101 ways to change your life.pdf

101 WAYS TO

CHANGE YOUR

LIFE

101 WAYS TO

CHANGE YOUR

LIFE

AN EASY TO FOLLOW GUIDE TO BOOST YOUR HEALTH, WEALTH AND HAPPINESS

Compiled by Early to Rise Editor, Craig Ballantyne

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101 WAYS TO

CHANGE YOUR

LIFE

1.

Take Action Today

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.  The next best time is now.” This Chinese Proverb hits the nail on the head. Don’t wait another second to get started on whatever it is you want to accomplish, today is the day to take action.

2.

Schedule Your Habits

By scheduling your day, including your habits you will take control of them, rather than letting them control you. If you know what to expect each day, it will be much easier to handle obstacles as they arise.

3.

Do You Really Want It?

When you decide you are ready to change, make sure you really want to lose those pounds, or get out of debt, because unless you really want it you will not be able to overcome the pitfalls and obstacles. Motivation is the key to your success.

4.

Schedule Your Day

Write a to-do list each evening before you go to bed. While you’re sleeping your brain will prepare itself for the tasks the next morning and you will be ready to jump right into it first thing.

5.

Do Not Participate in Negativity

Every second you spend entertaining the negativity of others or participating in gossip is wasting the precious time you could be using for positive activities. When you feel yourself being sucked into the negative vibes, remove yourself and get back to work on your to-do list.

6.

Be You

Rather than conforming to those around you, focus on the strengths and abilities you bring to the table. You are a worthwhile human being, don’t mask that by acting like someone you are not.

7.

Treat Yourself

Life can’t be all hard work. Make sure to take time to reward yourself occasionally along the way. Taking a moment for yourself will revive and refresh you and ensure that you’re ready to continue the good fight.

8.

You Can’t Change Genetics but You Can Change Your Attitude

Don’t blame your parents for the hand you were dealt, instead change your attitude and conquer what it is you do not like about yourself. Each individual has the ability to change and the ability to control the way you respond to obstacles that you approach.

9.

Fail Forward

If you fear trying new things because you might fail, you have failed. Only by trying and “Failing Forward” can you learn new things that will allow you to reach your goals. Failure isn’t final; you can always overcome your mistakes and become a stronger, better you because of them.

Compiled by Early to Rise Editor, Craig Ballantyne

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101 WAYS TO

CHANGE YOUR

LIFE

10. Identify Your Magic Time Magic time is the hours in the day where you are the most productive. During this time period you can accomplish double if not more than you can at any other time during the day. Flush out when your magic time is so you can use it to focus on the most important tasks you must tackle.

11. Get Out of Your Comfort Zone Only when you make the moves that take you out of your comfortable place will you make strides to accomplish what you wish.

12. Become What You Want by Doing The only way to become what you want to be is by doing that thing. If you want to be a writer, write. If you want to be a singer, sing. If you want to be in better shape, get yourself to the gym. The best way to become something is also the fastest and the easiest, just start doing it.

13. Define Your Fulfillment You must identify what need your habit fulfills. Maybe your mid-day cigarette gives you an excuse to take a break, maybe happy hour with your friends helps you let go of the tensions of the day. Once you determine what need you are satisfying, you can find more constructive ways to fulfill it.

14. Switch It Up and Try Something New Don’t fall into a rut. When you find yourself getting bored by the monotony of life, try something new. This could be a new activity, a new habit or even just a new route to work. By changing things up every now and then you will allow for new influences.

15. Get All Aspects of Your Brain on the Same Page Sometimes the logical and emotional parts of our brain butt heads, so to speak. In order to make sure they work together you must placate them both. Turn “I should not smoke this cigarette” into “It will feel so nice to be able to spend a day with my child without smoking.” If you embrace all the aspects of your subconscious you will be setting yourself up for success.

16. Kick Bad Habits to the Curb Take a moment to evaluate the vices you hold on to. No doubt you have at least a few that are holding you back from what you want to be or accomplish. Rather than letting these vices control you for one more day, take the reins and expel them from your life.

17. Get Ahead by Getting Started If you get started today on achieving your goals you will automatically be ahead of any competition that waits until tomorrow.

