed, you think alcohol or drugs can cheer you up. They don’t. I had a problem with alcohol a long time ago, because I thought it could help me get relaxed from my problems. It was a big mistake, so now; I want to share this to everybody: stay away from alcohol, if you are overcoming depression. Period.

7. Escape from your mind

If you find yourself continuously thinking negatively, read a book or go to a movie. Escape your world for a while, it will take your mind off of your depression. The more you think positively the faster your depression will go away!

8. Exercise

Lift your mood with some aerobic exercise or weight lifting or some other physical activity since doing so boosts your body’s natural mood regulating chemicals. You’ll produce more endorphins and raise your levels of your brain’s natural antidepressants: norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine.

9. Get some light

If you are affected by Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D. refers to having the symptoms of depression tied to the seasons), step into natural sunlight as much as you can. When feeling depressed, we tend to create a dark environment to reflect our feelings. The curtain is down, the house is unclean. Go out, where you can get some sun.

10. Change Your Language

The language we use expresses how we understand ourselves and our world. Too much language around depression is the language of the victim or is the language of a war. Indeed, put them both together and you can be a depression war victim. Stop saying things like, “I am depressed”, or “I am going to beat this damn illness”. Change you language to one of experience, if you have to use language at all. If you stop telling yourself you are a suffering victim in a battle, you will be overcoming depression.

11. Start changing your habits

In the article “natural remedies for depression“, you will find more information what you can eat and take to reduce depression. The most important habits you need to change when feeling depressed is to get plenty of exercise and stop smoking.

12. Change the food you eat

Find more info on specific food you can eat on “natural cures for depression“. Make sure you’re eating a good clean diet with lots of vegetables and protein. A lot of people, especially those over 50, don’t get enough protein (which can lead to sluggishness). And stop eating sugar. Some people say it doesn’t have any effect on your body, but I notice a big difference in how I feel when I eat too much sugar.

13. Don’t listen to what people say

As human beings, we have a selfish nature. So we are always thinking about us, even when we give advice. So if someone tells you something that hurt you, because they think you are wrong, don’t listen to what they say! They say it because they need to feel better about themselves, not because they will actually help you. Say thank you, and go away.

14. If you listen, get it out of you

If you do listen to what people say, and it is getting to you, then you need to get it out. This is what you need to do: first, get a pillow and scream to it. Psychologists affirm this is a great way to take out the aggressiveness or anger inside you. Second, forget it. You simply need to ignore your thoughts and forget about what people told you.

15. Practice deep breathing to reduce your tension and stress levels.

This is basically to do meditation. This will release more oxygen into your system along with those endorphins and help you relax. To learn how to do it correctly, read this article on overcoming depression.

16. Forgive yourself

Most people with depression go through the blame thing. You will start to blame yourself for being weak, not being able to cope, letting friends and family down and that sort of thing. Apart from the fact that it is wrong, blaming yourself for your depression is about as useful as blaming yourself for the weather – and I’m sure the really depressed among you might have even done that! But seriously, there is nothing to blame yourself for; your only job is overcoming depression and get your life back on track.

17. Being thankful

When was the last time you thought about all the things you have? It is more probable you keep thinking of what you don’t have, or what you lost. This type of thinking only attracts more of it. Depression attracts depression. So, to stop this vicious cycle, you need to bring something positive. And right now, there are good things in your life. For example, if you are out of work, then you have time to try new things. If you are single, then you are lucky you don’t have to support a family. If you really look, you will find a spark of goodness in the darkness.

18. Socialize with positive people

Thoughts (both positive and negative) are contagious. If you keep socializing with negative people, you will never stop feeling depressed. You need to spend time with positive people. Even if you only have one positive thinking friend, be with him. It will help you overcoming depression.

19. Change your thoughts

Our feelings follow our thoughts. Listen to what you’re saying in your head. If you can change your thoughts to be more positive, your mood will lift, too. Read more about how to change your thoughts in the article change your thoughts, change your life.

20. Change your environment

During depression, you start to associate your problems with everything around you. You start to hate your room, your car, your house. A great solution to change is to change the furniture, decoration and light. This will help you change your mood. You can also try Feng Shui, if you think you are having bad luck. Feng Shui is a way to bringing energy to your environment, by rearranging the place according to chinese guidelines.

21. Create a peace moment during the day

It is necessary to bring peace for overcoming depression. Peace doesn’t have to come as a surprise, but you can create a moment of it. Establish a time on the day when you are going to relax, and think of nothing else. You can watch a TV series, meditate, sit and watch your yard; there are tons of activities you can do to bring peace to you.

22. Create a fun moment during the day

This means getting you to smile, even in the worst moment. One of the ways I try to bring me up is by looking for some funny videos on YouTube, like babies, pets, people doing funny things. Take a moment of your day just to laugh a little, to cheer you up.

23. Keep your expectations low

Do not keep too many goals and expectations that will depress you further. Always keep aside one important goal that you think is necessary to achieve. When you try for many things at one go, you only aggravate the problem of depression. Look at Denmark, the happiest country in the world. The reason why they are so happy is because they have low expectations.

24. Do something completely new

Break your routine, this will be a great help for depression. You don’t need to change your routine 360 degrees. You simple need to do something new, especially if you have wanted for a long time to do it. You can just start exercising, take a walk or go running to your nearest park. It will be refreshing. Or you can take a class, maybe dancing or painting.

25. Don’t overspend

Another way people tend overcoming depression, is to go to the mall and start buying. Yes, you will more relax, but you are adding more problems, if you overspend or waste money on things you don’t need. There is no happiness on material ownership! Happiness is inside you right now, and buying won’t solve anything.

26. Get enough sleep

This totally works for me. I found that once I’ve caught up with my sleep, I feel tremendously better. We all function better, think clearer, feel more refreshed and less stressed once we get into the habit of getting enough sleep. You need to sleep at least 8 hours. Less or more can get you sleepier or lazier.

27. Move your body

According to studies, you can get happier if you just dance. Moving to a beat makes everyone feel better. The same is true for movement in general. Hitting the gym or going for a walk will help you shed the lethargy that comes with feeling depressed. The more enthusiastic your moments, the better you will start to feel.

28. Find a serene place where you can think and assess yourself

Go to a quiet beach or somewhere close to nature. You can also try looking for a comfortable spot in your house where it is peaceful enough for you to relax and think.

29. Go nature

It is refreshing to breathe fresh air, to see nature at its raw state. Once, when I needed help for depression, I decided to talk a day in the beach. I found the loneliest beach, and felt in contact with nature at its purest. I needed that. I don’t know why we have forgotten our relationship with the earth, but if you are overcoming depression, go to Mother Earth, and let her heal you.

