1. Give your body the food it needs. So many people spend their lives exhausted, fighting off colds, or battling with controlling their weight. Humans are evolutionarily designed to crave fats, sugars, and carbohydrates, but they are far more abundant today than they ever are in nature. Maintaining a diet that replenishes nutrients spent throughout the day, instead of simply filling the gap with sugars and caffeine, will result in not only increased energy, but better moods, healthier visage, and even a weight that befits activity levels. A nutritionist is not necessary to determine all of this, simply be smart; fruits and vegetables instead of beef jerky and donuts.

2. Walk or ride a bike whenever it is humanly possible. Everyone knows the physical benefits of exercise: increased circulation, better sleep, healthy weight. However, getting out of the car or train as often as possible has more far-reaching effects. Breathing in fresh air and feeling sun is a free shot of vitamins and a natural combatant to bad moods and will aid in improving your life. Walking down a street is a great way to be a part of the community one lives in, and riding a bike can lead to organizing a group of friends with similar hobbies.

3. Find a creative outlet. No person alive lives a stress-free existence. From the clothes we decide to wear to trying to afford the latest and greatest to keep up with the neighbors, there is stress from the instant of waking to the moment of sleep. Keeping all of this inside can lead to not only bad moods, relationship problems, and poor social interaction, it can cause serious physical diseases. Instead of carrying a load of stress, spend half an hour or as much time as is free on painting, writing, sketching, playing an instrument–anything that can put a voice to those problems. Even if the results are less than professional, the feelings of relief and pride in the work done will be reward enough. Over time, who knows–you could be the next Picasso.

4. Discover a group of friends or peers to share a hobby. Often people may find a hobby or some other activity that they find particularly enriching. But when they hit a wall or get stuck in a rut, they abandon it and never return. Forming or joining a community with the same interest will help to maintain an active interest and improve skills in that hobby while at the same time creating new, potentially life-long, interpersonal bonds.

5. Do not dwell on past mistakes. Everyone makes them. Moping around will only create a space wherein those bad moments never passed, but are continuously relived. Try to look forward and imagine a future where those mistakes are impossible to make again. Then make that future a reality one day at a time.

6. Remember that money and gadgets are fickle, but that there exist permanent pillars of happiness. Letting money and technology get the best of us is a product of this modern age. Always checking in on our friends and spending paychecks to have the hippest new gear can grind us down and make us forget about important things. Instead of buying a big screen television, plan a camping trip with family or friends. Instead of saving up for a faster laptop or a new iPod, plan a trip to somewhere never visited before. Make your own horizons and never look at anyone else’s.

Improving the quality of life is easy for anyone. One must only keep in mind that every new place visited, every new skill acquired and shared, every new friend made is an enriching experience more than any pay increase ever can be. The cliché calls it a rat race for a reason–escape it and evolve into more human goals. Plant a garden, eat more vegetables, take the dog out for a longer walk on sunny days. These are the simple secrets to happiness, and the rest takes care of itself.

1. Get more sleep. Whether you’re a night owl or early bird, everyone needs at least six hours of sleep every day. If you have to rely on an alarm clock to wake up every morning, you probably aren’t getting enough. To get more, avoid bright lights late at night (such as those from the TV, computer, etc.) before bed, reduce caffeine consumption after noon, and work naps into your schedule when you can. If needed, make up any lost sleep time on the weekends.

2. Eat the rainbow. A healthy, balanced diet is easily achieved if you make sure to eat a rainbow of colors at every meal. It forces you to cook a variety of foods and use ample amounts of fruits and vegetables. It also ensures you get the full spectrum of vitamins and minerals that you need to keep your energy up and your health robust. For example: Red (tomatoes, apples), Orange (orange, pumpkin) Yellow (squash, lemon) Green (spinach, leeks) Purple (beets, kidney beans, eggplant).

3. Focus on now. Worrying about what’s already happened or what might happen later on taxes your brain and only leads to stress. Worse, all that worrying rarely changes a situation or helps you prepare for upcoming challenges. Instead, always try to focus on what you’re doing at the moment, and you’ll soon find yourself much calmer.