Compiled by Early to Rise Editor, Craig Ballantyne

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101 WAYS TO

CHANGE YOUR

LIFE

18. It’s Normal to Be Uncertain It’s inevitable that when attempting to change you will feel ambivalent. There’s no way to know for sure what it will feel like when you achieve your goals, so uncertainty is completely normal. As you continue through your transformation you will discover the costs of staying the same and will embrace change more readily.

19. Make Every Minute Count Cherish every single minute of your day. Whether you add an extra minute to your workout, take one more minute for yourself in the shower or read to your kids for another minute, make every minute count. Every minute you use to enjoy life will take a minute away from your bad habits.

20. Don’t Discount Your Own Experience Rather than devaluing your own experience and overvaluing others’ realize that you are uniquely gifted and bring many valuable things to the table.

21. Visualize Your “Rock Bottom” This term was coined to symbolize when you hit your lowest point. Some people need to get there before they will actively make changes to their lives. But knowing the price of not making the changes you desire can have the same outcome. Be honest with yourself about where you will be in five years, five months or even five days if you do not make a change? Once you establish your low point then you can comfortably stray from the habits that will take you there.

22. Earn What You Get Being handed wealth seems like a sweet deal from the outside, but not one lesson is learned in that process. You add no value to the world. When you earn every cent or accolade you receive your self-worth is easily identified and you can enjoy the acquired experience.

23. You Will Make Mistakes, But Don’t Let That Discourage You In the process of change, you will make mistakes. You will fall into old routines and “fall off the wagon.” If you realize that this is part of the process you won’t use one mistake as an excuse to quit. Pick up and start again.

24. Every Action is Under Your Control The moment you realize that you are responsible for your own actions is the moment you will realize how empowered you are. Every action you take brings you closer or further from your goals.

25. Acknowledge Your Success Rather than beating yourself up every time you stumble or make a mistake, instead appreciate the strides you have made. By acknowledging your successes today you will have the willpower to try again tomorrow.

Compiled by Early to Rise Editor, Craig Ballantyne

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101 WAYS TO

CHANGE YOUR

LIFE

26. Be Proud of Yourself Being proud of your accomplishments is not egotistical, it is logical. When you accomplish something that you have always wanted to, pat yourself on the back just as you would any other, you deserve it.

27. Don’t Be So Serious Rather than looking at your transformation as a tedious and unpleasant task, try to have some fun with it. Whether you pick up a new sport as exercise or find a new hobby to quell your idle hands try to make it enjoyable.

28. Develop Self Confidence You must believe you can accomplish your goals first and foremost. Developing the self confidence to know you can achieve anything is the first step in realizing your dreams.

29. Seek Opportunity Not Security Rather than slipping into complacency, you must resist your comfort zone and instead focus on your goals. It’s easy to settle on perceived security, but it won’t make you happy. Only the pursuit of your dreams will satisfy you in the long run.

30. You Decide Who You Are or Want to Be Only one person can determine what kind of human being you will become, and that is you. Every experience you encounter and every move you make is cultivating who you are, so choose wisely.

31. You Design Your Life Plan, Not Others The only person who truly has to live with your choices is you, so why would you let the influence of others shape your character? You are the architect, engineer and builder when it comes to your life, so there’s no need to outsource.

32. Don’t Let Yesterday Derail Today You’re going to have bad days, but you must not let them infiltrate your good ones. Instead of focusing on the mistakes from yesterday concentrate on what’s going right today so that you will succeed tomorrow.

33. Take a Habit Inventory Take a few minutes to write out all the habits you participate in daily, both good and bad. Once you have an understanding of these then you can decide which to keep and which to purge.

34. There’s No Need to Understand Spending time trying to understand why you are a certain way only serves as a method of procrastination. Instead ignore the whys and take action.

Compiled by Early to Rise Editor, Craig Ballantyne

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101 WAYS TO

CHANGE YOUR

35. Set Deadlines

LIFE

You work hard daily to get closer to accomplishing your goals, but some items on your agenda always seem to fall to the wayside. Give yourself deadlines to get that extra push you need to follow through. Procrastination has its own end point when you force yourself to follow through.

36. You’ve Tried and Failed Maybe you’ve attempted to make this change in the past and didn’t succeed. Don’t let your past failures dictate any hesitation this time around. What you’ve learned in the past will not hinder you, it will help you avoid making the same mistakes again.

37. How to Handle Set-Backs Many things will occur in daily that can make you end up right back where you started. Rather than accepting defeat and convincing yourself that you’ll never change, brush yourself off and start again. Remember, failure isn’t final.

