Build the life you want to live

A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately
at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be. Abraham Maslow

Every day we write the story we want to be the main character in. Every day we do something that builds, invents, and confirms our identity. Everyday we have the opportunity to start fresh and every second we have a brand new chance to create who we are. That is certainly not very clear to us all the time. We hurry from one meeting to the other, we check our blackberries, we answer phone calls, take the children to school, organise our homes. We rush, rush and rush! Without a chance to make sense of what is happening. One fine morning we wake up and ask ourselves: “Who is this person looking at me in that mirror?”

Let’s make today a special day! Let’s make today a brand new beginning! Let’s start fresh today! Why wait? Let’s start today!

1. WRITE YOUR OWN EULOGY
Eulogies are speeches of praise of a person. However we don’t need to wait for any special occasion. We don’t need to wait for someone else to write it for us after we pass away. We can write a letter of appreciation to ourselves: list our blessings, our talents, our strengths, our love for people…. Seeing life through these lense will allow you to be more appreciative of what you have at this moment and what you want more off. This will allow you perspective to take decisions with the end in mind: my perfect life! Then you will not be overwhelmed by the day to day hurry. Take your time and appreciate what is NOW, right NOW!

Our identity is show by our choices: by the books we don’t read, by the things we don’t do,
by the people we are no longer with. Blanca Vergara

2. WRITE YOUR “NOT-TO-DO LIST”
If you are starting a new self, you better travel light. Make a spring cleaning of your life. Take a white piece of paper and list the “things” you no longer want in your life: the people you don’t want to be with, the projects you do not want to finish, the customers that are more annoying than productive, the clothes you don’t want to wear anymore, the food you don’t want to eat anymore… Once you list them, you will start acting accordingly, they will vanish and you will see how life opens for new people, new projects, new clothes, new dreams…

3. DO SOMETHING NEW
Do something that you've never done before. Go see a play, or a hockey game, or walk through your local museum. Draw the trees of your local park, walk around a neighbourhood you’ve never been or cook/bake something you never thought you'd be able to. If it's fresh and new to you... give it a go!

4. DO SOMETHING THAT SCARES YOU
If every day, during the coming year, you confront one of your fears: cycling in Amsterdam; public speaking; cutting your hair; writing; painting; quitting that unfulfilling job / relationship; then you will become a stronger person capable of anything - capable of becoming who you are.

5. BE GENTLE WITH YOURSELF
Did you make a mistake? Forgive yourself and have a laugh! Biting yourself down for an error will not solve it and will not allow you to see further. Making mistakes is the best way of discovering how something does not work. It is a process of learning and growing. Long live mistakes! Bounce back and try again!

6. MAKE A PLAN
Nothing is quite as comforting as having a plan for the coming season. It is like having a map of the future, of your own future. It is like inventing the future. It gives you something to shoot for and gives you direction. Spend some time thinking about what you'd like to accomplish in the next 3 months, and then develop an outline of how you'll make that plan a reality. Be bold!

7. DO A "TO DO"
Small steps bring you to where you want to go. Take ONE small step towards your goals, towards your future. Take a look at your current "to do" list and pick one project (just ONE) and GET IT DONE! Big or small, it doesn't matter! I promise you when you’ll be in bed tonight, you’ll have a very good feeling about yourself. You will be proud of that ONE accomplishment.