30. Get a pet

Animals live in the present moment and they show love unconditionally. Observing and interacting with them will help you get over your problems. Get a dog or cat, take care of them, and they will return the favor.

31. Read a Motivational Book

There are great books to motivate you. Wayne Dwyer, Jack Canfield, Anthony Robbins, you pick them. Instead of feeling pity, change your life, start by reading some of what this people can share with you and teach you to be happier. Here is an article on how to pick up a good motivational book.

32. Think about what really matters

Money and things will go away. They come and go. But family, friends and your inner self are the most important things in life. You may feel depressed for lack of money, love, health, etc., but remember, life is too short to be stuck in this, keep moving, live your life and love your life.

33. Turn off things in your life

The best way to overcome depression that come along with bad times  is to stop watching the news and reading newspapers. Make sure that you’ve taken care of your personal and business finances to the best of your ability and then, for the time being, forget about it. There are some things one can control–for example how much time one spends on new business development–and things one cannot control–like the economy. Spend time focusing on areas where you can make an impact. Let go of the rest.

33.5. Turn on things in your life

Live your life to its maximum potential. It is so short, so insignificant in the universe, but so precious, you have to grasp it in your hands, and make it your own. Be responsible of your life, it you want to change your life, then change. And start today.

image credit: h.koppdelaney

1. Set Goals

Setting goals is the best and effective way to change your life. If you ask people, 90% don´t know what they want in life. To read how to set your goals and getting them, read the article Self Help Motivation.

2. Write your purpose

Can you tell your life purpose? If you didn’t answer immediately, you haven’t figure it out. Think about what is your mission in life, what is the reason of you living. Is it about god, others, you? Think of your past experiences, what is the road you have walked? Where are you going? What I have learned in my life, is that the purpose is the pursuit, the road you walk. It is not about getting to a place, but the trip you do to get there.

3. Take a walk

This is great to clear your mind from all the problems, and to think about how to change your life. In other words, to think about your life. Go out, clear your mind, appreciate what you have, appreciate what you are doing. There will be no perfect moment, than now.

4. Forgive Yourself

Most of the issues people work on is on themselves. And the main cause is their inability to forgive themselves from actions or decisions they have taken. Go to a mirror, and tell yourself “I forgive you”, this may be what you have been needing.

5. Forgive Others

The second cause of problems is not forgiving others. Accept the following fact… You can’t change others! You just live your life, and let others make their mistakes. And while living, don´t get attach to what others say or do, focus on what you want in life.

6. Stop compaining

According to the Law of Attraction, you attract to your life what you think. So, if you are thinking “I hate people who asks me for money”, guess what? You are going to keep meeting with people who ask you for money! To learn more on how to attract what you want, download our free Law of attraction book.

7. Stay focused on the moment

Your mind tends to take you away from the now, and makes you think all the time about the past or the future. The only way to change your life is by staying on the present. Enjoy what you are doing right now, with the people you are with, and you´ll see how things start to change.

8. Take action

Nothing beats simply diving into a project, preferably something you’ve been wanting to do anyway. Getting lost in the doing is a smart way to transcend your mood and get something productive done, as well. Forget avoiding. Start doing.

9. Do a Litte Exercise

If you think about doing exercise, and never doing it, you won´t. But here is a solution to dramatically change your life: Think about doing a “little” exercise. Say you want to start running, then today, just go and run a “little”. You are not going to run 1 hour, maybe just 5 minutes. Achieving easy goals will actually help you achieve greater goals.

10. Volunteer

If you want a 360º change, think about helping others who actually “need it”. There are kids with cancer, old people with nobody to count on, poor people. You will feel more human than ever if you help others.

11. Sing

Feeling rage or anger? Scream your lungs with a song! It will take all that away, and will help you relax. Sure, someone will freak out, but it is a great way to relax and feel good again.

12. Meditate

This is an amazing technique to silence the mind, and be cool the rest of the day. It is not difficult, I´m always amazed when I hear this, because it is so simply, you will only take less than 5 minutes to feel in a state of calmness. Read how to meditate 101 in the article about overcoming depression.

13. Let go

Of material goods, of people, of limiting ideas and opinions, of negative emotions. Getting rid of the excess baggage leads to release and you feel light about life. Trust yourself, love yourself, accept not being in control and become aware of the abundance of the universe.

14. Try New Activites

Stop putting off doing what you have always wanted, and do it now! People who engage in a variety of experiences are more likely to retain positive emotions and minimize negative ones than people who have fewer experiences. Think of the easiest and cheapest activity you wanted to do for a long time, like visiting a museum, flying a kite, going to a party, and just do it.

15. Tell Stories

Talking about the good and bad things that happen can lead to happiness and to change your life. People tend to emphasize positive emotions and mitigate negative ones when telling a story, so it will make you feel good talking to friends or strangers about your story. It works best when there is a lot of audience diversity. It helps to tell the story many times to a variety of people.

16. Look at Fire

Native Americans used to look at fire to talk to the gods. It is more a way to empty your mind, and return to the moment. Try it, without burning your house, of course!

17. Watch a movie

Movies shift your feelings and thoughts and can be a powerful way to improve your mood. Watch cartoons. Whatever makes you feel relax and smiling.

18. Visualize

We can mentally simulate situations by remembering the past and visualizing the future. It’s a valuable tool and one that can lead to happiness when applied to specific goals. Many psychologists ask people to imagine or picture what they would like in their life, creating a mental state that makes the person think that it is achievable. It will make you more confident about your life´s path.

19. Learn to say No

Think before saying yes and learn to say no. This way you will develop healthy and meaningful relationships because it will not allow space for friction and conflict. There is increased self-respect; at the same time your self-esteem is enhanced, giving you control over your life and emotional well-being.

20. Pick up a hobby you have neglected

A hobby can change your life, it is good to relax your body and mind, to get you out of your head and in the moment. Some factors to think about is your time, money you want to invest, appitude and ability.

21. Laugh

As they say, laughing is the best medicine to cure you. People are 30 times more likely to laugh in groups than alone and, not surprisingly, laughter is associated with helping to develop person-to-person connections through a feedback loop characterized by laughter, social bonding and more laughter.

22. Smile

Based on the psychology that a person feels whatever emotion they are acting at the moment, you will probably feel better if you smile.And, like laughter, it’s contagious. If you smile, chances are that those around you will too.