4. Get a pet. Having a companion animal is a fantastic stress reducer and (depending on species) can also help you work in more exercise into your day. And an animal’s unconditional love can make up for a lot when things are stressful in other parts of your life.

5. Watch less TV. TV viewing has been shown to lower metabolism, cause mild depression and it obviously can eat up a lot of valuable free time. Decide to watch less TV, and soon you’ll see both your attitude and your productivity improve.

6. Get outside every day. There’s no better mood improver than fresh air and sunshine. Always shoot to spend at least 15 minutes outside each day — even if the weather isn’t ideal, a quick walk around the block can lift your mind and spirit. Although improving your life can seem like an overwhelming project, the truth of the matter is that there are things you can do every day.

Eat less – exercise more.
The weight loss formula is simple; you need to burn more calories than the calories you consume. This difference when it accumulates to 3500 calories is equivalent with one pound. In simple terms when you manage to save 3500 calories you will start losing weight. If you need to lose 10 pounds then you will have to create a calorie deficit of 35000 calories. There are two major ways to create this difference. The first is by eating fewer calories through your food and drinks and the second is to increase your activity levels so as to burn more calories. Some tips to help you eat less are:

1. Order small size servings – when you eat out do not order large size meals. Go for the ordinary portions and always try to leave a bit in your dish

2. Eat in smaller plates – when you eat your food in smaller plates this makes you think that you eat big portions, while when you eat your food in large plates this makes you think that eat small portions. This can be tricky so you should aim at smaller dishes to give your self the perception that you eat a lot.

3. Accompany your meals with water. Try to drink water along with your food. This will help fill up your stomach quicker and thus safe on valuable calories.

4. Eat a rich breakfast and a poor dinner. People who eat a good breakfast have more changes to stay away from snacks until lunch time. Do not believe that by skipping breakfast you can achieve better weight loss results. It is proven that breakfast can accelerate weight loss. Also, make sure that you eat your dinner at least 3 hours before sleeping. This will give enough time for your body to digest and carry out the burning process.

Once you covered the first part for proper weight loss results you also need to increase your levels of exercise and physical activity. Exercise can not only improve your health but will also improve your quality of life. Some tips to help you out are:

1. Join your local gym or aerobics class. This is a formal way of exercising that can give you the best results. If you think that you are not the person that would go to the gym or to a class then you need to find other ways to increase your physical activity levels.

2. Start walking. Walking is the easiest form of exercise and can create some good results. You can either choose to take a walk around the block or buy a treadmill and start exercising at home.

3. Try to perform activities that keep your body moving. Sitting all the time at home watching TV will certainty not help you lose weight. Get up and do things at home, do your garden, wash your car, take your dog for a walk. There are so many things in your daily life that can help you lose calories and you should take advantage of them.

Healthy does not necessarily mean you have to turn into a body builder or aerobics instructor. There are many simple things you can do that make a big positive impact on your well-being, and what benefits your body usually benefits your mind. Start simply. If you aren’t getting any exercise at all, just jog around your living room for fifteen minutes a day. Do a few of those calisthenics we all remember so well from high school. Walk around your neighborhood, and if you can find some hilly terrain, be sure to take it on. Walk backwards up a hill to find all kinds of muscles you didn’t know you had. Yoga is very popular right now for stress relief as well as keeping your body in condition. If you don’t feel you’re ready to sign up for a class, you can follow along with TV shows or find videos on the Internet.

Don’t forget to breathe! Take some deep breaths several times a day and be aware of your breathing as you go about your daily activities. Keep your body hydrated by drinking lots of water. If you find plain water too dull, add a bit of juice. Soon you’ll find you don’t care for soda as much any more. Not only is that good for your body, it’s great for your pocketbook.

Keep your mind sharp. Learn to play a musical instrument. You can find electronic keyboards that teach for around $150. If you already know how to play the piano, take up guitar. While some video games are mindless, many are stimulating and require memory or puzzle solving. Start a journal to keep your thoughts organized. Write fiction to expand your imagination.

