Terrific New Year

As 2003 draws to a close take time to recognize and celebrate your successes of this year. Take your time, sit back and reflect on what are your achievements have been and write them down. Then once you have your list, take some time to show your pleasure and pride with your successes. You deserve it! We often take our successes for granted and yet this is a key step in having confidence to take on new challenges. Pick an activity or a way to celebrate that is right for you. As my holiday gift to you I am sending you my tips for a terrific 2004!

Wishing you Joy & Peace,
Janine
 

1. Eliminate everything that you are putting up with.
   Most people are currently tolerating from 60-100 things in their life. You may be putting up with a missing button on your jacket, worn heels on your favorite shoes, a friend who shows up late, or your own bad habits. Set aside a Blitz Day on a Saturday or Sunday and get to work --sew on the buttons, unclog the drain, clean out the closet and then go to dinner and the movies to celebrate with a friend.
   
    
2. Dump any goal over a year old.
   Do you have the same old resolutions year after year --like start exercising, lose ten pounds, etc.? These lifeless goals drain your energy. Dump them. You aren't going to do them anyway so stop beating yourself up about it any longer. Instead put in place a goal that really sounds like fun and do that instead.
    
3. Inform people when they do something that hurts or bothers you.
   Instead of keeping quiet, when someone says or does something that bothers you, simply inform them. For example, if your friend shows up late, say "Do you realize that you are late?" It's key that you say this in a neutral tone of voice without any judgment or criticism. You are just informing. This gives the person a graceful exit and a chance to change their behavior and it makes you feel better instantly.
    
4. Put in place a daily pleasure.
   Make sure that every single day of your life you have something to look forward to. It doesn't have to be something big and expensive. It can be a hot bath, a new magazine or a phone call to a friend.
    
5. Delegate the stuff you hate doing.
   This year stop doing what you hate. My cousin doesn't mind doing housework but hates dusting so he hired a housekeeper to come in and dust every two weeks. Life is way too short to do what you hate.  
    
6. Get rid of everything that you haven't used in the last year.
   This is the acid test. You'll be amazed at how much stuff you have accumulated that is cluttering up your life and taking up space for new and better things. Take a close, hard look at your possessions. One client realized that he had a meat tenderizer in his utensil drawer that he has never laid hands on. What are the meat tenderizers in your life? Out with the old to make room for the new!  
    
7. Do three things that will permanently simplify your life for the rest of the year.
   Cancel the newspaper subscription and use that time to write in your journal or meditate. Set up automatic bill paying with the utilities companies. Cancel all your junk mail. Get your bank to set up automatic savings into a mutual fund. Buy all your birthday cards in advance and mark your calendar for the whole year now. You get the idea.
    
8. Cut up your credit cards and pay cash for everything.
   Just by doing this one thing you will end up saving about 10% because you will be less likely to buy stuff you don't really need. Put this 10% in a financial independence account. (One couple kept one credit card frozen in a block of ice in the freezer only to be melted down in case of emergency!)  
    
9. Do the thing that you haven't been allowing yourself to do.
   Sign up for the painting class, the guitar lessons, the scuba diving course, the fancy gym with the Jacuzzi-- do the one thing that you keep saying you will do when you have more time and money. This year will be over before you know it --do not wait a moment longer!  
    
10. Use the Joy Filter for decision-making.
    If someone invites you to something ask yourself, "Will this add joy to my life?" If not, decline. If you want to buy something, ask the same question. Do only what you find joyful and you are guaranteed a terrific year!