Well, Monday is here again. While this of course means the weekend is over, it also means a new week of unlimited potential lies ahead. The following are 7 ideas that will help you have a happy, productive and meaningful week:
1. Set Goals
Ideally, on Sunday (but Monday is ok), I like to take some time out to think about the week ahead. I follow Dr Covey’s approach to goal-setting as outlined in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. This involves the following:
- Identifying Roles: identify the key roles in your life. If you haven’t given this much thought before, just write down what immediately comes to mind. Some of my roles, for example, are: father, husband, blogger, employee, and uncle.
- Selecting Goals: next think of 2 or 3 important things you would like to accomplish in each of these roles in the coming week. For example, as an uncle I need to buy and send presents for my niece and nephew so that they reach Australia in time for Christmas day.
- Scheduling: this basically involves taking the above goals, and scheduling time to do them. Be flexible though – in most cases some daily adapting is also needed.
2. Get the Most Out of Every Day
This may sound like a cliche, but each and every day is a gift. Don’t indefinitely delay happiness in your life or settle for being bored. Be inspired. Live with vitality. Enjoy life every day.
3. Do That Thing You Are Resisting
Almost everyone has at least one thing that they are resisting. Perhaps it is fixing something around the house, making an important phone call or re-starting the exercise habit. Get that thing done, and you will be sure to feel to feel as if you have accomplished something this week.
4. Nurture Your Relationships
I truly believe that happiness is highly dependant on the quality of our relationships with other people. So be committed to nurturing these relationships. Here are some quick ideas how:
- Pick up the phone: email is great, but make a point every so often to pick up the phone and speak to your friends and family.
- Meet a friend for lunch: do you have a friend that seems to have fallen off the side of the Earth? Invite them out to lunch and catch up on everything you have missed.
- Ping: even if you are extremely busy this week, find the time to send a friend or family member a quick email or text message. If nothing else, it shows you are thinking about them.
- Remember birthdays: make a point to remember important dates, such as birthdays. I suggest taking time out one day to mark your diary with these important dates. Tip: Facebook is great for discovering birthdays.
5. Stretch Yourself
Stretch yourself by trying something new this week. If you need some ideas, check out my article 50 Ways to Improve Your Life.
6. Be Disciplined
Starting the week by setting goals is a bit like making new years eve resolutions: they are easy to make, but as time progresses it can be hard to capture the same motivation that was present when you first made them. If you struggle with self-discipline, I suggest keeping the following quote in mind:
“When the morning’s freshness has been replaced by the weariness of midday, when the leg muscles quiver under the strain, the climb seems endless, and, suddenly, nothing will go quite as you wish – it is then that you must not hesitate.” – Dag Hammarskjold
7. Make a Difference
This week commit to making a positive difference in the world. Even the following small actions can make a big difference in the life of another person and/ or the world:
- Buy lunch for a hungry pan-handler
- Donate to that person shaking a tin for charity
- Recycle
- Plant a tree
- Volunteer your time for a good cause
- Put a smile on a child’s face
How are you going to make this a great week?
I think I’m going to pick just one of those and really focus. I think nurturing relationships is a great one, so that’s the one I’ll choose.
Thanks for the list!
Great post!
I especially like the point about “Do That Thing You Are Resisting”. I am guilty of looking at that.
Hehehe.. #3 is it for me: Gonna go and wash my car. I’ve been resisting (lazy?) to go the car wash for almost 2 months now. The dirt buildup in/on my car is quite noticable. :-)
I’m afraid your list made me want to go back to bed. :) I try to keep my lists small enough to keep in my head. It saves a lot of time and is a lot more fun.
I just spent an hour on the phone with a friend. The call wasn’t scheduled, and it was the first I heard from her since she moved out of town six months ago. It’s been a horrendous move for her because her mother-in-law and daughter’s family moved with her and her husband. She said she’s looked at the notes from the group I led for several years and has posted some of the notes on her refrigerator so she can see them every day. So maybe my lazy way of being in the world does some good, too.
NICE, Im glad you had the “make a difference” part in there….that is really important, and GREAT WORK man. I will really try and implement these practices this week!
Todd Goldfarb
founder, We The Change
Oh yes #3 for me too! Must stop procrastinating on the Thing I’m Resisting! Once that’s out of the way, everything else is really easy (plus I feel all smug inside). Think #4 is underrated too, after all, who are you without the people you care about?
great post and blog in general – i found you through tina su’s blog. i love 7 habits of highly effective people too!
I absolutely love #7, it is so important that we all take action and DO something to “Make a Difference”. Many of us talk or have thoughts about what we can do to change the world and make a difference, but there is always some rationalization and excuse that holds us back.
It is the small things that make all the difference. Shake someone’s hand and give them a great good morning, smile, give someone an unexpected compliment, hug your spouse a few extra seconds before you leave in the morning, give someone an honest “thank you”, just DO something!
Keep up the great work, I really enjoy the articles!
http://www.JuiceofChampions.com
A very nice list, I agree with Zhereford especially, do the thing we are resisting. Often times the hardest thing to do is the best thing to do, and even if it isn’t, it still puts us in the right mood to handle the rest of our to-do list.
Cheers,
Albert | UrbanMonk.Net
Modern personal development, entwined with ancient spirituality.