Choose Wisely!… Blog of the Week by DJ

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In case you haven’t noticed, it’s already 2011!! Have you made your resolution or two (or five) that you are determined to stick to this year?? The average resolution lasts less than 3 weeks. The reason is because most people set big hairy audacious goals that are so overwhelming we become paralyzed with the expectation and enormity of it. Your chances of success will be exponentially higher if you break it down into baby steps.

Here are 5 small choices you can make every day that will hopefully make you a happier, more successful person without all the pressure of trying to overcome a gigantic unattainable goal.

Choose to invest in yourself- Learn something new! It doesn’t matter what you choose to learn, maybe you want to learn to knit, or golf or ride a motorcycle. Maybe you just want to read more….pick a non-fiction and get some value out of it that you can share. Learning something new will make you a better, more well-rounded person, and give you lots to talk about with friends.

Choose to invest in your retirement- Save a few bucks! Go ahead, just try it, it’s not so hard. You will be surprised at how fast it will add up when you’re not paying attention. 5, 10, 20, 50, or even a 100 dollars if you can squeeze it in will make a huge difference in twenty or thirty years. If you have a pension plan or pay into Social Security, save anyway, you never know if the government (or the state, or your company) will actually be able to hold up their end of the bargain in the long run.

Choose to invest in your health- Get outside and have some fun! Saying you’re going to lose 50 pounds or never eat junk food again is not a realistic goal that most people will stick with. What you can do is make small choices every day that will make a big difference at the end of the year. Exercise 4 days a week and do one activity on the weekend that will get you moving. Cut your portions in half at dinner and eat more greens. Splurge on a sweet once a week so you don’t feel deprived. Changing your health is not a big elusive secret, it’s all about the numbers….Less calories in, or more calories burned (or some of each) = weight loss!

Choose to invest in your family- Remember why you like the people you live with! We are all busy with work, school, friends, projects and on and on and on, and sometimes we get so involved in our own obligations that we forget why we are doing all that hard work in the first place. Look around and make the decision to spend some quality time with the people you love. Play a game, take a walk, go to a show, hold hands. They say that kissing your significant other for at least 15 seconds a day will keep the intimacy alive…..try it, you might like having a sporadic make out session every day!

Choose to invest in your time- Be aware of how you spend every minute of your day! One of my favorite sayings is “That’s an hour I can never get back” usually used when I am doing something I dislike. But it’s true, every minute of every day is a precious commodity. Priceless as they say, and we all have a choice about how we use those minutes. Make sure you are not wasting yours on something that really doesn’t matter and you’re putting your time to really good use.
Small choices every day can lead to big changes in your life, so go out there and choose wisely!

Happy New Year!
~DJ