1. Start treating your body like a temple. It doesn't matter how much money you make, if you don't have your health with which to enjoy it.
2. Smile and laugh more. Did you know that you burn more calories by smiling rather than frowning, and that children laugh approximately 20 times more often than adults?
3. Volunteer your time to a charity. The way we live our lives, time is one of our most precious and limited possessions, therefore to give this to something worthwhile, will do wonders for your self-esteem. It need not be cleaning out dog kennels at the SPCA although that can be enormously satisfying; it may be using your specialty eg legal or accounting services.
4. Improve your golf handicap
5. Drink more water. Dehydration has a huge negative effect on two of your most valuable assets your body and your mind. A 1 per cent loss of body fluid correlates to a 10 per cent loss of performance both physical and mental.
6. Spend time petting an animal. This has been shown to lower blood pressure and promote health in the sick or elderly.
7. Discover a new outdoor recreation area eg. park, mountain or bush walk. Check with the local council for options.
8. Get a babysitter regularly. Don't let your children be an excuse not to go out to dinner or a movie with your partner or spouse.
9. Take a moment. If you feel stressed and about to lose it, count to 10 and take a deep breath before you react.
10. Discover your creative side by taking up a new craft. Have you ever thought about learning photography or mosaic designing?
11. Learn to play an instrument. Or go from singing in the shower to strutting your stuff at a karaoke bar or on Sing Star
12. Fix your finances. If you've been struggling to get ahead, you could seek the help of your bank manager, financial planner or Free Budget Advisory Office. Take control.
13. Be Sun Smart. Slip, slop, slap and wrap!
14. Try some exotic cuisine. Go to an authentic style of restaurant you've never tried before.
15. Try cooking a new recipe. Be daring; what's the worst that can happen?
16. Rediscover your inner child - swing on a swing or roll down a grassy bank.
17. Have romantic weekend getaways with your partner or spouse. Take the time to work on your relationship
18. If the bad weather meant you missed out on your camping holiday this summer, why not have a picnic in your backyard, or sleep in your sleeping bag on top of your bed for one night. The novelty is sure to make you laugh.
19. Train for and complete an event. Its great to see all those inspirational people competing in a half iron-man, but you don't have to do something this extreme in order to feel the unique exhilaration of completing an event. Look out for a 10km walk or short triathlon there are plenty of these over summer.
20. Leave the office at lunchtime. Don't let yourself get so consumed by your work that you stay within the same four walls for 8-10 hours. Go for a walk or look around the shops.
21. Give a little of yourself. Use your skills to teach or mentor someone in your office or a friends ambitious teenager. This will help you to remember some key things in your profession that have been lost to you over the years.
22. Make someone's day. When you say or do something that makes someone else feels good, it can be enormously satisfying. Ironically, doing a good deed can actually end up benefiting you more than the person you do it for.
23. Watch less TV.
24. Exercise with your workmates. When running workplace team-building exercises I am amazed how closely people draw together when they are going through physical challenges. Also because exercise has a component of making people feel good the positive associations are then linked to the work-mates. That's got to be good for workplace dynamics as well as the bottom line.
25. Have more sex. As well as bringing you and your partner emotionally closer, the release of endorphins is a natural high which raises your metabolism and overall sense of wellbeing.
26. Read an autobiography by someone who inspires you
27. Eat 5+ a day of vegetables and fruit. Studies show that this will improve quality and quantity of your life, by lowering your risk for heart disease, diabetes and many forms of cancer.
28. Join a gym or a sports team. Choose something that appeals to you, and be determine to persevere with it
29. Quit smoking!
30. Set goals regularly. You may want to set daily, weekly or monthly goals ensure you look back at them frequently then tick them off and reward yourself as you complete them. Keep motivated by setting short, medium and long-term goals.
31. Get professional help to achieve your goals eg. for fitness goals try a Personal Trainer. Whether you're interested in working in a gym or from home, I can easily recommend someone suited for you.
32. Keep a diary. Not only should you keep your appointments in a diary, try keeping a record of your daily exercise, food intake as well as your thoughts, feelings and experiences of each day. Your diary can reveal and help identify your bad habits or patterns.
33. Have quality alone-time. Don't be afraid to spend time getting to know you. Read, meditate or chill out to the sounds of music, a waterfall, even silence.
34. Do something you've never done before especially something that scares you eg. public speaking. You could start by presenting something to your family and close friends
35. Get more sleep.
36. Leave your cellphone behind. Will the world really end if you miss that call? Try to enjoy the company or the environment you're in without distractions now and then!
37. Live in the moment.
38. Exercise more intensely. In order for your body to improve, it MUST be challenged outside of its comfort zone. After all if you always do what always done then you'll always get what you've always got.
39. Treat yourself. Often we are so busy on the treadmill of life that we lose perspective on the important things. Why not book yourself a massage, facial or go to the hot pools? Or buy something you love, even though its completely impractical.
40. Buy flowers for a friend or loved one.
41. Be a Good Samaritan. If you see someone changing their tyre; or a mum crossing the road while carrying the groceries and trying to balance a child on her hip, see if you can lend a hand. Maybe you have an elderly neighbour whose lawns need a mow?
42. Eat breakfast.
43. Take the dog for a walk EVERY DAY. Not only will this be good for the health of you and your dog, but also the more you indulge him the more he will adore you.
44. Be more patient. In 1914 after Sir Ernest Shackleton lead his crew off an ice shelf in Antarctica, on which they were stranded for nearly 18 months, he was asked what he felt was his greatest asset. Many expected courage and bravery to be up there, but patience is what he attributed to the success of the mission.
45. Stop yo-yo dieting. Determine that the lifestyle changes you make are going to be lifetime commitments.
46. Go to a live sports or music event.
47. Do the long put-off renovations to the house, this could be something simple like re-arranging the furniture in the lounge room, through to re-wallpapering the entire house
48. Make new friends.
49. Appreciate your existing friends. Contact a friend or family member you haven't spoken to in a while.
50. Give yourself positive affirmations. This will help with your self-efficacy (belief in yourself). Don't be scared to pat yourself on the back.
* Paula Langridge is Director of TrainingZone Fitness Professionals based at BodyZone. For training enquiries, contact her at trainingzone@xtra.co.nz, 5714605 or 021657015.
FITNESS ZONE: Start smiling - it burns the calories
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