38. Teach Others You have skills and gifts that can enrich the lives of others. Don’t keep them to yourself, share them with the world.

39. Establish Cause and Effect Every action and decision you make leads to an outcome of some sort. If you reflect on the rewards and repercussions that resulted from an action you will be more aware for future moves.

40. Embrace the Pain, It’s Temporary Though pain and struggle can seem infinite when you’re in the midst of it, it’s fleeting. If you can grit your teeth and bear the hard times, what you learn from persevering will be that much more rewarding.

41. Set Specific and Measurable Goals When you are setting your goals, don’t be vague and make sure you can measure your strides. Setting specific goals will make it easy to measure your success and will ultimately give you a roadmap so you can stay on course.

42. Make the Time It’s easy to say and even believe that you don’t have the time to accomplish something. The truth of the matter is that time is relative. It just takes some rearranging and prioritizing to make more hours to achieve success. That may mean that some tasks will get put off, but when you truly want something you will make the time.

43. Ride Out the Cravings You will have moments when you will want to fall back into old habits. When these cravings hit, rather than running or giving in, ride it out. This sensation has been compared to a wave, where the craving builds, peaks then disperses. Understand this and ride it out rather than hiding from your feelings.

Compiled by Early to Rise Editor, Craig Ballantyne

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101 WAYS TO

CHANGE YOUR

LIFE

44. Stop Lying to Yourself The most common lie that holds people back from accomplishing their goals is “I can’t.” Truth is you can do pretty much anything you want to do, once you break through this mental block.

45. Measure Progress, Not Perfection When you are in the process of change, don’t dwell on every mistake or misstep. Instead record the progress you make, that’s all that matters.

46. Share Your Goals With Positive People When you’re ready to get started on achieving your goals, share them with positive people that surround you. They will be the motivational voice you need to hear while also holding you accountable for your progress.

47. List Your Obstacles and Avoid Them The easiest way to ensure that obstacles don’t interrupt your progress is to anticipate them. Take the time to list any potential hurdles that you may face then figure out how you will overcome them, then you will be ready when they inevitably pop up.

48. Visualize Your Success Take a moment to imagine yourself leading the life you strive for. Whether it’s financial freedom, being smoke free, or wearing a bathing suit on the beach, visualize yourself as the ideal you and it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

49. Eliminate Distractions Distractions are only a temporary remedy for boredom or stress. In the long run, distractions will not only serve as a method to escape boredom, but success as well.

50. Recruit Help Most times it’s not possible to accomplish your goals all on your own. There is no shame in asking for help. Anyone who is successful can attribute it to a long line of individuals that lent a hand along the way.

51. Review Your Goals and Progress Regularly When you start your transition make sure to document your goals and keep track of your progress. As you are in the process you can review these daily to make sure you don’t get knocked off course.

52. Never Stop Learning Just because you are done with school doesn’t mean that the learning has halted. Treat each day as a teachable moment and grow from each misstep and mistake.

Compiled by Early to Rise Editor, Craig Ballantyne

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101 WAYS TO

CHANGE YOUR

LIFE

53. Reflect On Your Success Take a moment to sit and think of a few occasions when you succeeded. What did you do, how did you feel and what was the process? By reflecting on the most accomplished moments of your life you will motivate yourself to recreate them.

54. Fix Your Mindset It’s impossible to control the world around you, but it is possible to control how you think and respond to the things that come your way. Get your mind to a positive place and see how it affects you. You still won’t be able to control others, but the simple act of fixing your mind state will allow you to control you.

55. Focus On Your Strengths, Not Weaknesses Every person has varied strengths and just as many weaknesses. Rather than putting stock into where you will fall short, highlight what it is you excel at.

56. Don’t Sell Yourself Short Take the time to hype up your accomplishments rather than dwelling on your failures. In order to be successful you must believe that you are worth it, so inflate your ego every now and then.

57. Set Up a Safety Net Create backup plans for when things don’t work out the way you anticipated. By creating a safety net you eliminate the need to come up with excuses when the universe throws you a curve ball.

58. Be Honest With Yourself You may think you truly want to accomplish your goals, but you constantly let things derail your progress. This is when you need to figure out what you really want. It is possible to have another goal that is outranking and contradicting your new commitment. Let’s say you want to quit smoking, but subconsciously you feel like smoking is an inherent part of your personality.

