Do you ever feel a little lost when it comes to updating your life? Do you feel stagnant and want your life to look or feel different, but you just don’t know how to get there? It can be a tall order just to get through the routine of your day, let alone figure out a way to make any part of it greater or just a little different. Do you feel the need to make any kind of progress toward a more fulfilling life?

“If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living” — Unknown

I’m going to share very simple ideas that you can use as a guide to start making small changes that can have a big impact. Think of it as your own personal “Change Your Life Treasure Hunt.” Fall is in the air and it’s a great time to start some rituals as a new season approaches. I will share 30 practices to at least try. Many of them are recommended to add as a daily, weekly or monthly routine. While there are an infinite number of ideas, some of these are basic self care 101 for healthy life habits. The first 10 are good to implement each day, then build on by adding the next one. None of these will be lengthy to start, though you may find yourself wanting to add time to them the more you do them.

1. Breathe: Start and end each day by laying in your bed and taking 10 full, slow deep breaths—inhaling and exhaling in equal time. Breath increases our capacity to receive more. It supports responding versus reacting.

2. Be Still: Press the pause button sometime throughout the day—maybe in the middle of a hectic moment—and just be still. Allow nothing around you to have an effect in that simple moment of stillness. The only thing allowed during this time is intentional breathing to support the stillness.

3. Express Gratitude: Think of three things every day that you are thankful for. Write them down in a specific notebook meant just for these thoughts. Imagine all the things you’ll be able to look back on in a month, then a year.

4. Walk in Nature: Just 10–20 minutes to start. Simply breathe in the fresh air and move your body.

5. Make Your Bed: Start the day with order and cleanliness. It really sets the tone for the day, and doesn’t add chaos when you come home. Things are neat and tidy.

“Those who can’t change their minds can’t change anything.” — George Bernard Shaw

6. Disconnect From Electronics: Set boundaries and limit your personal use of electronic distractions or stimulation. If you need a starting point, start with no cellphone anytime during meals or time with friends.

7. Listen: Ask the divine source, or whatever you believe in, what you can do to help make this day great. Listen for the guidance or idea that comes, and then go do it.

8. Choose a Word: Keep magnetic poetry pieces or words you’ve written on pieces of paper next to your bed. Choose one each day as your mantra for that day (Kindness, Forgiveness, Boldness, Silence, Patience, etc.) and apply that word in any situation that arises for that day. Watch how that simple practice gives you focus or changes your perspective.

9. Drink Water: Start your day with 16 ounces of room temperature water, before you do anything else. Yes, you can do this. It hydrates your body and skin. It stimulates organ function and body flow. It’s good for the digestive system.

10. Bask in Sunlight: Get some natural Vitamin D from the original source of light—the sun! Light makes everything grow and things naturally gravitate to the sun because it gives energy.

“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” — Wayne Dyer

Other things to try at least once throughout the month to help change your focus, perspective, dimension, experience, or your life: Visit an art gallery, listen to live music, read a book, call a friend you haven’t seen in awhile, put a puzzle together, take a dance lesson, go visit a stranger in an assisted living facility and read to them, volunteer for an hour or two—there are so many places that need help (check out Greenhouse Ministries, they have such flexibility with volunteer needs), discover a new musical artist or song by doing random searches, try a new restaurant, try a new type of food at your favorite restaurant, go through a drive-thru and pick up the tab for the person behind you, make up cards with motivational sayings or words on them and hand them out to people you see throughout the day, purposely smile at everyone you pass—whether they look at you or not—visit a store you’ve never gone into, take a lesson in a sport you don’t think you’re good at, join a social meet-up group and make a new friend, go camping (or glamping), watch a sunrise, star gaze, drive a different route, visit a farm or go to the zoo, learn how to play an instrument. This should get you started on discovering some new things about yourself, and what you might like. Enjoy the journey and feel free to share your discoveries with me.

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” — Mahatma Gandhi

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Photo, top, courtesy of Andre Furtado / Pexels