28 DAYS TO HAPPINESS
Life
coach Zoe Richards brings you her four-week plan to have a more successful 2015
in all areas of your life
The wise
would have us know that the secret behind true happiness would be to live in
the present and not fret about the past or dream about the future. British life
coach, Zoe Richards, charts out a 28-day plan to revamp one's love life,
health, finances and career plans. Called the `28 Days to Happiness' plan, the
objective is to be content in every phase of one's life by end of January and
seek to sustain it for the rest of the year.
Broken
down into week-by-week focus areas, here's her plan that will take help you
transform into the `you' you've always wanted to be:
1 WEEK
HOW TO
FIX YOUR LOVE LIFE
1 DAY Be
clear on what you want from your love life. Write down the characteristics of
the lover you want. In a relationship and it's not going well? Write down three
things you like about them -even if you start with their choice of partner
because they chose you.
2 DAY
Forgive yourself for old choices. Think of a previous bad relationship, or a
bad time in your current relationship, and say: `I'm sorry, I forgive you,
thank you, I love you.' You are forgiving yourself when you say this but you
can also forgive past partners for how they treated you. You will be surprised
at how liberating it feels.
3 DAY Be
open to receiving compliments. You know those days when someone says, `I like
your top' and you answer :`This old thing?' It's time to give up on the
deflections.When you deflect a compliment you are being rude to the person who
paid it to you. How nice would it be to say thank you and follow it up with how
much their words mean to you?
4 DAY
Look in the mirror every day and find something about yourself you like. Start
small. Maybe you like your nose, eyes or chin. You're looking for little things
about yourself that you can accept.
5 DAY Act
as if you're in love. It's amazing how that bounce in your step helps attract
love. Close your eyes and remember a time when you felt you could conquer any
thing. Capture that sensation and turn up the dial on it until you know you can
act as if you are in love with those feelings.
6 DAY
Prepare your home for love. Get rid of old clothes, the books you won't look at
again, the old magazines lying by your bed, the packets of food that have long
passed their best-before dates. Decluttering frees up space to allow new things
to come into your life.
7 DAY Now
you're ready for love, it's time to take action. You'll get nothing from
sitting at home moaning that you can't find Miss or Mr Right. Go speed dating
or sign up to an online dating site. Go out with friends for a meal, a drink, a
walk. If you're in a relationship that has lost its spark, plan for a monthly
or weekly date night.Make time for each other.
2 WEEK
IMPROVE
YOUR HEALTH AND FITNESS
8 DAY
Kickstart your day by drinking a glass of water first thing. It aids digestion.
Adding a squeeze of lemon can help reduce coffee cravings.
DAY 9
Start exercising the easy way. Go for a 10-minute walk or take stairs instead of
using a lift. The best way to get out of a sedentary life would be by taking
short walks and gradually taking it up a notch.
DAY 10
Practise deep breathing. Inhale slowly to the count of four and exhale to the
same count. Do this for two minutes a day. It will improve your digestion and
boost energy levels.
DAY 11 Do
you pop too many over-the-counter pills? Headache remedies can create their own
head aches if you use them too often. Look for alternatives, such as reducing
your sugar intake, or drinking more water. A little drop on a tissue can help
reduce stress, which is one of the main causes of headaches.
DAY 12 If
you crave chocolates, biscuits and sugary drinks, try a mini detox. Eliminate
dairy, gluten, sugar, caffeine and alcohol for three days, then add one thing
back into your diet a day at a time.
DAY 13 Go
to bed half an hour earlier than normal and make sure you go to bed before
mid-night.
We're
great at making excuses about being night owls, but the truth is our bodies
need rest. If you must stay up late, keep off stimulants. No caffeine in the
second half of your day, no loud music or TV late at night, and no electronic
devices 30 minutes before bed.
DAY 14
Act as if you are the weight you want to be. I found it easier to take actions
that a lighter per son would take. I never banned anything but would say no to
the extra piece of cake, eat smaller portions, and exercise on most days. It
worked.
WEEK 3
SORT OUT
YOUR FINANCES
DAY 15
Track your money. However painful it may be, find out in detail what your
financial situation is so you can manage it properly. Track every rupee that
comes your way. And know what expenses you have each month so you don't
overspend.
