6 Ways to Feel Better Now

Regardless of whether you made resolutions for 2013…

Here are 6 simple ways you can improve your life today, this year, and for the rest of your life.

1. Clear clutter for more energy

Start cleaning out clutter today. Clutter clogs your engines in insidious ways.

You know how the less fit you feel, the less you feel like exercising?
Well, the more “stuff” you accumulate at home or in the office, the less
motivation you’ll have to move toward your goals.

You have reserves of energy and inspiration inside you that get plugged up
by the excess weight of your clutter.

Don’t take my word for it; try clearing out just one little piece of your
environment, and see what happens.

2. Get back to basics

Stop using over-the-counter medications to do what better eating habits,
sleep or exercise could accomplish more cheaply and permanently.

If your stomach is upset after you eat, it could be because you put
something in there that it didn’t like.

Begin to pay attention to the way your body handles food, reacts to various
forms of exercise and does with more or less rest.

Become an expert on yourself. Get interested in your physical being.

Try to eat a wider variety of foods, and use stairs whenever you can
instead of the elevator or escalator.

3. ‘Tis better to give…

This is a sneaky and delightful way to instantly improve your day.

Do someone an unexpected favor.

If you don’t know anyone you feel like doing a favor for, pick out a
stranger and do something nice for them, e.g. —

• Help a parent maneuvre a stroller
• Give a fare-paid ticket to someone waiting at a bus stop
• Let another driver take the last parking space or allow them to merge
  in front of you

Granting favors for no particular reason will give you a feeling of inner
joy that’s hard to beat.

4. Love yourself. Actively.

Take a minute, an hour or a day to treat yourself as if you were wildly in
love… with you!

What would you do for someone you absolutely adored? Would you wash her
car? Brush her hair until it shone? Tidy her home so that she could relax
in a beautiful environment?

If you were utterly broke, how would you show your love?

Would you make sure he found the time to write his stories, to tend his
garden? Would you mend the hole in his favorite socks? Smile and speak
loving words to him instead of telling him to “man up” all the time?

Wouldn’t you go out of your way to give your loved one the star treatment?

Aren’t you worth the same? (Hint: The answer is yes.)

5. Let your environment nurture you

If you don’t love where you live, start making plans today to move to
another city/country/house/apartment/planet.

You don’t have to move. Just start thinking actively about what kind of
environment will nurture you.

If you like some things about where you currently live, but not others, ask
yourself what aspects you would keep, and which ones you would change.

The place where you live is an important and large part of how content you
are in your life.

The more you are tolerating in your residence, the less energy you have to
move forward.

If you must stay put, at least get some interior decorating, organizing, or
feng shui suggestions to maximize the livability of your current abode.

6. Stop working so much

Unless you own your own business, stop habitually coming in early, working
through lunch and staying late.

Sometimes one has to do these things at particularly hectic times in order
to make a good impression as a team player.

But if you’re just working all the time because you “like to get things
done” instead of taking your breaks, you’re cruising for a world of
resentment.

If you ever wake up and realize you’re not getting a Good Girl/Boy medal or
even a raise for your efforts, you’ll start getting very angry.

If you’re working too much, you may be avoiding the knowledge that your
life is centered on your job because there’s not much else going on for you
right now.

There’s no shame in that; just stop working so much, endure whatever
feelings come up when you’re sitting idle, and listen to your inner voice
for next steps…