Effective ways to improve your life

Lifestyle:
Start a money box and put your loose coins in each day. It’ll add up quickly and help fund necessary holidays, says life coach and director of Total Balance Kate James. “Plan a year’s worth of holidays scheduling a short break at least every quarter. It doesn’t have to be fancy, you can go camping for a weekend but it’s important to get away.”

Home:
“Every day, take five minutes to tidy up and five minutes to focus on cleaning out the clutter in a drawer, on a shelf or any small area, and you will find your house in order in no time,” says Kerry Roesler of All in Order. “You'll be amazed at what you can do in 10 minutes.”

Fashion:
Unearth your inner glamour goddess by cleaning out your wardrobe, says designer and rescu.com.au glamour expert Alex Perry (subs please leave rescu reference in). “Sort it out, chuck it out, pack away the out of season stuff and have a tailor rejuvenate the ill-fitting or damaged,” says Perry. “Then invest in wooden hangers, chic shoe boxes and colour code the remaining treasures.”


Finance:
Give yourself a $3000 pay rise this year, says Anthony Bell of Bell Partners. “This is what you’ll save and maybe even more by simply bringing your lunch from home rather than buying it at work. It really adds up.”

Mind:
Set some time aside to volunteer. “There’s a huge amount of evidence that doing things for other people will make you happier than doing things for yourself,” says Kate James. While you’re at it, find a creative outlet: start taking photos or develop an appreciation for foreign films. It uses the right side of the brain and research shows when you use the whole brain, you see things differently, says James.

Body/Health/Diet:
Replace carbohydrates like pasta, potato or rice with vegetables once a day. “Those foods are high GI so replacing them with vegetables will give you lots more vitamins and far fewer calories,” says Dr Brian Morton, chair of the AMA’s federal council of GPs. “It’s a simple step in addressing the obesity epidemic.”

Relationships:
Time and attention are the most precious gifts you can give, says Relationships Australia NSW CEO Anne Hollonds. Don’t look to blame someone else when things go wrong, and focus on strengthening the relationship rather than winning the argument. “You have choices about how you respond,” she says.

Environment:
Do your bit for global warming by turning off your appliances at the plug before going to bed each night, suggests John Dee, founder of Do Something. “It’ll save millions of tonnes of emissions, make your house safer and knock 10 per cent off your electricity bill - it’s a win-win.”

Beauty:
Change your look. Visit a make-up counter and try new colours that enhance your features, beauty commentator and rescu.com.au editor Bahar Etminan says. “Nothing says new year, new you more than a new face. Give yourself a little image overhaul and ask ‘what parts of me can be refreshed and modernised?’”

Career:
If you set yourself a difficult goal, focus on the process, not the outcome, says business coach Chris Harasty.
“The more you focus on the outcome, the harder it is to achieve the goals as the stress associated with winning reduces performance.”