Happy new year to you all..

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Let us make this year even better than the last one!!!

For me personally, I can say that I had the best year since my kids were born.

And why is that you may ask, well it´s because I finally started to take care of myself and think ahead. It is so easy to be living in the past and just live one day at the time not caring about the future.

But what happens then? Nothing, life goes by and it feels comfortable. You may even enjoy those little extra treatments of food, candy, luxury spending and not to forget all those lovely lazy days.

But what happens then in the long run? You will not enjoy it for long when your health starts to get affected and when your bank accounts are getting emptied. Then you will get depressed and urge for more “treatments” just to keep you happy. And so the spiral goes on in a never ending drowning hole…

But what can we do instead? I don´t wanna make my life miserable just to get better later on…

Start with the little things. As someone wise said “simple is better”. Make it simple and do it small everyday instead of trying to make it all happen at once. You will never succeed is you expect results immediately. What do you think happens to all the people that wins big in the lottery? Most go broke again, some cant handle it and just a few get happy. And why is that you may wonder? Because they did not earn  it, they never had to fight for it. Did you ever as a kid steal candy? If you did, you know it just didn’t taste as good as the earned and bought one, right?

But if you have a desire to change, to make things better in life. Can you do it? Yes you can do it, and you will make it happen if you just keep on working on your dreams one day at a time. But remember, it is not the goal that is the satisfaction. It is all the little successes and victories along the way. Believe me, because I started this journey a year ago and I still haven’t got much closer to my goal even though it feels like I’m already there.

My problem was that I had no clue on where to start or how to do it. I just decided that enough is enough and it’s time to do something useful instead of wasting time and money on gaming and gambling. So I started by searching the internet and boy did I get screwed again and again. I did not know that it could be so easy so I just over complicated everything and was searching for instant results all the time. But you do not have to do the same mistakes as I did. You can just step on the right path and get going instantly without spending a lot of time and cash for nothing. Well, it was not for nothing since I now know so much more and have learnt many lessons. I also know that I will never be able to sell stuff on the Internet that everyone is trying to make you. I might still recommend stuff I like but never for the purposes of getting rich. That is not for me and I strongly advise you to stay away as well.

Oh, falling out of subject here sorry. Back to you and me, and our journey towards being better and happier…

After reading some of the books recommended below, and trying it our for myself, I can now truly say that the journey begins with a desire,  continues with a goal and takes off with daily actions.

Take health for example. The most important and the easiest to start with, since it is so easy and so important to get results. A couple of daily/weekly suggestions:

• Sleep regularly. Try to go to sleep the same time every night and try to get up at the same time every morning. Measure how much sleep you need to feel rested and have that as a goal. Will probably decrease if you work on the following suggestions…
• Exercise daily, start with sit ups and push ups. Just a couple to start with and then increase slowly.
• Make a decision every time you start to eat or drink. Is this good for me, or is it just instant gratification?
• If/when you are up to it: Workout or run 2-3 times a week. Start slowly and enhance as you get stronger

Next area is your personal development:

• Start reading books every day. Books about personal development or books that show you how to reach your goals. If you just read 10 pages every day you will have read several books by the end of your first year.
• Listen to inspiring audios or watch inspiring videos every day on you downtime, going to work, out walking, doing house cleaning etc. Available on YouTube or Ted.com for example.
• Stop wasting to much time watching television, gaming or gambling. It is not good for you.

The last but not least area is off course finances:

• Start by putting aside a small amount from your paycheck every month and see if you can spare it. Then increase that amount every month until you find your limit. Put it on a separate savings account with good interest rate and you will see it grow.  I might come up with some investment suggestions later on…
• Make a decision every time you buy something, is this really useful or is it just for instant gratification (same as for food or drink)
• Keep an open mind for Ideas. Maybe you can come up with something unique?

Then there are the social area which I will not go into today because it will come naturally once the others are being worked on, and because it will be talked upon in other ways and in other posts. Like “is anger you worst enemy” , “useful little phrases” , “quality time” etc.

So how to start then? Well, start with your desires. Write them down and make some goals out of them. The goals need to be precise and measurable. Two of my goals as examples:

• By June I’m going to the beach without a t-shirt, and feel good about it.
• In five years I will have the choice to work as an employed or not, because my income on the side will be as big or bigger than my paycheck.

I also have a desire to become a personal coach of some kind but have not been able to formalize the goal for that yet. And then there is the retirement desire. How will my life be when I retire? Yet to come…

Well, I think that sums it up for today.

Please write me a comment and join me on Facebook or Google+

Take care and burn with desire for the better

/Peter

Books to read that I recommend:

The slight edge

Think and grow rich

Secret of the Millionaires mind