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Fun Personal Progress Ideas

It is human nature to want to grow and progress, and that's probably why so many people experience brief but intense periods of motivation for improvement around significant calendar dates like January 1 and birthdays. Unfortunately, it's also human nature to fall back into familiar but unproductive patterns that get us nowhere, the psychological equivalent of the "couch potato" phenomenon. With a little help, though, you can make substantial personal changes. A few good ideas can get you moving!

  1. Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan

    • Define your top priorities in life and measure your progress. It's not as hard as it sounds. Identify no more than five goals, such as fulfilling relationship(s), financial health and weight loss (more on this below). Then at the end of every day, use a calendar to give yourself a grade of zero to three in each of those categories, with three meaning you've really done your best to reach that goal. At the end of the month, tally your scores and begin charting your progress. Chances are, you will notice major discrepancies between what you say you want and what you do every day.

    Get a Weight Loss Buddy

    • Find a friend who wants to lose weight. You shouldn't have too much difficulty with this, especially If you live in the United States, where roughly one in three people is clinically obese, and the other two may not be too far behind. Make a brief daily appointment to talk to your "weight loss buddy" and confess everything you ate since your last conversation and she will do the same. Neither buddy is permitted to make value judgments, just listen. You will find that the prospect of having this discussion every day will have an impact on your eating patterns.

    Keep up With the Subscription

    • Subscribe to a magazine or journal that you admire, something really intelligent that you think will make you more knowledgeable about things that are important to you. Make a personal commitment to read every word of the magazine, including advertisements, before the next issue appears in your mailbox. If you succeed, give yourself a small reward like a special dessert (you'll have to tell your weight loss buddy about it).

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