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I'll start off with the easy ones--
-More time spent with family and friends
-less chocolate and pizza,
-more exercise.
Now for the big one.
I'm an excellent skier. There aren't many double diamonds I won't attempt, and on a good day, I will do a respectable job skiing slopes with the biggest, nastiest bumps and steepest inclines. There's an art to it. You can't think your way through each step. You have to trust your reflexes, be nimble enough to go with the terrain, strong and fast enough to turn on a dime and, when you are in your groove and have the rhythm, you almost fly, floating down the slope with just the minimal amount of deftly chosen effort.
When I am NOT in my groove, and don't have the rhythm, I work much, much harder, look and feel sloppy and clumsy and am ten times more likely to fall or get stuck.
The difference is a state of mind and a way of seeing the path-- the future. My friend Larry taught me that the best strategy is to, rather than look at the next bump, to look four or five bumps ahead, to get the big perspective, and then to trust yourself that you will adapt and effectively react as you reach the next turn, the next weight shifting point, that you'll place your polls where they need to be.
Like walking or running, you don't do it one step at a time. The effort becomes automatic. You could never run if you had to think through every forward step. To really hit your best speed, whether on the ground or the slope, you must trust your feet, and look further ahead.
That is the secret to getting down slopes, through races and perhaps, through life-- to look and see further ahead, so you get the bigger picture, and then, to trust the skills and resources you bring to the task and to take reasonable risks, finding and choosing to engage challenges with courage.
I chose, this coming year, to find and face bigger challenges, with the courage take the risks required to achieve success. I will look further and trust my strength and resources more.
Some tips on how to see these challenges: Positive Perceptual Filtering. Taking Control of Creating A Positive Attitude and A Positive Way to See the World,