23. Draw

Sometimes is good to express your feelings. Drawing is a fantastic way to take out what you have inside. You can paint watercolor or use pencils, draw whatever comes, a face, a place, even when you think it may suck, it is not about making a piece of art, but to express yourself.

24. Dettach

Consider this a spiritual exercise and learn to detach from your thoughts, feelings and body. Remember, you are not the actor of your movie, but the witness behind it all. Enjoy the show. Life is a play, my friend. It just seems real.

25. Think of God

People with strong religious faith are happier than those who are irreligious. Faith gives social support, a sense of purpose and a reason to focus beyond the self, letting you change your life in a spiritual sense.

26. Read a Self Development Book

There are many authors who write for people who start to change their lives. Wayne Dryer is one of my favorites, he has great books like Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life. If you are feeling depress, reading a self development book can be of great help. To learn how to choose the right book for you, read more the article on Law of Attraction Book.

27. Rehearse Situations

Use a pre-competition routine like the use of imagery and visualization before the event to create a positive vision of the competition and to see oneself attain pre-set goals. If there are situations that make you feel depress, visualize them before they happen, work what would you say, how would you act, and win in your mind.

28. Talk to Your Kid Inside

Keeping the child within alive will enable you to enjoy the little pleasures that come your way. It is about recapturing the magic of childhood, which is usually the happiest period of life. Also think about your teenage self, he or she may still need a lot of support, even when you are a grown up.

29. Manage Your Time

To manage time, prioritize, set realistic daily goals that fit into the bigger picture and some time might be recovered. Picture and imagine what you want to feel like in 3 to 5 years. Maybe set aside two nights in your calendar to focus on those things that you’d like to spend more time on. For free tools on how to organize your life, click here.

30. Time for yourself

Make a little time to be with yourself. Being with people all the time is not healthy for your mind. You need a time on your own, to think and to talk with your inner self. Take a walk or go to a beach by yourself, it is refreshing.

31. Learn From Your Past Experiences

Rely on experience. Reviewing an unproductive or unhappy event will reveal patterns suggesting how you can improve your behavior, attitude and ideas and ensure future success.

32. Think of Happy Memories

Scanning this memory bank and gleaning material that can be used to reinvent yourself to be happier is key. For example, someone who would like to change their life and become more altruistic can scan their past and know that they didn’t like Girl Scouts in elementary school. That person might consider giving money and time to a local group where they can socialize with people rather than mailing in a check to a distant organization.

33. Do Feng Shui

This is the art of bringing harmony into your life, by organizing your environment (your house). You can easily change your life by organizing your furniture, bringing natural elements in your house, and using colors. It will bring new positive energy to your life. Check on google for Feng Shui to do it correctly, don´t try to do it by your self.

34. Put the same time on your home and work

Work can get you far away from your family, which is a great source of a happy life. People who establish boundaries between work and home are more connected to their families and have less conflict than those who integrate the two.

35. Look at a Photograph

If the photograph is of a loved one, it can stimulate blood supply to the brain, says researcher Andreas Bartels from University of London. It also reduces chances of depression and listlessness.

36. Be Grateful

Psychologists found out that people who once a week wrote down five things they were grateful for were happier than those who did it three times a week. But, gratitude might not be for everyone. But if it is, another exercise is to think of a person who has been kind to you that you’ve wanted to thank — a teacher, mentor or parent — and write a letter, once a week to different individuals over two months. You don’t even have to send it to feel happier.

37. Sleep Over Your Goals

While trying to achieve a new goal, for best results stop practising before you feel frustrated and get some sleep. Recall and physical skills are enhanced by sleep. Here’s how: When tired of a routine, call it quits. Pushing beyond fatigue and frustration probably won’t yield any benefits.

38. Eat something

It’s comfort food when you reach for a meal when you aren’t really hungry and feel like crap, but food helps put you in the moment, shifts your serotonin levels, and makes your blood rush from your head to your stomach. Just don’t make this a habit.

39. Move Your Body

Moving allows you to get out some energy you had stored in your body and mind, and releasing it, to feel good. Dance. Play a sport. Work out as hard as you can. Take a walk so your stress will take a hike. Either way, physical motion can provide a rush of good energy that can lift a mood, be it anxiety or mild depression, and it’s a good way to keep healthy.

40. Open the Biblie

“When I am down, I go to the Gita”. This is a phrase from Gandhi. It doesn´t matter if you read the Coran, the Bagavad Ghita or the Bible, if you want tochange your life and don´t know how, go and open it wherever you feel, and read. Find a meaning. Let God tell you what to do.

41. Be Optimistic

Optimism is a learned skill and there are a variety of ways to acquire it. Three things that you can do to enhance your sense of optimism are tostraighten out your body before your emotions by keeping a straight body posture, taking big steps and walking quickly with your shoulders back and your head up. Second, change your tone of voice so that it is cheerful and full of energy. Third, use upbeat or happier words, such as “challenge” rather than “problem,” or think of “opportunities” rather than “losses.”

42. Think of Your Family Roots

Appreciating one’s culture creates and strengthens bonds with others who share that culture and also allows one to identify and appreciate cultural difference.

43. Take Herbal Medicine

There are great boosters of foods and plants that can help you change your life. It is all about changing your eating habits and using natural supplements to feel more energy and excitement. Click here for information on natural cures for depression and natural remedies for depression.

44. Listen to Music

Music activates parts of the brain that can trigger happiness, releasing endorphins similar to the ways that sex and food do. Music can also relax the body, sometimes into sleep as it stimulates the brain’s release of melatonin. Studies suggest that listening to their selection of music reduced their anxiety levels and lessened the dosage required for sedation.

45. Go to Nature

Sometimes you just need to be surrounded with nature to change and feel better. Go to a park, and take a simple walk, admire your surroundings, the trees, clouds, animals, water, and think about the miracle of life.

46. Love unconditionally

Everyone is here to learn and grow. If you are patient and accept people and yourself  ’as is’, you will love without any conditions or reservations. If all of us behave like that, the world will be a warmer, more affable place.

47. Think of your goals

Happiness can lead to success, rather than just the other way around. Happy individuals are predisposed to seek out new opportunities and set new goals. So, by thinking of your goals, you are attracting more like the success and a change in your life.

48. Give a Hug

When you hug someone, chemicals on your brain are released, which create a sensation of feeling good; often referred to as the “hormone of love” or the “cuddle chemical,” it is associated with feelings of bonding and trust, and can even manage stress.

49. Help someone

Small or big actions during the day, directed at friends or strangers, random acts of kindness make the person performing the kind act happier when they’re grouped together. Doing a considerate thing for another person five times in one day made the doer happier than if they had spread out those five acts over one week. So help someone today, even if it is simply to hold a door.

