The Only Way to Move Forward Is to Do It.

To have a good work life, it’s commonsense that you need to have a stable home environment.  Yet, this is often overlooked by people because you accept the environment you’re used to.  Also people tend to feel helpless when home life isn’t what it should be, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try to overcome the difficulties, even if New Year’s resolutions don’t seem to work.  That’s why the only way to move forward is to do it.

The first step you can take is achieving good mental health.  How do you feel?  Do bees always swarm in your head, are you constantly tired or depressed? These feelings could be a sign of mental health needs.  Don’t be afraid to seek help.  Often, mental health issues won’t go away by themselves because there’s a chemical imbalance.  This can only be treated by a professional. 

Remember, you don’t need to feel ashamed or that you are violating any religious tenants.  Your therapist isn’t a god, and you aren’t treating him or her as one.  You treat them like your doctor. 

For normal disorders, it’s just like having a conversation with someone who cares.  You won’t be revealing deep hidden secrets you’d rather not.  Most therapy’s like this now, the Freudian way of regressive therapy being found to be counterproductive for normal problems.

The next thing to look at is your physical health.  At 40, you should have a complete physical.  Consult your doctor about what tests you should have done.  Ask him or her if you’re healthy enough for exercise.  Then start a program, simple at first.   Just 20 minutes of increased activity a day is enough to bring about a remarkable turnabout in how you feel.

Moving forward, look at your diet, and by this I don’t mean go on a diet.  What do you eat?  Consulting a good nutritionist is a really good idea here.  I have a friend who lost 36 lbs. this way by being put on an eating pattern for life by a nutritionist.  He's even allowed two cheat snacks and one cheat meal a week. 

Next, are you a slob?  If so, consider having your whole apartment or house cleaned by a cleaning person.  Get it in order.  This is especially true if you work at home.  Organization is about neatness and neatness is accomplished by overcoming laziness. 

Everything in your house should have a home.  Go room by room, working clockwise.   Make it a game.  After things have a home and things not needed are thrown away, stay on top of it.

This brings me to the next topic, money.  Are you good with it?  $ 50 invested every month starting at 18 years of age in a good managed mutual fund will make a person a millionaire by the time they’re 65.   And if you assume savings go up with age, you can have financial health in old age doing this.  

It’s the little things in money that make for big changes in habits of spending.  It’s having a practical budget and sticking to it.  It's the attitude.  Train yourself to think each purchase out.  Is it a need or a want?  Is there an alternative?  Can I make coffee at home and bring it with me? 

Now personal relationships probably most affect our jobs; it’s hard to go fishing if your spouse is mad at you, let alone trying to go to work.  I could write a 350 page book on the subject, and it wouldn’t matter for some.  For others, a rocky relationship is often caused by a lacking in the things above that I have written about, so take care of these, add in kindness, and see what follows.  

Make today your new day.