5 Easy Ways to Improve Your Life - 30 Days at a Time

Brazil street art
Source: Flickr.com

5 Easy ways to improve your life, taking 30 days at a time by local author Roslyn Carrington (featured in the Trinidad Guardian on 22 June 2014).

Not only are they easy to do but they actually work. I need to practice number 5 often because when I'm in a bad  mood or feeling down, I get mean at times.

Folks, the difference, the quiet inside that comes from stilling the incessant commenting on others is just amazing. Try them and surprise yourself. Our lives are fuller than we sometimes believe.

I call these self-improvement tips everyday spirituality because we are turned on when we tune in! Roslyn writes:

30 Days at a time

Every once in a while we stop and take stock of ourselves, adn feel like we should change something. The problem lies int he mistaken belief that we should make huge, life-shaking changes... and that's when we become discouraged.

The secret is to take on small, easy challenges, that take very little effort, but add up to so much in the end.

Here are 5 easy 30-day challenges that won't take a whole lot out of you, but which are sure to add richness to your life.

1. Watch one documentary a day for 30 days. Try short pieces like those on TED talks, they usually run 15 minutes or so. Browse through and pick from the endless variety of topics. Be sure to share what you learned.

2. Take a photo every day for 30 days.  Keep your phone or pocket camera nearby, and keep an eye out for something that touches you or says something about your life. Post your photos online or in a private journal, with a short note explaining what the shot means to you. You'd be surprised how textured your life will seem once you open your eyes.



Street art in Brazil by L7m
Source: streetartutopia.com

3. Say hello to a stranger every day for 30 days. No, not creepy looking guys on the street but people you pass by or interact with wordlessly all the time. The cashier at the store, the doubles man, the janitor at the office. "Hello? How are you? How's your day going?" can make all the difference in someone else's day.

4. Take a cold shower every day for 30 days. No joke; most of us have become a little too dependent on the luxury of warm showers. A good, bracing daily shower will brighten your skin, wake you up, and make you more alert to face the day. It will also make you less dependent on first-world niceties that the vast majority of the world does without.

5. Swallow negative or pessimistic comments about yourself and others for 30 days. You'll be surprised how eliminating negativity from the tip of your tongue also erases it from your heart and your  mood. You'll start to feel lighter in no time.

Try one of these challenges, starting today.