50. Call an old friend

When feeling alone, find someone. It is very useful, according to studies, to be with someone when deppresed. Call a relative or your friends. You don´t need to tell them about your problem, just try to be with someone.

51. Start Doing To-do lists

They are a good way to keep track of your tasks, aims and time. But these are tools to control stress, not raise it. To download free to do lists and more organization tools, click here.

52. Live like Denmark

Last year, the first world map of happiness was produced, and Denmark came out on top. The reason they are no. 1 is because they have shown low expectations for the coming events in their life. While there were other reasons that contributed to the satisfaction of the Danes, one thing is clear: the higher one’s expectations, the further they fall.

53. Write a Diary

Writing your thoughts on a diary can help you take out what you have in mind. I doesn´t matter if you write thoughts of anger, joy, depression or frustration. If you get a rutine of writing every night what you felt during the day, you will find you become more relaxed on life.

54. Be there for Someone

If you want to change your life, help someone. Be there, help even with the least effort. It doesn´t matter how much you do, but to actually do something.

55. Be a mentor

Help people with your experience and wisdom. You will feel so much better by teaching others all the things you know.

56. Education

Knowledge makes you want to learn more. And in certain moment, you start learning about yourself. Start by reading a book, take a course on what you are interested, and at some point, you may be want to go back to school.

57. Enter a contest

Challenge yourself. This will make you compete not with others, but with yourself. It will force you to prepare, to train your mind, body and spirit, and change your life.

58. Do Gardening

One of the oldest pastimes in the world, gardening, is regaining popularity for a new reason, the benefits that it has on our health. Mentally and spiritually, it cannot be beat as a stress reliever, mind cleanser and calming agent.

59. Stop watching the news

When you watch the news tonight; keep score of the number of positive stories versus negative stories, and see for yourself whether what I’m talking about is true or not. For the next week, I’d like you to stop watching the news and instead watch some comedy or some other show you like as long as it’s not depressing. I want you to take note of how you feel every night. You should feel a dramatic improvement at the end of the week.

60. Stop being a perfectionist

Perfectionism is comes from the way in which you think and particularly the way in which you talk to yourself in your mind. If you can change the way in which you talk to yourself, you can start to learn to demand less from yourself.

61. Go simplicity

Henry David Thoreau wrote in his most important book Walden, “Simplify, simplify, simplify” Living a simple life is not comforming, but taking what you have and appreciating it. Simplify, eat less, spend less, live more.

62. Check Your Photo Album

Reminding you of yourself when you were a baby, kid or teenager can bring memories, and allow you to remind you who you are. All the decisions you have taken, make you who you are now, so don´t regret, but enjoy.

63. Go outside

You may work a lot, or you may be doing home tasks. But it is always refreshing to go outside. Go to a place in nature, take a walk, go out and breath.

63.5. Go inside

Meditate, go deep inside you. Talk to yourself, talk your problems. There is always a solution, a choice to change your life.

I will be updating this list, and complement it with other articles. If you have any real suggestion on how to change your life, feel free to add your tip on the comment box.

photo credit: Bludgeoner86

Some people believe that to change your life, you have to make a 360° turn. In some cases, yes. But a lot of people, just need to be more organize. We tend to think of organize people, as the character of friends, Monica Geller. In the show, she even had 11 categories for her towels! That is overreacting, not to be organized. My point is, to organize your life, you don’t need to get to that extreme.

Before start to organize everything your house, you need to organize your life, and my that, I mean your mind. Problems are a permanent element in life. If you expect to start doing the things you want to do, when you are out of problems, wait till you die, because that is not the issue. The meaning of change your life, is to change what is inside first. So here are a few ideas to get you started:

Organize Your Life Lesson 1. Define what you want in six months

This is as easy as I can put it. I won’t be talking about goals, or purpose, or the meaning of life. Just set this straight to yourself: what do I want to achieve or where do I want to be in six months? Write three things down in a piece of paper, and put it everywhere. You can put it on your mirror, your car, your fridge, your own, your PC.

Let me tell you that classic Christmas story: it’s December 31, and you are thinking you didn’t do this and that; you’re feeling sorry for yourself, and you set your mind to start the year doing all this thanks. By January 15, you’re back in the same business… Am i wrong? This is why defining what you want in six months, and speaking it everywhere, will motivate you to achieve specific goals in a determine period of time.

Organize Your Life Lesson 2. Get yourself a calendar, right now!

Hopefully, you thought about the three things you want to do in 6 months. I think it’s better to be by the year in two, because you may get frustrated of not achieving what you want. Now, if you don’t have a calendar, get it right now! Phil and I worked on a video to help you use a lot of tools (one of them is a calendar) to organize your life. You can watch the video, download the tools, print them out and use them in the same day. Click here to do it today.

Organize Your Life Lesson 3. Reverse engineer your goals

Reverse engineering is management term, to overhaul a process. It means, start from the desired outcome, to know what are the steps to get to that outcome. We are going to do the same. When a piece of paper, put your goal on the bottom of the page. Now, make a vertical line across the page, and start thinking about what steps are necessary to get to your goal.

For example, you simply want to learn a new language, then, you will first have to find out what language do do you like. Therefore, you can check the web, ask a friend, watch videos. Next, you will have to find a school. Next, get the dates and costs, and so on. You see how from a simple idea, I started developing a plan? By reverse engineering, you can plan difficult or simple goals, thinking along the outcome.

Organize Your Life Lesson 4. Mark the date

Once you have the activities, you need to write them down and not to the least, and in your calendar. You need to work with a specific dates. Even if you don’t achieve what you intended on that date, you will pressure yourself to do it. This is better, than just saying “this week I will bla bla”. Instead, you will change your life and say “By July 2nd, I will bla bla”.

Organize Your Life Lesson 5. Motivate yourself

Just because you planned, doesn’t mean you will act. To organize your life, you need to plan first (the previous four steps) and then act. The best way to describe acting, is to think about Nike´s slogan “just do it”. You are “just doing it”, because you have a plan, that we’ll help you get to your goals. You will need to develop a self-help motivation, to achieve them. There will be many times when you think you failed, the journey to keep on going.

With this simple five steps, you will find a way to organize your life effectively. Remember, you don’t have to do this all by yourself. We already created a video to teach you the concept of “life management”, which will be the guideline to organize your life. Also, we included tools you can print and start to change your life. They have no cost on for you, because it is the way that we want to introduce you to the Change Your Life Phenomenon. If you don’t know what is it, click here to read why are we doing this.

