10 Power Moves To Improve Your Life

Check out these suggestions for powerful change in order to improve your life at home and at work.

Improve Your Life

1. Get Comfortable with Discomfort

Human beings are wired to avoid discomfort, and change is uncomfortable. Whether you want to build muscle or brain power, results are on the other side of your comfort zone. Pushing our limits helps us get comfortable with discomfort. It’s all about your mindset, so acknowledge that while change is hard, personal growth is worthwhile. 

2. Take Control of Your Health

The Centers for Disease Control reports that 41.9% of Americans are overweight or obese. Conditions related to obesity—including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and cancer—are the leading causes of preventable, premature death and represent billions of dollars spent in the health care system. 

Perhaps the most powerful thing we can do to improve our lives is take control of our health. Falling victim to a lifestyle disease robs us of happiness and freedom, and it’s especially bitter because it could have been prevented. Listen to your doctor: move your body daily, eat fresh food. Live a fuller, happier, longer life. 

3. Wake Up Early

Alarm, snooze button. Alarm, snooze button. Race to get out the door to make it to work on time. If this is a picture of your mornings, try waking up early. Maybe giving up 30 minutes to an hour of sleep doesn’t sound like your idea of fun, but consider what you could do by taking charge of your morning:

• Exercise
• Have a peaceful cup of coffee
• Journal
• Eat breakfast with your children or significant other
• Read uplifting material to adopt a positive mindset

You’ll be surprised how giving up a bit of sleep can improve your life. Need further proof? A study released by JAMA Psychiatry found that going to bed one hour earlier and waking one hour early was associated with a 23% decreased risk of depression.

4. Start a Gratitude Journal

There is no shortage of things to be negative about, but if you’d like to invite optimism into your life look no further than a gratitude journal. As simple as a sheet of paper or as involved as a dedicated notebook, gratitude is shown to increase happiness and reduce depression. According to a study by Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, it may even improve your sleep! To adopt this power move, carve out five minutes either first thing or last thing in the day to record what you are thankful for, both big and small.

5. Work on Muscle Flexibility

You don’t have to be a yoga expert to realize benefits from stretching. The American Council on Exercise (ACE) lists improved posture, enhanced circulation, and even reduced stress as a few reasons why you should make stretching part of your powerful fitness regimen. Think you don’t have time? Instead of sitting on the couch while watching television, multi-task by getting on the ground and stretching. See the Mayo Clinic’s suggested stretches.

6. Speak Your Mind

We’ve all been in tough situations where it seems that silence is the best choice. But have you ever stopped to think that silence is active communication too? Choosing not to speak your mind is tacit approval of what is happening, so if something needs to be said…say it. If you choose your words and timing well, speaking up shows that you are invested in the situation and that you care about the outcome.

7. Don’t Be Afraid of No

In the best-selling book Go For No! Yes, is the Destination, No is How You Get There, Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz ask the question, “What if the word ‘no’ didn’t slow you down, depress, or discourage you?” It’s good advice both professionally and socially, as we tend to be fearful of hearing negative responses. Learn to look at “No” as just another response and move on to get to the next “Yes.”

8. Lift Weights

Ladies, if fear of “bulking up” is keeping you out of the weight room, your fear is keeping you from reaping some major health benefits. Healthline says if you could do only one thing to improve your health, it should be strength training. Here are a few great benefits of lifting weights:

• Boosts metabolism
• Improves cardiovascular health
• Decreases abdominal fat
• Regulates blood sugar
• Strengthens bones

Body weight, free weights, or weight machines are all great choices to incorporate strength training. 

9. Fifteen Minutes of Personal Development Daily

Commit to reading something uplifting, educational, or inspirational 15 minutes each day and see how it impacts your life for the better. Not a reader? Enroll in “Drive Time University” by using audiobooks or podcasts to get the same benefits while you’re in your car.

10. Get a Mentor

Bob Proctor once said, “A mentor is someone who sees more talent and ability within you than you see in yourself and helps bring it out of you.” Whether you want to go further in your profession or improve a skill, mentors can point you in the right direction through encouragement, goal setting, and accountability.