Getting The Most Out Of Life Without Making Resolutions

New seasons mean a time of change, a time to reflect on the past. It's a wonderful time to look inward and identify if any changes are needed in life to make improvements to be more productive, have peace of mind or continue with the way life is travelling.

Frequently this leads to making commitments and resolutions with good intentions but often fizzle out after a few weeks and back to the same old way of living, try a new tactic. A long term approach and modify your habits instead.

Our lives are largely based on habitual patterns so this is the best means for making lasting changes that will stay. You already have many good ones and they make life simpler to live without constantly thinking. Changing them even slightly will improve your quality of life, simplify it or reinforce existing ones working for you.

Here are 6 simple tips to help you identify areas of your life you will want to look further into for possible habit changes, then 6 simple actions to use in creating a plan to modify them.

Complacency - Areas where you no longer receive satisfaction from an accomplishment or finishing a project.

Boredom - Areas that you do the same thing repeatedly, without revising goals or action plans. This leads to burnout and a lack of enthusiasm. It's time to try something different.

Lack of Energy - Any area of your life where you are having low endurance while performing a task, occupation or activity that once got you excited.

Procrastination - Dreading to do things you know you need to do or ought to do in favor of other activities.

Distractions - Areas where you become easily distracted by "shiny" new objects, tweets, posts, and emails. Performing trivial tasks or anything that changes your focus and keep you from completing what is important.

Attitude - Areas that you no longer see optimism and hope in your activities and actions.

Now that you have identified them, next is making changes. Here are 6 simple actions to use in creating a plan to modify them.

Start Small - Focus on making small changes that lead up to bigger ones. Focus on one habit at a time for 30 days, mastering it before moving on.

Be Committed - Write out exactly what you want to accomplish over the next 30 days and why. This creates clarity and difficult for you to dismiss a commitment to yourself. Pin up a note in your office or attach a note to your bathroom or bedroom mirror as a reminder of your commitment.

Keep them Simple - Complex rules create confusion and is difficult to follow, simple rules create new habits. Limit your rules. For example, "I will limit myself to one trip to the vending machine per day." Not "I will limit myself to one trip to the vending machine per day on days I bring my lunch and I'm not in meetings in the afternoon."

Replace the old habit - Find something positive in place of the old habit. Example: Read a book; join a club or networking group to replace watching television.

Get Help - Don't do it alone. Post your commitment where you and others will see it. If it's appropriate, post it to Facebook and let your friends remind you of your commitment.

Follow-up - Have a series of checkpoints to track your progress; rule of thumb is weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly. Mark them on your calendar, and reward yourself for any progress made.

Knowing when and how to make changes in life is a key to success in our personal and business lives. Habits are the things we do daily to ensure our lives run smoothly. Controlling them is the key.

Now it's time for you to go over your habits and determine the changes that will improve your quality of life, simplify it or reinforce existing ones.

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