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To manage time, the main element in it is discipline. Remember, your time is… yours.Everyone has duties: kids, family, a demanding boss, home tasks, etc. The real reason why you are not doing what you want, it is not because there are so many tasks, but because you are not managing what you do, to make time for yourself. Let’s say, you need to clean the house and you want to read a book on Wayne Dryer. Why not you using audio self help (audiobooks) to read, while you are cleaning the floor? It is not that you need to put your full attention in a simple task. It is using your time wisely to change your life. Another example, you want to practice your golf swing’s, but you need to take care of your kids. Why not taking your kids with you, and teach them how to play? Or the most common example, “I want to have time for myself”. Then, you need to use the calendar and mark when are you going to have this time, and what you need to do before to make it happen.

Here are quick guidelines on the steps, tools and concepts nobody talks about, to help you manage your time.

Steps to Manage Time

1. Before organizing your time, examine your daily routine including meals, travel, work, appointments, etc. how much time does it take for each task. Now decide how much time you need, when you want to work on your goal, and how that goal fits in the rest of your activities.

2. Set goals and make priorities. This gives you a sense of what has to be done and when.

3. Do important things first. Important things become pressing and you use up more of your time when we avoid doing them.

4. Manage time by saying “no”. There will be many interruptions and request for your time. Anything that is not in your schedule, can be scheduled later.

5. Start and stop specific activities at predetermined times. This enables you to concentrate on the task at hand.

6. Try to do all the activity one time only. Don’t leave it right on the middle.

7. make “to do” lists and schedules.

Tools to Manage Time

These are some of the tools you can use to manage time, which are available to download and print here:

- daily to do list – get in the habit of making a daily to do list that combines your scheduled activities and the important things you want to do that day. After listing what you want to do, called the most important items and make sure you give them priority over less important items.

- weekly schedules – to decide what is important, you need to know your week’s schedule. Stark each week by making a schedule. Field team work time, study time, important events, etc.

- monthly schedule – a monthly schedule can help you look more broadly at what you want to accomplish. The task you list on your monthly schedule can be incorporated into your weekly and daily schedules.

At the end of each day, week or month review your schedules. Observe how well your time schedules work for you. Make adjustments as needed.

Three Unaware Elements to Manage Time

To manage your time, it is also important to talk about three elements most people ignore: that is, concentration and distraction and one tasking.

- improve your concentration: this means to stay focused on what you want and what you are doing. Generally speaking, most of us are aware of the fact that we do not have enough time to the many of the things that we will want to do with the limited time we had. We failed, however, accept the fact that we can do only one thing at a time, particularly when time is limited. Seems there are many things competing for our time, it’s often hard for us to concentrate. Accepting the fact that we can only do one thing at a time can improve our concentration when we seek to work on the tasks to get two hour ago.

- minimizing distractions: before starting any task, set up your space or that environment you need to do it. For example, when I am writing my book, I like to be in a quiet space without music, and I pray before writing, to find inspiration. Find out, by observing your behavior, where are you wasting time. I know lots of people spend at least two hours on youtube, looking at funny or music videos. Also, working with a TV on is not optimal. Music is okay, if it allows you to concentrate. A cup of tea or coffee is also okay, but if you are hungry, better go and it’s something before starting.

- working in one task at a time: multitasking doesn’t work. In a research published in the American Psychological Association’s Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance — Rubinstein and his associates David Meyer, Ph.D., and Jeffrey Evans, Ph.D., determined that for various types of tasks, subjects lost time when they had to switch from one task to another. If you work in one task, you are focusing your brain to work on it, more efficiently than doing a lot of things at the same time.

Using this guidelines will allow you to change your life and your time.

P.D. Please check out the tools and video we have for you to organize your life. There is no cost, it is to help you start changing your life.

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Stress is your body’s way of responding to any kind of demand. It can be caused by both good and bad experiences. When people feel stressed by something going on around them, their bodies react by releasing chemicals into the blood. These chemicals give people more energy and strength, which can be a good thing if their stress is caused by physical danger. But this can also be a bad thing, if their stress is in response to something emotional and there is no outlet for this extra energy and strength. My point is, stress is not always bad, but when you feel you are not right, then, to change your life, this is what you need to do to manage stress:

- plan by visualizing expected events.
When you have unimportant event coming, which make you feel now there’s, a great way to release some of the stress you are feeling, like nervousness or fear, is to simply rehearse it. You can do it mentally or by acting. Run it through your mind over and over, the words you will say and the responses you may get. These will allow you to gain self-confidence, and assess self-help motivation mechanism.

- imagine potential negative big events
this is a great method for people who need to manage stress from work or their health. For example, let’s say you went to the doctor and he ask you to come back urgently. You may feel very stress because it may be something wrong with your body. To stop this feeling, try to imagine the worst scenario, and how these will change your life. The purpose here is not to think negative thoughts, but to try to have a backup plan in case things go differently than you’d expect. So, you’re going to the doctor, think about how to deal with the treatment, what would you need to stop doing from now on, how to tell your family, etc.

- relax by deep breathing
deep breathing is very similar to meditation. (In a previous article on Overcoming Depression, I talked about how to meditate). Deep breathing is more a psycho therapy technique, to help you relax your muscles and to improve your circulation, by repeatedly inhaling through your nose, holding their breath for a few seconds, and exhaling through your mouth.

- relax by clearing your mind
when you try to clear your mind, you can think about a peaceful image or a moment in your life when you were happy. To manage stress, what I like to do is watch videos of babies laughing or eating. It is a very peaceful sensation to see them. You can look for it in youtube.

- relax your muscles
stress causes the muscles to become tense. Tightening and relaxing different muscle relaxing the muscles. As you practice this exercise, concentrate as you type in a muscle for a few seconds, then relaxes slowly and feel the difference.

- relax with stretching and exercising
stretching exercises can be done anywhere and anytime. I prefer to manage stress, take a walk for at least half hour in just look at the sky, the ground, the trees. It is better to take a walk in the park or near nature.

- meditation
meditation is a great tool to manage stress. Click here to read how to my meditate.

- think positively
you need to put things into perspective. First, try to look at the big image of the problem. Ask yourself “these days really going to change your life?” And other ways to think of people who are in the worst situation. For example, always think that there is someone worst than you. Mothers who have lost all their sons at war; African children who haven’t eat for three days; the Mexican worker who left his family to make a few dollars in the US. There are a lot of people in a worst situation.

- ask for help
if you feel overwhelmed, you may want to ask for help. Find a person that loves to the most, and ask for help. If not, chances are that some of the people around you had similar issues and might have found a solution for particular problem.