59. What Motivates You? Understanding what motivates you is vital for your success. Whether it’s a monetary reward, personal integrity, or competition. Every person is different, find out what motivates you.

60. New Habits are Permanent Once you do something enough times to consider it a habit it becomes automatic and stays with you for life.

61. Create Good Habits Habits get a negative reputation because the bad ones get so much shine. Add a good habit to your life. Whether exercising routinely or getting up on a schedule many habits can enrich your life rather than detract from it. Start today by picking up a new habit.

Compiled by Early to Rise Editor, Craig Ballantyne

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101 WAYS TO

CHANGE YOUR

LIFE

62. Past Failure Doesn’t Guarantee Future Failure Just because you failed in the past doesn’t mean the outcome will be the same the second time around. If anything, past failure can assist with future success, because of the lessons you learn when you fall and pick yourself up. Keep trying, failure is not final.

63. Old Habits are Permanent Too Even though you have successfully built a new healthy habit, your old ones are still there. Be aware that it will always lay there behind the scenes so you won’t accidentally let it become a current habit again.

64. Differentiate Between Lasting and Fleeting Happiness Giving in to old habits gives momentary pleasure, but will eventually lead to disappointment. When you are about to settle into an old vice, instead ask yourself whether giving in will cause lasting or fleeting happiness.

65. Call on the Strengths of Others You probably know someone who already is the perfect example of what you aspire to be. So, when you are confused on how to handle a certain situation do what that person would do. When you emulate the characteristics of people that embody your goals you will find that you already had those skills, and learn how to tap them.

66. Get Started Until you actually get started, your goals are just dreams. Don’t put it off any longer, take action today.

67. Forgive Yourself Instead of giving up when you make a mistake, realize that you have complete control over what moves you take next. Forgive yourself for making a mistake, learn from it and move on.

68. Live the Life You Desire Rather than letting other people determine what kind of life you will lead, figure out what it is you want to do, and do it. Outside influences will always interfere, but you are the one who has to live with yourself, so be who you want to be.

69. Picture the Outcome Instead of simply envisioning your success, imagine every aspect using all of your senses. By creating the scenario in your head as vividly as possible it makes getting there that much easier.

70. Reflect on Your Progress By reviewing the progress you are making you will learn what to do the same or differently the next day. Reflection will aid you in learning and accelerate your progress.

Compiled by Early to Rise Editor, Craig Ballantyne

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101 WAYS TO

CHANGE YOUR

LIFE

71. No one is Perfect Success is not defined by perfection or not failing, but instead by how you respond to your failures. By picking yourself up when you stumble you are aligning yourself with every successful person that has made a change before you.

72. Ask For Help Whether you are spiritual or not, sometimes the simple act of asking for help, out loud can bring the assistance you need. Whether in prayer, meditation or just simply asking, sometimes that’s all it takes. Just be willing to take the help should it come.

73. The Perfect time to Start is Now If you wait until the timing is ideal to begin your change, you will never get started. Rather than using excuses of why now isn’t the perfect time to begin your transformation, instead realize that there will never be a perfect time. Start now, and deal with the obstacles as they come.

74. Accentuate the Positive and Minimize the Negative Rather than simply running away from the negative things in your life, turn it into running towards the positive things. Instead of escaping “being fat” try heading towards “being healthy.” By putting a positive spin on your goals, you will make getting there that much more rewarding.

75. Ceremoniously State Your Objective Publicly or ceremoniously stating your intention will let it serve as your guide during your journey. Once you’ve set your objective, ask yourself daily if the choices you make will help you get there.

76. Create Challenging Goals People generally have more success accomplishing large goals rather than small ones. Dream big and your accomplishments will be that much greater.

77. Visualize Your Success Imagine that you succeed at your transformation. Visualize yourself in 90 days, how do you look? Are you identical to now, or are you a new you? If you imagine yourself as the positive image you desire, you will be motivated to get there.

78. Create “Outlandish” Goals People often make goals that are small so they seem more attainable. It is actually a good thing for your goals to be far away from where you are that way the progress is measurable.

79. You Can Only Succeed by Doing Only by doing the work can you see the results. Learning and listening can help if you’re already putting in work, but alone they will not change your life.