DAY 16
Set up a dedicated bills account. Each month, put the money for paying the bills
into that account. This makes it much clearer what you have to spend on other
things.
DAY 17
Not spending money is the same as earning it.
Start by
getting rid of subscriptions you don't use any more.
DAY 18
Automate as many payments as you can. Don't stress about trying to remember all
your payments, only to find you forgot one and have to pay a higher fee.
DAY 19
Develop a good money mind-set. In the book Get Rich, Lucky Bitch by Denise
Duffield Thomas, she says, “You have to decide NOW that you are enough. You are
smart enough, pretty enough, clever enough, ready enough. You can be richer
starting today, if you're brave enough to decide what it is you want.“
DAY 20
Start planning for expenses you're expected to incur later in the year. If you
put aside just a certain amount of money every month, that will add up for fund
gifts or a holiday you plan to make towards the end of the year.
DAY 21
Allocate guilt-free money from your next pay cheque that you can spend on
anything. If you're in a relationship, make sure you both have guilt-free cash.
It can help reduce arguments about money and get through tough financial times.
WEEK 4
GET THE
MOST FROM YOUR JOB
DAY 22 Do
you really want to ditch your job for some thing new? It's important to measure
success by your own definition if that means staying in a less stressful job
so you have more time for other things in your life, that's OK. Just as much as
it's OK to be ready to move on. Ask yourself: if you were the bravest version
of yourself, what would you be doing? The answer holds the clues to your next
step in life.
DAY 23
Get index cards, write down your skills and the one thing that demonstrate
it.This can be the experience you have, or the expertise you gained. These
cards will help you be clear on what you know and what skills you have that
could work in different jobs.
DAY 24 Be
clear about what you will sacrifice for work and stick to it. If it happens to
be spending time away from family to extend your career, weigh your priorities
and decide whether it's worth it.
DAY 25
Before you walk out on your job, talk to your boss. It may be possible to make
changes that make things work for you and the company.
DAY 26
Many people end up doing work nobody else seems to want, just to make sure it
gets done.
That's
your zone of competence. It's time to find your zone of genius, the work that
is effortless for you. Somebody else can pick up the work that falls into your
zone of competence.
DAY 27
Find your unfair advantage and don't be afraid to use it. We all have one -it's
what makes us unique. Make the most of yours when applying for new jobs.
DAY 28
Frightened of your next step? First, acknowl edge how you feel. Next, tell
somebody. Then prepare for what the future holds. You'll be surprised at how
easily you let go of fear when you realise it is a warning to take care, not an
instruction to stop.
MM 6JAN15
In Kenya, Manu
Chandaria was equally convinced of the societal responsibilities of business.
"I think that the role of business is to make a profit. But profit is a
means, not the end. The end is the difference you make in a society that you
live in. One has to ask oneself if one has been able to make a difference.
Profit must be there to build bigger and better business. A part of it should
go towards making sure the standard of living of the people around is
improved."
Chandaria and several
members of his family were heavily influenced by Gandhi's ideas when they
studied in India. In 1956 he and his brothers persuaded their father to set up
the Chandaria Charitable Foundation, and give 10 per cent of the firm's capital
to it. The Foundation began by funding scholarships, and then steadily widened
its giving. Charitable giving was also heavily influenced by the fact that
Chandaria and his family were Jains, one of the world's oldest religions, which
prescribed non-violence towards all living things.
"In our business,
it is a philosophy to be useful to others, to be friends to others, to be
holding the hands of others ... because you have a capacity to hold,"
Chandaria said. "We always told our children that money is here today;
money may not be there tomorrow. A good set of principles and values will
remain with you for a lifetime."
Among the wider
societal responsibilities that Chandaria felt was to improve the rules of the
game under which business operated. One major concern was to facilitate the
development of an East African common market. An early attempt to form such a
community collapsed because of animosities between governments. Chandaria
perceived that the private sector might stand a better chance to create such an
organization. "I thought the best way was to persuade the private sector
in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda to join hands and be one voice to the
governments."
In 1997 Chandaria
created the East Africa Business Council and became the founding chairman.
"The purpose was to make sure the new regulations at the East African
community level are acceptable to all three and created a basis so that goods
could move from one country to another without any customs duties on
them."
by Geoffrey Jones
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/7702.html
No comments:
Post a Comment