5 Things You Can Do NOW To Change Your Life

We’re all short on time and we want to spend it wisely. Here are five simple things you can do right NOW that really will make a difference in your life.

1. Set goals
You hear a lot about goals from me because they really are the foundation for change. Set tangible 30, 90 and one-year goals. Write them down and review them every month. Make sure that they are achievable and when and if you feel stuck, do something--anything--that will take you one baby-step closer to your goal. You don't have to know exactly how you'll achieve it when you set a goal. You just have to know the next small step.

2. Note the positive
Make a nightly practice of writing down three good things that occurred in your day and briefly note why they happened. In one well-documented study, participants who completed this simple exercise for ONE WEEK showed increased happiness and decreased depressive symptoms for six months--six months! Researchers later found that many participants kept doing the exercise on their own because they found it rewarding. Try it--it's easy, it works, and it feels great.

3. Stop and smell the roses
Take five minutes every day and stop. Just stop. Listen to your heart beating. Pet your cat. Go smell a flower in your back yard. Listen to a perfect piece of music. Lie on the floor and study your ceiling.

4. Do good
Commit a random act of kindness. The research keeps accumulating on the positive benefits of doing something nice for other people. Not only is it a great way to spread positive energy, it's incredibly good for the giver. It doesn't have to be huge--but do one kind nice thing daily--no strings attached. It's even more fun if you can do it anonymously.

5. Stretch
Your comfort zone is more flexible than you think it is. Like flexing our hamstrings, we tend to do better with small gentle stretches rather than big jerky movements. Make a practice of stretching your comfort zone in small ways. If we don't use our flexibility, we lose it and my guess you'd prefer to live in a world of expanding possibilities, not of increasing rigidity.