Stress is part of everyone’s life. You are not not the only person stressed out. What differentiates you is the way you manage stress. It can lead to serious health issues, or you can even go to managing stress to need help for depression. In the next articles, I will talk about preventing stress and change your life.

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When a previous article on “change your life, find friends“, I developed the idea that you need to emphasize your persuasion skills to interact better with people, and by doing this, you can be more social. Now, in this article, the focus is not so much making friends, but how to become the leader on that team or a group. The ideas I’m going to share, are based on the book “how to Win friends and influence people”, by Dale Carnegie.

Idea 4 to Become Leader: Leadership: Giving Criticism & Driving Improvement

- Begin with praise and honest appreciation.
To become a leader, you need to motivate people. Praising is a way to open the communication channel with others. It is easier to take criticism after some praise. For example, look for things done well before calling attention to failings. A leader is present not only in bad times, but rewards the good job.

- Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.
One great way to talk to people, is to give own examples of your experiences, rather than criticize.Telling a story, instead of giving the recipe, is fantastic to let people grow by themselves, for example, you can tell the story of how and event change your life. Also, the burden of criticism is easier to bear when shared. So, share your experience, even bad ones, with people to make a connection.

- Call attention to people’s errors indirectly.
Direct, harsh criticism can destroy incentive to improve. So you need to point out mistakes, using alternative communication. For example, instead of saying a product is too difficult to use, a leader can say “How user-friendly will this feature will be?” Also, by focusing on the environment or situation, instead of a flaw idea, can I allow for better communication.

- Let the other person save face.
When you give up that comment about someone, in front of a group of people, you are making this person not only look bad, but feel bad. If you need to make a comment, try to make it private, even when others are talking about it. That is the role of a leader.

- Make the fault seem easy to correct. Use encouragement.
By giving a positive reinforcement, that problems are easy to fix, you are motivating your people to work on them, without making excuses. So, make faults seem easy to correct and new skills easy to learn.

- Praise the slightest improvement and every improvement.
Remember a leader is always giving motivation. So when you are the leader of your group, you need to be someone who praises a lot. Praise reinforces the development of a desired behavior. And the motivation becomes stronger, when you praise specific situations or tasks.

- Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.
This is a theory of expectations, of organizational behavior. If you tell someone you expect something from him or her, you are making him or her work harder on the project. So building a reputation of your team or group of people, will persuade them to act to the objective.

Idea 5 to Become Leader: Leadership: Motivating Others

- Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.
This is a remarkable characteristic of a leader. Instead of giving orders, as a boss, the leader tries questioning. This is a great tool of persuasion, and it’s very helpful not only for leaders, but for members of a group or team.

- Try to make the other person happy about doing things you suggest.
Make others feel too important for tasks you don’t want them to do. For example, give out titles and authority: make others happy contributors.

- Step by Step Guide to motivating others to do tasks:
In a group of friends, coworkers or family, sometimes there are, and projects. For example, having a party, developing a company’s project, or having a birthday. They have problems in this before, because many people don’t like to do anything at all. So here are six steps to get them working:

1. Be Sincere. Don’t promise what you can’t do or deliver.
2. Know preciesly what it is you want the other person to do.
3. Be Empathetic. Try to understand what others want.
4. Focus on any benefits the other person might receive.
5. Explain how those benefits match the other person’s wants.
6. Frame requests to communicate that the other person will personally benefit.

Been a leader is not difficult or a job our boss has to do. You can become leader of your group of friends, your family, your team or your community. It is a very important social role, which most people don’t want to be, because they believe it is too hard or impossible. By changing your mind and following few of the previous ideas, you can change your life. You don’t even have to do all of them, with just a few that you will notice a difference.

P.D. Send an email to Phil if you want to share a story of leadership, we would like to know you better and share it in the change stories.

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In his book “How to Win Friends and Influence People”, Dale Carnegie explains a study he conducted for many years, and reveal the ways to influence people and find friends. When you try to become more social, the key is developing your persuasion skills. People who are not persuasive, tend to follow the crowd, or become lonely. In this article, I will explain the ideas of Dale Carnegie and how you can use them today.

Idea 1: Building Personal Relationships to Find Friends

- Never criticize, condemn or complain.
Even though many people tend to criticize to have something to talk about, you will find more enemies by doing this. Remember that a person who applies self-criticism is extremely rare. Therefore, your criticism won’t be welcome. Also, criticism makes others defensive and resentful. So you need to change your life, by applying more positive reinforcement when you talk to someone, this means, saying good things about people.

- Become genuinely interested in other people.
Something we don’t want to add me, but it is true, it is that people are most interested in themselves. So a great tip to become interested in others, it is to remember people’s birthdays and other important details.

- Talk in terms of the other person’s interests.
Instead of talking about you, try to make talk from what others want to say. Find the interests of others and talk about those things. If you know nothing of their interests, ask intelligent questions. Remember, don’t ask how is the weather!

- Be a good listener.
To be a good listener, means to have your full attention to the other person. Urge others to talk about themselves. Ask pointed questions and think about what they are saying.

- Make the other person feel important.
People yearn to feel important and appreciated. A great strategy is to praise others’ strengths. They will feel very comfortable with you.

- Use Names whenever possible.
A great strategy it be to remember names, is to repeat them when you are introduced to another person. For example, when someone tells you, “my name is Jerry”, instead of saying “my name is Joanna”, say “hello Jerry, I am Joanna”. Change your life and force yourself to do this, and it will become a habit.

- Smile.
Smile can open the doors for you. Greet others with smiles and enthusiasm. Smiling comes through even over the phone.

Idea 2: Selling your Ideas: Establish a Space for Cooperation and Find Friends

- Avoid arguments: you can only lose.
Arguing is not communicating. It is defending one’s idea and embracing it, even when you are wrong. Remember, even “winning” will hurt the loser’s pride and build resentment.

- A Guide to avoiding arguments:
1. Welcome the disagreement. Be thankful for a new opinion.
2. Stay calm.
3. Listen first. Hear your opponents out.
4. Identify areas of agreement.
5. Admitting errors will make it easier for others to admit theirs.
6. If no resolution is found, postpone action and promise to explore the opposing perspective.

- Begin in a friendly way.
When you open a conversation,do it with sincere praise, appreciation and sympathy.A friendly tone will allow others to broach discussions more openly.

- Let the other person do a great deal of the talking.
When you eagerly listen to concerns, you are actually diffusing tension and build relationships.Others need to finish spilling their ideas before listening to you.

