Color Your Life Happy

Do you sabotage your own plans to change? So many of us do by setting up a massive, long-term plan that our subconscious just can’t embrace.

Example: a plan to lose 100 lbs is a wonderful goal, but is much more manageable if thought of in small increments such as 1-2 lbs a week.

You see, as soon as you announce a weight-loss plan to your body it starts to fear it will starve and makes its own plans–storing up for the famine. But if we take small attainable steps our body will cooperate rather than resist.

Since any such plan requires changes in our habits and daily behavior, it’s so much easier to change one small thing than to try to turn our world upside down in one day.

Get ideas for making small meaningful changes in your life starting today and in small ways:

• How to Strip 10 Years Off Your Age  
• A Fail-Proof Way to Reach Your Goals
• Widen Your Comfort Zone

Of the many blogs I read daily, one recently stood out. 

Amy Palko, while researching for her thesis on Stephen King, discovered that there are great lessons writers can learn from Stephen King.  Although the lessons she lists are directed at writers, they can apply to all of our lives as well.

As a guest blogger on Write to Done, Amy shared some of the following examples of Stephen King’s bravery and willingness to tackle challenges

He has refused to stay true to his typecast, and has frequently published work which doesn’t belong to the genre he became famous for.

He stands up to the literary establishment and demands that his writing is taken seriously.

He experiments with new media.

He will try his hand at just about any kind of fiction: short stories, serial novels, comic books, screenplays, e-novels.

He offers his work up to others for their own creative interpretation.

As Amy points out in her article, Stephen King may be known for writing that strikes fear in his readers, but he is fearless.

I’d like to add to Amy’s observations. 

Stephen King is also generous. He was one of the first authors to make his work available free on the Internet. He also sends free copies to military personnel who request them.

Once someone achieves fame and fortune, the public seems to think it happened magically or overnight. There is nothing mysterious or scary about King’s path to success. He wrote in all his spare time while he worked as an industrial laborer and later as an English teacher. He passionately pursued his writing in spite of rejection and uncertainty.

King’s self-assurance and integrity he stays true to what he believes is right, even if it means refusing the riches folks may dangle in front of him.

It seems to me that we can learn a lot from King.  Even if he had never become a highly paid, respected and famous author, Stephen would still be passionately turning out compelling stories and novels.

Life-enhancing ideas often pop up in unlikely places.

This occurred to me while watching the movie “The Ball” one of the short films chosen to be shown on Pangea Day. In the film, thousands of children in Mozambique found a way to use a product that clearly was not the manufacturer’s intent. Business people like to call this repurposing, but for these children it’s just a practical way to reach their goal.

As children, many of us found ways to create fun play time with simple items and techniques just like the children in the movie.  As we grew up, however, we often opted for not-as-good, but ready-to-go alternatives.

Those of us living in cities and towns with easy access to a multitude of products and services often trade money for saving time and enjoying convenience.  The more money we have the more we trade. In the process of easy fixes, perhaps we lose something. (Read my contradition here.)

People with limited means and/or access are forced to be resourceful and clever, but perhaps in the end are happier with their simpler more straightforward lives.

Enjoy this cute movie. Then think of resourceful, low-cost, clever ways to reach your goals and enjoy a simpler, happier life.

The Internet is loaded with wonderful articles, stories and tips for improving your life. I’ve gathered a few links to give you a shortcut to the inspiration from other authors and bloggers.

Times Change–A Short Story on Looking to the Future 
Cameron explores how we look at music and other things differently in retrospect.

20 Questions You Need to Ask Your Surgeon Before You or Your Loved Ones Have Surgery 
Millions of Americans have surgery every year and most of it is elective. You will not only want to read this, but also pass it to your friends and loved ones.

Stop Using the Rewind Button and Visualize What You Want
When you start making changes in your life whether for good or bad, your subconscious will kick into survival mode. Find out what to do.

Who Wants to be Rich?
What do you think is at the top of the list of what most people want?

Ghandi’s Top 10 Fundamentals for Changing the World
Guess what you have to change first in order to change the world

14 Reasons to Become More Conscious
Going beyond spiritual issues, these tips are about enhancing your daily life.

4 Reasons You Should Meditate and How to Get Started
Once you grasp how meditation positively affects your life, you won’t have trouble getting started.

How Your Income Grows as Your Personal Development Grows
Discover how income and personal development are related.

 Why Your Loved Ones Want You to Fail
You’ll be surprised at some of these reasons.

Six Steps to Become Assertive and Nice
Yes, you can do both at once.

Jonathan Field’s Best of the Web Roundup
For more inspiration and entertainment, check out the 20+ links Jonathan has rounded up

It’s inevitable that as we get older we will attend more funerals.  There’s nothing like watching our friends and age-mates succumb to illnesses or die of natural causes to remind us of our own mortality.

 One of my friends uses these funerals to remind her to keep busy enjoying her life.

She says, “Everytime I return from a funeral I book another cruise.”
 
You may not long for cruises, but surely there’s something you’ve always wanted to do. If you don’t do it now, when are you going to get it done?
 
Maybe you’ve always wanted to pursue a certain hobby, or write your life story, climb a mountain, or travel by rail across the US or have fabulous dinner parties. The possibilities are endless.
 
I can already hear your objections: 

• I don’t have the money
• I don’t like traveling alone
• I don’t know anyone to go with me to the (fill in the blanks)
• I’m too old and can’t move around fast anymore
• I’m afraid to fly.
• I’m afraid to drive
• I don’t like public transportation. 

For just a moment pretend none of your objections exist. What would you love to do?

1. Make a list.
2. Since we’re imagining, make your list as long as you want.
3. Make your wishes as elaborate as you want.
4. Now, pick one of those wishes from your list and make a list under it of all the things you would have to do to have that wish come true.
    

I’ll give you an example of one that was on my list years ago: Travel to Europe. What did I need to do to make this happen?

• get a passport
• pick a country
• look up airfares
• look up organized tours going to that country
• check out prices of tours
• select a tour
• investigate my finances to see if I could comfortably afford trip
• talk to others who have been to get tips
   
  Now make a list for each of the items on this list identifying what you need to do to accomplish this goal. For example,

To get a passport I needed to find out

• where do you get passports
• price of  passports
• application process
• what else is involved

By the time you get to this third level list, you will see that there are a number of things you can do today or tomorrow.
 
For example, It costs only a few minutes of time to find out where to get passports. If you have access to a computer, you can find out all you need to know about passports or anything else in a short period of time.
 
If you don’t have access to a computer, your local library does. The librarian will be happy to help you find what you’re looking the information you need.
 
This is just the start, of course. But drilling your lists down and your objections will begin to evaporate.
 

Get busy, start on that first list. Then leave a comment here about how this is working for you.