Compiled by Early to Rise Editor, Craig Ballantyne

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101 WAYS TO

CHANGE YOUR

LIFE

80. Put it in Writing Write out your goals as a contract and include your strategies for success. The simple act of writing it down will make you hold yourself accountable.

81. One Thing at a Time Pick one thing to change starting today, then once you accomplish that goal you can move onto the next. Many people get bogged down by wanting to change too many things at one time. Focus on the most important thing first.

82. Figure Out Your Success Pattern Look back at other examples when you have succeeded. If you can determine a pattern that has worked for you in the past, apply it to your current transformation. This formula worked for you before and it will again.

83. Take Small Steps Taking monumental strides to accomplish your goals can seem daunting. Instead take a small step everyday and soon you will be right where you want to be.

84. Track Your Progress Sometimes the changes you make will be subtle. By tracking the progress you make, no matter how small, you will see what is working and what isn’t.

85. Learn From Your Mistakes If you are conscious of the missteps and mistakes you make along your journey, it will be much easier to recognize before you make them next time.

86. Increase Awareness It will be easy to fall into old habits. Sometimes it’s as simple as calling on someone close to you to remind you when you stumble. When you are aware that you are backsliding, it will be easier for you to regain your footing.

87. Lean on Others Having a solid support system is important when you are making a transition. Whether you call upon someone who has made the same journey, or simply on a loved one to hold you accountable, asking for help is important.

88. Realize That It’s Hard Acknowledge the fact that changing is hard. By recognizing the fact that what you’re doing is a challenge, you are giving yourself credit for persevering.

Compiled by Early to Rise Editor, Craig Ballantyne

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101 WAYS TO

CHANGE YOUR

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89. You Won’t Succeed Instantly Anytime you try something new, it’s safe to say you probably won’t be amazing at it. The same goes for your transformation. As you begin it will feel awkward and unnatural, because it’s not what you’re used to, but that’s the whole point, to change.

90. Take it Day by Day It’s easy to resist change when it seems too drastic. The policy of “one day at a time” makes any change seem that much more doable. You must exercise every day seems too permanent, however, you must exercise today seems possible. If you keep this up daily, you will eventually get to where you want to be.

91. Silence Your Negative Thoughts Sometimes our own brain can be the biggest naysayer. When your thoughts start leaning to the negative, challenge them. Simply using positivity to counteract your subconscious negativity can be highly effective.

92. Brush Off the Saboteurs There will always be people that will try to knock you off course. Whether they insist you have a drink with them or continually offer you the dessert you declined, you must be prepared. Rather than giving in or getting upset, instead restate your goals and ask politely if they will support your decision. Most people will respect your choice, and those that won’t do not deserve your time.

93. An Additional Incentive Realize that during your process to achieve your goals you are also gaining another important reward. The skills and character that you develop during your transformation can be almost as incentivizing as the transformation itself.

94. Identify Your Best Assets All of us are good at something, find that special something that you excel at and focus on it.

95. Remember, Failure Isn’t Final Failing only represents the end of a journey if it makes you give up. Every time you fall, get up and start again, because then and only then do you ensure that you will never fail.

96. Dream Big to Achieve Big Make sure you have lofty goals and ambitions, that way you have something to work for. When you dream small, you will achieve small, so keep reaching for the stars.

Compiled by Early to Rise Editor, Craig Ballantyne

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101 WAYS TO

CHANGE YOUR

LIFE

97. Have a Clear Vision When you are documenting your goals, make sure your vision of success is clear. Sometimes superficial needs and temporary pleasures will mar your vision, so make sure you are working towards something you truly want.

98. Motivation Comes From Within Unless you are ready to make changes, all the motivational messages in the world won’t resonate. Once you have made the decision to move onward and upward with your life then and only then will you be ready to succeed.

99. Focus on Accomplishments, Not Activity When you are measuring your progress focus on the accomplishments you have made rather than the busy work that is getting you there. If you focus on the everyday tasks that are positioning you to succeed, you may get frustrated. However, if you highlight your accomplishments you will feel more successful and be prepared to keep up the hard work.

100. Live and Lead by Example By living and leading by example you will not only inspire others to live better, but you will also attract people to you that will push you to be better.

101. Mastery Takes Time To excel at anything takes time, practice and perseverance. If you are passionate about getting really good at something, stick with it because mastery is worth the effort.

Compiled by Early to Rise Editor, Craig Ballantyne

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