1) Create and maintain a daily morning spiritual ritual. Start each day doing something that connects you with your Higher Power. During this time with your Higher Power you can ask for guidance, surrender your worries, express your gratitude, sit in silence or simply pray for yourself, your loved ones and others. If you don't have a daily morning spiritual ritual already, I would make this your number one top priority this week! Consider these: what supplies do you need, which room would you use and how much time can you dedicate to your ritual? This very powerful ritual alone will have a miraculous impact on your life. Don't delay... your Higher Power is anxious to spend quality time with you!
2) Express your preferences and your needs. Say or ask for what you want because it can make all the difference in your life and in your relationships. All too often we secretly want something and yet we don't express it leaving us feeling resentful later. People are not mind readers. If you want something you've got to say it! Know that your wants and needs are important not only to you but to those who love you because the people who love you want to see your desires fulfilled in the same way you want theirs fulfilled.
3) Compliment instead of judgement. When you feel tempted to judge someone, master the habit of complimenting them instead. The universal law of 'ten-fold return' states that whatever you give will return to you ten-fold; good or bad. This means if you give someone judgement you will receive judgement in return ten-fold and if you give a compliment you will also receive compliments ten-fold. Which would you prefer? At the end of the day, it always feels so much better when we've spoken positively about the people in our lives than when we speak negatively about them. The golden rule... 'Do unto others as you would have done to you.'
4) Spend quality time with your family and friends. Life is busy but making time to hang out with your wonderful support system of family and friends is something you'll never regret. Set aside a little time every day to hang out with your children, plan a date night with your spouse once a week and make your friendships important by seeing them at least twice a month. Remember that quality time is so much more important than quantity. Never miss an opportunity to squeeze in a coffee break or an ice cream cone with your loved ones. These are the most precious moments in life and when the going does get tough... you'll know you always have your family and friends by your side.
5) Move your body daily. All too often we have an all or nothing attitude when it comes to exercise. We conclude that unless we have an hour or more a day to dedicate to exercise then it isn't worth it. The truth is, however, sometimes all we have is 20 minutes and it's so much better to move for 20 minutes than to not move at all. Do your best to shift your thinking when it comes to moving your body. If all you have is small increments of time, those small increments will still improve your health, your level of fitness and your mental and emotional well being.
6) Make time for dreaming and planning. Many of us are living on autopilot and so we don't take the time to kick back and day dream about our lives. Think about your life as if it were a vacation; plan it, get excited about it and definitely make sure that you see, do and have whatever it is that's most important to you! The golden rule for day dreaming is to take 10 minutes a week to sit on your couch and do absolutely nothing but dream... bring a pen and paper... it can get pretty exciting!
7) Give LOVE freely and with all of your heart. As some of you already know, very recently one of my best friend's lost her son in a tragic accident. After Mac's death something came over me and I suddenly realize that LOVE is all that really matters. I want to mirror Mac's legacy of giving LOVE freely and wholeheartedly. No matter what that might look like for you, I encourage you to master this habit too because I think if the world carried on Mac's legacy of LOVE the world we be a much better place.
