60 Small Ways to Improve Your Life in

the Next 100 Days

Contrary to popular belief, you dont have to make drastic changes in order to notice an improvement in

the quality of your life. At the same time, you dont need to wait a long time in order to see the measurable

results that come from taking positive action. All you have to do is take small steps, and take them

consistently, for a period of 100 days.

Below youll find 60 small ways to improve all areas of your life in the next 100 days.

Home
1. Create a 100 Days to Conquer Clutter Calendar by penciling in one group of items you plan to

declutter every day, for the next 100 days. Heres an example:

Day 1: Declutter Magazines

Day 2: Declutter DVDs

Day 3: Declutter books

Day 4: Declutter kitchen appliances

2. Live by the mantra: a place for everything and everything in its place. For the next 100 days follow these

four rules to keep your house in order:

If you take it out, put it back.

If you open it, close it.

If you throw it down, pick it up.

If you take it off, hang it up.

3. Walk around your home and identify 100 things youve been tolerating; fix one each day. Here are some

examples:

A burnt light bulb that needs to be changed.

 A button thats missing on your favorite shirt.

The fact that every time you open your top kitchen cabinet all of the plastic food containers fall

out.

Happiness
4. Follow the advice proffered by positive psychologists and write down 5 to 10 things that youre grateful

for, every day.

5. Make a list of 20 small things that you enjoy doing, and make sure that you do at least one of these things

every day for the next 100 days. Your list can include things such as the following:

Eating your lunch outside.

Calling your best friend to chat.

Taking the time to sit down and read a novel by your favorite author for a few minutes.

6. Keep a log of your mental chatter, both positive and negative, for ten days. Be as specific as possible:

How many times do you beat yourself up during the day?

Do you have feelings of inadequacy?

Are you constantly thinking critical thoughts of others?

How many positive thoughts do you have during the day?

Also, make a note of the emotions that accompany these thoughts. Then, for the next 90 days, begin

changing your emotions for the better by modifying your mental chatter.

7. For the next 100 days, have a good laugh at least once a day: get one of those calendars that has a

different joke for every day of the year, or stop by a web site that features your favorite cartoons.

Learning/Personal Development
8. Choose a book that requires effort and concentration and read a little of it every day, so that you read it

from cover to cover in 100 days.

9. Make it a point to learn at least one new thing each day: the name of a flower that grows in your garden,

the capital of a far-off country, or the name of a piece of classical music you hear playing in your favorite

clothing boutique as you shop. If its time for bed and you cant identify anything youve learned that

day, take out your dictionary and learn a new word.

10. Stop complaining for the next 100 days. A couple of years back, Will Bowen gave a purple rubber

bracelet to each person in his congregation to remind them to stop complaining. Negative talk produces

negative thoughts; negative thoughts produce negative results, says Bowen. For the next 100 days,

whenever you catch yourself complaining about anything, stop yourself.

11. Set your alarm a minute earlier every day for the next 100 days. Then make sure that you get out of bed

as soon as your alarm rings, open the windows to let in some sunlight, and do some light stretching. In 100

days youll be waking up an hour and forty minutes earlier than youre waking up now.

12. For the next 100 days, keep Morning Pages, which is a tool suggested by Julia Cameron. Morning Pages

are simply three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, done first thing in the morning.

13. For the next 100 days make it a point to feed your mind with the thoughts, words, and images that
are most consistent with who you want to be, what you want to have, and what you want to achieve.

Finances
14. Create a spending plan (also known as a budget). Track every cent that you spend for the next 100 days

to make sure that youre sticking to your spending plan.

15. Scour the internet for frugality tips, choose ten of the tips that you find, and apply them for the next 100

days. Here are some possibilities:

Go to the grocery store with cash and a calculator instead of using your debit card.

Take inventory before going to the grocery store to avoid buying repeat items.

Scale back the cable.

Ask yourself if you really need a landline telephone.

Consolidate errands into one trip to save on gas.

Keep track of how much money you save over the next 100 days by applying these tips.
16. For the next 100 days, pay for everything with paper money and keep any change that you receive. Then,

put all of your change in a jar and see how much money you can accumulate in 100 days.

17. Dont buy anything that you dont absolutely need for 100 days. Use any money you save by doing

this to do one of the following:

Pay down your debt, if you have any.

Put it toward your six month emergency fund.

Start setting aside money to invest.

18. Set an hour aside every day for the next 100 days to devote to creating one source of passive income.

Time Management
19. For the next 100 days, take a notebook with you everywhere in order to keep your mind decluttered.

Record everything, so that its safely stored in one placeout of your headwhere you can decide what

to do with it later. Include things such as the following:

Ideas for writing assignments.

Appointment dates.

