A New You For The New Year!

Developing a positive mental attitude is not exactly a piece of cake, but it can be done. Unless you already have one, it's hard to be self confident in any thing you under take. I recall quite vividly one self righteous gentleman telling me that I needed to have more self confidence. This was in the midst of family problems, a business going south and serious medical problems.

Small wonder I wasn't mentally on top of the world at the time, but I did make a comeback. We have a new year coming up and what better time to get the world back into a positive perspective than now. Here are a few things that work for me!

First, slam the door on all the mistakes and failures of the past! You can't do anything about them anyway, so forget them! Looking over your shoulder at the past leads to feeling sorry for yourself, which destroys any self confidence you may have achieved. From this day forward, say or do nothing that doesn't reflect a positive attitude.

Laugh out loud at seemingly serious situations! It will give you a whole new view of the subject in question. It may make you look a little stupid at the moment, but surprisingly, it may just make your impression of the event more logical and you'll be admired for your depth of insight into the matter. Then too, you could still appear stupid, but folks will remember you!

This is the time to do a full image make over. If the person you were last year is not exactly the charmer you want to be this year, simply change him or her. It's not all that hard, but it's something most of us rarely attempt. Life is just a play anyway, so change your role in it! Reconstruct yourself!

Change something about yourself each week and then practice being that new individual. If you don't like yourself but can't imagine being something different, emulate someone whose qualities you respect. Ultimately you can't be them, but you may pick up a few characteristics you admire.

It can be fun to be someone else for a change. Let's suppose you normally dress down, in jeans, tee shirt and dirty sneakers. Pretend you're a James Bond type and wear a tuxedo to work, with a little bulge under the coat that might conceal something lethal. On second thought, in this day of terrorist threats, forget about the bulge. The point is to step out of your comfort zone, and dare to be different.

Everyone has a list of things they'd like to change about themselves. Pick the one that you really want to adjust, and then set goals to do just that. There's no sense in trying to improve more than one thing at a time because you would probably end up accomplishing nothing. One's enough if you're successful. You can work on the others later.

Stay away from self pity! Whatever self confidence you've managed to carry over into the New Year, can be destroyed by feeling sorry for yourself. We all have problems and situations that we feel at times are insurmountable, but are rarely that devastating. Keep your goals in the forefront of your daily activities and you'll soon see that there is hope!

Make someone else feel better! Say or do something every day that will improve someone else's outlook on life. I know someone whom upon meeting strangers, make that person feel as if they've made their day simply by meeting them. I have no idea how he can do that year after year and remain sincere. I find that impossible for me to do, being that I usually like fish more than I do people, but I sincerely try to express a certain amount of warmth when I'm introduced to someone new.

Give thanks to God daily, no matter what the situation. Gratitude for what you already have somehow diminishes your present difficulties. I know, for since I've become smart enough to learn this small but tremendously powerful fact, my life and fortunes have increased. Give thanks and you might just be blessed!

All the ideas above work if you put them to use! I know because they've helped me become the person that I'm proud to be. Unfortunately my short game still needs a lot of attention!


By Bob Alexander