- Build sympathy.
Sympathy means you feel what the other person is telling, and you actually with them. Most people hunger for sympathy.Tell them: “I’d feel the same way under those circumstances.”

- Respect others’ opinions. Never say, “You’re wrong.”
People don’t like to admit they’re wrong and may take it personally. So instead of looking for the negative, tried to develop a positive approach.

- If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.
To change the way you are a social, demonstrate your willingness to rationally examine the facts. For example, if another is about to criticize you, don’t let them start! Admitting errors clears guilt and everyone to move forward quickly.

- Try honestly to see things from the other person’s point of view.
Another’s perspective and motivation is the key to understanding their decisions, agenda and personality. In this process, you are developing empathy, and it will help you all the way in your change your life process.

Idea 3: Selling your Ideas And Finding Friends

- Get the other person saying “yes, yes” as soon as possible.
To get more persuasive in the social arena, emphasize things all parties already agree on.You will build momentum toward acceptance.

- Dramatize your ideas.
When you express yourself with physical movements, tone of voice and face gestures, you’re building your idea. It helps to make a visual, visceral demonstration.

- Let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers.
People are more committed to their own ideas.therefore, make suggestions and let others come to the desired conclusion.

- Throw down a challenge.
For example, and to work stimulate competition among co-workers.
Challenge someone’s capabilities/self-perceptions.

By working this ideas at work, school or clubs, will help you have more friends. Remember, to find friends, you need to develop persuassion skills. It is not about being cool. It is about being persuasive. To read the second part of “Change your life, become leader“,  click here.

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“Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing it is not fish they are after.” Henry David Thoreau

The first question I asked, is not meant to hurt you. This to help you define yourself and find purpose. Henry David Thoreau was trying to say in his previous life changing quote, that you may go through life without knowing what was all about. If you think we are just born, grow, have a job, have kids and die, then, why are you living? Don’t you feel you would like to change your life?

Every living being has a purpose. For example, without bees, there will be no pollination. So what? Okay, this is what will happen in the words of an expert:

“If all the bees in the world were kill over tomorrow, a situation that doesn’t look entirely unlikely at this stage, it would take nature far longer to recover than our agriculture would demand. New technologies for artificial pollination would need to be introduced while the bees were pensioned off. Food shortages would immediately become an issue, as the available artificial technologies are nowhere near as efficent as the bees. There is no doubt that the industry would continue to function, albeit using a slower model of production. This would result in the hiking of prices for basics like fruit and veg, including anything that might be higher up the food chain.”

So even a small insect has a big effect in the world. Also, look how bees work toward their purpose. Think about when you say to someone “you work like a bee”, what do you mean? You are saying that working as a bee, means working hard, putting effort, and staying focused.

So here is what we can learn from the bees about finding purpose: they are doing something that affects the surroundings or the world; they worked hard on it; they stay focused on what they do.

So to find your purpose and change your life, you need to think about how you can make a difference in your community. It doesn’t have to be a great difference. There are few leaders in world history, that we tend to measure with. What they really left us, are not their ideas, but they’re examples. For example, Dr Wayne Dwyer philosophy is this: “My belief is that the truth is a truth until you organize it, and then becomes a lie. I don’t think that Jesus was teaching Christianity, Jesus was teaching kindness, love, concern, and peace. What I tell people is don’t be Christian, be Christ-like. Don’t be Buddhist, be Buddha-like” So, again, they were teaching us how to make a little difference, which at the end, can make a huge difference over time.

You also need to think about finding your purpose, by following your dreams. Don’t think about dreams, like you are sleeping in an unreal idea. Dreaming is about getting to a desired state of life. For example, my dream loss to become a rock star. Even though I didn’t have the support from my parents, I tried with a few bands. However, I never gave up. I just focused more on my dream. By being in bands and playing live on stage, I understood I didn’t enjoy playing live. So, I decided to start writing music, and becoming a composer. The music business is hard, and I haven’t sold a song. However, I don’t give up, and I know that day I sell a song and might hear it on the radio, I would know I left something to the world.

I regret that nobody teaches us about finding a purpose. We had to find neat by ourselves, experimenting and having new experiences, almost as trial and error. So, we need to fail at first to find the answer. This is where most people get stuck on. At the first attempt, they give up their dreams.

My best advice, to find your purpose, is to think about your dream, and focused it to your reality. For example, if you want to be an actress, maybe you can do it, by acting on your community plays. Or maybe you want to be a movie director. Maybe you can start by making some videos and putting them on youtube. Like Lao Tzu said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

I’ll be writing more on how to find your purpose. Right now I’m working on my book, and one of the chapters is about purpose. I’ll let you know when it’s available. Join the change your life phenomenon, it has been a great source of education, motivation and tools for a lot of people to change.

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Happiness is an ambiguous concept. From the Greek philosophers and in every world culture, people have tried to determine how to be happy. In this article, I don’t want to do the same as everyone, they giving you common sense tips. What I will like to try is to help you uncover your own way to be happier and change your life.

We have to start with what you think these happiness. Is it to have a smile on your face every day at every hour? Is it to have the perfect life? And what is the perfect life? To be realistic, I think happiness has been defined by the media. We see beautiful, rich and extroverted people in TV and movies, who seemed to show us what is happiness about and how to live happy. However, you have to understand that this is not real. They are just actors playing a role. Offstage, they may be more miserable than an African child with nothing to eat.

Most interesting, is to find out what happy people do. According to studies, Denmark is the happiest country in the world. BusinessWeek says this:

• Denmark
• Population: 5.5 million
• Life Expectancy: 77.8 years
• GDP Per Capita: $34,600

With a high standard of living, negligible poverty, and a broad range of public and social services, it’s easy to see why Denmark tops the happiness map. There’s a high level of education; public schools are top-quality and private ones are affordable. The low population gives the nation a strong sense of identity. And Denmark’s physical beauty forms a great backdrop to daily life. The weather is a bit tough, though.

However, here is an interesting idea. In all the countries in the world, Bhutan is the number eight in this ranking. Here’s a little information about it:

• Bhutan
• Population: 2.3 million
• Life Expectancy: 55 years
• GDP Per Capita: $1,400

The small Asian nation of Bhutan ranks eighth in the world, despite relatively low life expectancy, a literacy rate of just 47%, and a very low GDP per capita. Why? Researchers credit an unusually strong sense of national identity. Plus, the country has beautiful scenery and a largely unspoiled culture, thanks to strict governmental limits on tourism, development, and immigration. Pretty counterintuitive, but Bhutan seems to have found a recipe for happiness.

