30 Days, 30 Ways To A New You!

30 Days 30 ways to a (new) new you!

It’s that time of year again. Every year around Halloween I have the tendency to start looking backward a little more than looking forward. To start looking inward a little more than looking outward. I get a little oversensitive about me, my body, my health, the thickness of my wallet, the thickness of the stack of bills on my desk.
I start to observe the people around me with a little sharper focus.
I start dwelling on or even creating out of thin air my list of shortcomings that will need to be diligently addressed come January first ( to be abandoned by Feb 1st?) .
Some years I have found gaping chasms between where I think I am in these areas and where I think I should be. While some years the task seems less daunting.
Some years I have “given up” giving things up. Other years I have advocated starting in November or December 1st instead of waiting on the traditional Jan 1to act as our catalyst for growth.
However different I try to be it seems I fall back into the same conditioning. Let’s face it: New Year’s Day means it’s time to make our annual sacrifices or improvements!
This year I have decided to accept it, nay even embrace this cultural stalwart of shared psychological conditioning.
I also am accepting that an extremely high percentage of New Year resolvers fizzle, wane or just flat out give it up by day 10!
So I am going to try a different approach. I am going to accept that we will start our self-polishing and buffing on January first and we are going to engage in activities that promote personal betterment.
I am going to accept that we often bite off more than we can chew, that our eyes are bigger than our stomachs!
To overcome this I am suggesting that we dedicate ourselves to doing just ONE thing a day to love ourselves and we do this for thirty straight days.
This gets you to the end of January and lo and behold…as a WHOLE NEW Person!
SO let’s get right down to it:
Day 1. Breath.
Today learn how to breath ‘right breath’ like the Buddhist do. Breathe in deeply and while breathing say to yourself “When I breathe in, I know that I am breathing in.” And when you breathe out say “When I breathe out, I know that I am breathing out”. This will center you in the present moment. We start this year living in the present.
Day 2. Eat. More green food. Less animal fat and tissue, more fruit more vegetables.
Day 3. If you smoke, quit smoking or smoke LESS (you know why)
Day 4. Drink! (Water) start drinking an extra glass of water a day, eventually working yourself up to 8
Day 5. Move! Add 10 minutes of activity to your day. We should be working toward 45 minutes of activity every day.
Day 6. Don’t (Drink) if you drink alcohol, give your body a break and let your liver and internal organs detox and get rebooted.
Day 7. Give yourself a little reward and pampering for making it through your first week. Go get a pedicure. It’s not only good for you; it’s relaxing and makes you feel great!
Day 8. Take a new route to work or home. Changing little things up can help shift paradigms and give us just a slightly new perspective on our day.
Day 9. Juice! G a juicer or buy fresh made vegetable juice. This is great for energy and detoxifying our bodies!
Day 10. Sweat! Find a good sauna or steam room. This will help us detox and purify our skin etc. We eliminate so many toxins through our skin and breathing. Let’s give our body some help.
Day 11. Buy a new shirt. Get something different, something out of the norm. Stretch yourself!
Day 12 Pray. This should have come on day one. But for the sake of this I am only doing one new thing a day. Prayer is a powerful psychological tool as well as being spiritually effective. Always a prayer of gratitude. Avoid prayers of petition.
Day 13. List at least five things you are grateful for every day. I like to mentally prepare this list and go through it before I roll out of bed.
Day 14. Help someone in need. Today, don’t walk past the vet or homeless guy with the sign. Yes they may be a fraud, but not all of them are. Or help someone from church or an elderly person you know.
Day 15. Burning bowl! Write down on a white piece of paper everything that upsets you or that hurts you from the past still, things that make you anxious or nervous about the future. Write down the names of people who have hurt you etc. Ffind a bowl or a fireplace or go outside and burn it! Light it up and let it go!

Day 16. Do one thing you have been putting off, and then move on to the next. No more procrastinating!
Day 17.Lerarn to identify the lesson. In every situation there is a lesson for us to learn. Reflect on disappointments from the day and make it a positive by embracing the lesson it is trying to teach!
Day 18.Buy a new book. Something that stretches and challenges you. Something that moves you in a new direction.
Day 19. Smile. Spend as much of the day smiling as you can. It’s infectious!
Day 20.Day of De cluttering. Our life is way too complicated and we have entirely too much stuff, get rid of old magazines, junk mail, and donate old clothes and shoes. Make room for new by getting rid of the old.
Day21. Fix something that has been broken or left unattended to around the house.
Day 22.Read a book. Buy something that challenges you. Give up the self-help Guru’s, choose a biography. They are inspiring and generally full of insight.
Day 23. NO complaining. Today is a complaint free day! You will be amazed at how HARD this is for many of us. You CAN do it!
Day 24 Sweep out the ANTS or “Automatic Negative Thoughts” For more info look into Dr. Daniel Amen.
Day 25. Start a savings plan. Set up a budget and start setting aside a minimum of 10% of your income.
Day 26. No multitasking! Today concentrate on doing only one thing at a time, with your full attention.
Day 27. Drink only high quality water or organic juice. No soda or carbonated beverages.
Day 28. Say ‘I love you’ to the important people in your life! Spreading love and joy is infectious!
Day 29. Look into a pet. Having a pet is responsibility but the friendship; love and loyalty that they bring can fill a void for many of us :-)
Day 30. Whew! You made it! Take the day off! Goof off
Month 2- Repeat!
You will find that these are things we can do every day. The real lesson to learn here moving forward is in day one. We must learn to live in the present moment. Do not dwell in the past; do not rush into the future. Just “be”, right here, right now.
Take care of yourself and the person who is in front of you right now… and everything else will take care of itself.