Declutter your life. Get rid of things you don’t use — and never will. There is a glorious feeling of victory that comes with winning the battle over junk. You may not be able to get rid of everything, but give it your best shot and be sure to properly organize what’s left so that you can help keep things in their place. Donate or recycle what you can, and get a good feeling from helping others and the environment.

These are just a few thoughts to get you thinking of other ways to improve your life. Keep your body, mind and home healthy. Often, the biggest improvements come from the simplest ideas.

There are many ways to lose your sense of self-esteem despite of how trivial it could get. But whatever happens, we should all try not to lose our own sense of self while improving your life.

So what does it take to be a cut above the rest? Here are some of the things you can think and improve on that should be enough for a week.

1. Know your purpose
Are you wandering through life with little direction – hoping that you’ll find happiness, health and prosperity? Identify your life purpose or mission statement and you will have your own unique compass that will lead you to your truth north every time.

This may seem tricky at first when you see yourself to be in a tight or even dead end. But there’s always that little loophole to turn things around and you can make a big difference to yourself.

2. Know your values
What do you value most? Make a list of your top 5 values. Some examples are security, freedom, family, spiritual development, learning. As you set your goals for 2005 – check your goals against your values. If the goal doesn’t align with any of your top five values – you may want to reconsider it or revise it.

The number shouldn’t discourage you, instead it should motivate you to do more than you can ever dreamed of.

3. Know your needs
Unmet needs can keep you from living authentically. Take care of yourself. Do you have a need to be acknowledged, to be right, to be in control, to be loved? There are so many people who lived their lives without realizing their dreams and most of them end up being stressed or even depressed for that matter. List your top four needs and get them met before it’s too late!

4. Know your passions
You know who you are and what you truly enjoy in life. Obstacles like doubt and lack of enthusiasm will only hinder you, but will not derail your chance to become the person you ought to be. Express yourself and honor the people who has inspired you to become the very person you wanted to be.

5. Live from the inside out
Increase your awareness of your inner wisdom by regularly reflecting in silence. Commune with nature. Breathe deeply to quiet your distracted mind. For most of us city slickers it’s hard to even find the peace and quiet we want even in our own home. In my case I often just sit in a dimly lit room and play some classical music. There’s sound, yes, but music does soothe the savage beast.

6. Honor your strengths
What are your positive traits? What special talents do you have? List three – if you get stuck, ask those closest to you to help identify these. Are you imaginative, witty, good with your hands? Find ways to express your authentic self through your strengths. You can increase your self-confidence when you can share what you know to others.

7. Serve others
When you live authentically, you may find that you develop an interconnected sense of being. When you are true to who you are, living your purpose and giving of your talents to the world around you, you give back in service what you came to share with others -your spirit – your essence. The rewards for sharing your gift with those close to you is indeed rewarding, much more if it were to be the eyes of a stranger who can appreciate what you have done to them.

Self-improvement is indeed one type of work that is worth it.A personal life coach may be able to help you. It shouldn’t always be within the confines of an office building, or maybe in the four corners of your own room. The difference lies within ourselves and how much we want to change for the better.

If we want to improve our lives and the world around us, then we need to increase the good that we add to this world. This can only be done if we start with our selves.

I’m not saying to be selfish and only think of our selves. What I’m saying is that we need to improve what we do for ourselves. Do you eat right, get enough exercise, try to reduce the stress within your life? Many of us say that we are going to take better care of our selves, but never seem to get around to it for one reason or another.

Whatever the reason, it’s just an excuse to take that responsibility off of you and put it on something or someone else. You have to take charge of your life and that can’t be done until you take responsibility for it.

Life is too short not to enjoy every minute of it. To be able to that, you have to spend some of that time to improve the quality of you life. That starts with taking care of your health. When you are physically healthy, you in turn will be mentally healthy as well.

Take a walk after dinner every night, reduce the late night snacking, read a good self-help book. any one of these things will improve you health, but if you were to a little of each along with some other suggestions, you would be amazed to how much better your life would be.