Do you see what they have in common? Both of them have a strong sense of national identity. These means, they love their country. By love, I mean they are not so negative with the current state of the country, and they are very positive in the way they see living on it.  Overcoming depression is easy for them, because there is no reason to feel depress.

They accept what they were given, and enjoy it. The food, the weather, their quality of life, their education. They are not complaining, like everybody else in the world, about every single problem. Just read one newspaper in the US, then you will understand it.

My point here, it is a culture and environment affect the way you feel and your concept of happiness. But don’t think that, because there are external elements that affect your happiness, you can’t be happy. What you need to realize, is that you have the power to change your life. If culture and identity are big factors, then we need to change them. The meaning of identity is the individual characteristics by which a thing or person is recognized or known. So it is on your individual characteristics that you have the ability to be happier.

Change is a process which requires three elements: motivation, tools and education. To change what characterize you (I mean, the individual characteristics), you need to work on these three elements, based on the purpose of being happy. I will write more about this, since it is such an interesting topic and most important to life. Joining the change your life phenomenon to get the updates of new articles.

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In this article, I won’t be talking about diets. There are a lot of diets, that you can define on the web or books. I think most important, is the reason why to do a diet. Most people just start a diet they read about, but drop out after a few weeks. So it is more important to mentalize yourself, before starting anything.

If you visualize your goal first, it is easier to achieve it, then just doing things without a purpose. So, why is it important to change your life and start a diet?

Data from thethe U.S. Census Bureau’s Statistical Abstract of the United States shows that Americans are the fattest people of the planet. But in the short term, maybe being obese is not a big deal. Sure, socially it is difficult to be fat person at school or work. People tend to make jokes about them, or to act different to them. However, the big concerns are on the long term. It can  change your life dramatically.

A study by Dutch researchers appeared in the Annals of Internal Medicine. It looked at data collected from 3,457 adults age 28 to 62 in Framingham, Massachusetts, between 1948 and 1990. The results show that, if you are obese by the time you are 40 years old, you will live less.

For example, a 40-year-old woman who is 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 150 pounds is considered overweight, with a BMI (body mass index) of 25. She can expect three years cut from her life expectancy, according to the study. If that same woman weighed 180 pounds, her BMI would be 30, she would be considered obese and would lose seven years.

Men are hit almost as hard. A 6-feet-tall man who weighs more than 184 pounds is considered overweight. If he weighed 221 pounds, he would be obese and could expect to lose six years.

Obese smokers can subtract seven more years from their life expectancy. According to the study’s figures, that means obese, smoking women will live 14 years less and men 13 years less than their nonsmoking, lower-weight neighbors.

And I have to add, it is not only the years you are taking from your life. It’s the quality of your life. You’ll can get more diseases by being obese, will have a harder time walking, doing normal activities. Socially, you will keep having a hard time.

My point is, you need to change your life now, and think about yourself in the future. Just look at yourself at 50 or 60 years old, being obese, and having all the problems I mentioned before. Can you care about yourself now?

So how do I change? First, the word diet is always attach to the concept of hard work and eating things you don’t like. It doesn’t have to be that way. First, if you think being on a diet is hard, then it’s going to be hard. Because your mind creates true reality, you are just putting limits to yourself. Second, you don’t have to stop eating everything. Just by eating less, more times a day, can make a big difference.

So here are my ideas to change your diet, and change your life:

1. Diet is easy
First, you need to make this idea stick to your mind. Say to yourself at least twice a day “being on a diet is easy for me. I am achieving my weight off x pounds”. Write it down a piece of paper and have it with you all the time. Whenever you feel tempted to eat, take out that card, and read it. Even better, sign it. Make a contract with yourself, keep your own word. Read more about this on the life changing quotes section.

2. Eat less more times during the day
Here is a number one tip for everyone: don’t go to buffets. I know it’s great to have unlimited amount of food to eat, at one price. However, the real price is your weight. If you go to a buffet, try to make it a salad buffet. Now, instead of doing the three meals a day, try to make it five meals. And have the same quantity of food in every meal. It is not that hard. For example, one meal can be a sandwich and an orange juice. Another meal can be fruits and cereal. Then chicken. Then a soup. So, it is the same you eat every day, you are just not stuffing everything in your mouth at once.

3. Put a value on your weight
Think about gaining weight, as losing money. Because for every pound you gain, you will have to invest your time in losing it. And remember a time is that only they meant we had in our lives. Is the greatest resource, the most valuable. And, give yourself a reward for every pound you loose. Most people who have overweight issues, find food as a reward. That’s why they are obese. If they achieved our goal, for example, finishing a school year, getting a new client, etc. how do we celebrate? We have a big meal. My point here, is that you need to change to reward system beyond food, as a self help motivation mechanism. I know it’s hard, slow great way to find a new reward system, is to write down the activities that make you happy. It is better if you don’t do them very often. For example, I love to go to the museums, and see what’s new. But I don’t do it very often. So, our reward system I could use for losing weight, is taking a Saturday and go to the museum. This is also a great way to organize your life and doing the things you want to do.

4. Research before starting your own diet
Have you heard about Jared, the guy that lost a lot of weight eating subways? Well, don’t try that. That was one case in a million. The best diet, is the one that fit your needs. I’m not an expert in all the different diets, but I know everyone has a specific need for diet, and I know there is available a lot of material. You can’t start searching the web, and when you find that diet you are most interested in, buy a book. You will see it is the best investment you can do, because by not following a method and instructions, at the end you’ll do it wrong and therefore you will have a different result than the one you expected.

5. Focus on what you eat, don’t look for magic pills
Let me tell you a story about those magic pills. About two months ago, my mom started a diet based on pills a doctor prescribed to her. After 10 days of taking the pills, she was loosing weight. However, by day 15, she couldn’t stand up from the bed. She said her back was killing her, she didn’t want to eat, and had a terrible headache. At first, we didn’t think about the pills. However, when she went to the doctor, he showed her that her condition was due to the pills. It is not about finding a magical solution. It is about eating healthier food, and watching what you eat. Food gives the energy your body needs to work. If you give your body the wrong food, your body want to work properly. That’s why you get fat. If you keep your body the right amount and type of food, your body will work perfect. That is the reason why we don’t see obese asians. They have a culture of eating a variety of healthy food, mix all together. They just don’t eat meat. They eat rice, vegetables, fish, meat and fruits altogether. They are giving their body want it needs.

Hope this article can help you change your diet to change your life. If you want me to write more tips on diet, let me know. Please send me an e-mail or follow the change your life phenomenon on twitter.

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