Creating a Better Quality of Life

The phrase "Quality of Life" means different things to different people. For someone who is physically ill, it could mean having a healthy body, or for someone who is feeling lost, it could mean having a sense of purpose and meaning in life. In order to create a better quality of life, you must first ask yourself, "What does that mean to me? What would a happy life look like?" There are different ways to look at this, but one simple way is to envision your life as having more balance, peace and joy (remember this is a process, not a destination). In this article I will share a few simple tools that you can begin to implement immediately to get you started.

1. Meditation: This is one of the simplest and easiest ways you can begin to improve your quality of life (and it's free!). Meditation will help you become more focused, relaxed and positive, and will increase your self-understanding (so that you can figure out what a better quality of life means to you). All you have to do is start with one minute a day; that's it! For that minute, choose a quiet place where you can be alone, get comfortable, close your eyes, let go of thoughts and judgments, and breathe. Every time a thought pops into your mind (and it will), gently let it go and bring your focus back to your breathing. Eventually you'll find yourself meditating longer without even realizing it!

2. Change your limiting thoughts and beliefs: Your thoughts and beliefs create your life and they directly affect how you feel. Think about that. If you are constantly thinking negative/limiting thoughts, they can grow into negative beliefs which will result in negative feelings. So how do you change this? Here is one simple process:

* Awareness: Your first step is to become aware of what you are thinking. An easy way to do this is to choose a situation that causes you stress and write down all your negative thoughts and beliefs about that situation (don't hold back or judge what you are writing, just be honest).

* Change: Look at your list of negative thoughts and choose to change each one into a positive or more empowering statement. For example, let's say you are overweight and very unhappy with the way you look. One of your negative thoughts or beliefs might look like this:
" It's too hard to lose weight."
You could change this statement to something like this:
" I am letting go of limiting beliefs regarding weight loss.” OR "I choose to have a healthy body."

* Repetition: To get these new empowering statements to become beliefs, you have to repeat them to yourself or write them down on a daily basis.

3. Exercise: I know what some of you might be thinking, "Who has the time?" or, "I hate exercise". If these kinds of thoughts are going on in your head, then I would like to remind you that these are limiting beliefs. You may want to go back to # 2 before you move on. Exercise is one of the best things you can do for your overall quality of life. It has a positive effect on nearly every part of your body. It has even been shown to have beneficial effects on your mind and emotions as well.

If you exercise very little or not at all, you'll want to keep it simple in the beginning. Find something you enjoy, whether it's walking, tennis or trying a new class such as yoga. Remember, a little bit of exercise frequently throughout the week is better than a lot of exercise once a week. Try it, and notice the changes!

Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions or comments, and please pass this newsletter along to anyone who you think might be interested.