To Do list items

20. Track how you spend your time for 5 days. Use the information that you gather in order to create a time

budget: the percentage of your time that you want to devote to each activity that you engage in on a regular

basis. This can include things such as:

Transportation

Housework

Leisure

Income-Generating Activities

Make sure that you stick to your time budget for the remaining 95 days.
21. Identify one low-priority activity which you can stop doing for the next 100 days, and devote that time to

a high priority task instead.

22. Identify five ways in which you regularly waste time, and limit the time that you re going to spend on

these activities each day, for the next 100 days. Here are three examples:

Watch no more than half-an-hour of television a day.

Spend no more than half-an-hour each day on social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and

Stumbleupon.

Spend no more than twenty minutes a day playing video games.

23. For the next 100 days, stop multi-tasking; do one thing at a time without distractions.

24. For the next 100 days, plan your day the night before.

25. For the next 100 days, do the most important thing on your To-Do list first, before you do anything else.

26. For the next 14 weeks, conduct a review of each week. During your weekly review, answer the

following:

What did you accomplish?

What went wrong?

What went right?

27. For the next 100 days, spend a few minutes at the end of each day organizing your desk, filing papers,

and making sure that your work area is clean and orderly, so that you can walk in to a neat desk the next day.

28. Make a list of all of the commitments and social obligations that you have in the next 100 days. Then,

take out a red pen and cross out anything that does not truly bring you joy or help move you along the path

to achieving your main life goals.

29. For the next 100 days, every time that you switch to a new activity throughout the day stop and ask

yourself, Is this the best use of my time at this moment?

Health
30. Losing a pound of fat requires burning 3500 calories. If you reduce your caloric intake by 175 calories a

day for the next 100 days, youll have lost 5 pounds in the next 100 days.

31. For the next 100 days, eat five servings of vegetables every day.

32. For the next 100 days, eat three servings of fruit of every day.

33. Choose one food that constantly sabotages your efforts to eat healthierwhether its the decadent

cheesecake from the bakery around the corner, deep-dish pizza, or your favorite potato chipsand go cold

turkey for the next 100 days.

34. For the next 100 days, eat from a smaller plate to help control portion size.

35. For the next 100 days, buy 100% natural juices instead of the kind with added sugar and preservatives.

36. For the next 100 days, instead of carbonated drinks, drink water.

37. Create a list of 10 healthy, easy to fix breakfast meals.

38. Create a list of 20 healthy, easy to fix meals which can be eaten for lunch or dinner.

39. Create a list of 10 healthy, easy to fix snacks.

40. Use your lists of healthy breakfast meals, lunches, dinners, and snacks in order to plan out your meals

for the week ahead of time. Do this for the next 14 weeks.

41. For the next 100 days, keep a food log. This will help you to identify where youre deviating from your

planned menu, and where youre consuming extra calories.

42. For the next 100 days, get at least twenty minutes of daily exercise.

43. Wear a pedometer and walk 10,000 steps, every day, for the next 100 days. Every step you take during

the day counts toward the 10,000 steps:

When you walk to your car.

When you walk from your desk to the bathroom.

When you walk over to talk to a co-worker, and so on.

44. Set up a weight chart and post it up in your bathroom. Every week for the next 14 weeks, keep track of

the following:

Your weight.

Your percentage of body fat.

Your waist circumference.

45. For the next 100 days, set your watch to beep once an hour, or set up a computer reminder, to make sure

that you drink water on a regular basis throughout the day.

46. For the next 100 days, make it a daily ritual to mediate, breath, or visualize every day in order to calm

your mind.

Your Relationship
47. For the next 100 days, actively look for something positive in your partner every day, and write it

down.

48. Create a scrapbook of all the things you and your partner do together during the next 100 days. At the

end of the 100 days, give your partner the list you created of positive things you observed about them each

day, as well as the scrapbook you created.

49. Identify 3 actions that youre going to take each day, for the next 100 days, in order to strengthen your

relationship. These can include the following:

Say I love you and Have a good day to your significant other every morning.

Hug your significant other as soon as you see each other after work.

Go for a twenty minute walk together every day after dinner; hold hands.

Social
50. Connect with someone new every day for the next 100 days, whether its by greeting a neighbor

youve never spoken to before, following someone new on Twitter, leaving a comment on a blog youve

never commented on before, and so on.

51. For the next 100 days, make it a point to associate with people you admire, respect and want to be like.

52. For the next 100 days, when someone does or says something that upsets you, take a minute to think

over your response instead of answering right away.

53. For the next 100 days, dont even think of passing judgment until youve heard both sides of the

story.

54. For the next 100 days do one kind deed for someone every day, however small, even if its just sending

a silent blessing their way.

55. For the next 100 days, make it a point to give praise and approval to those who deserve it.

56. For the next 100 days, practice active listening. When someone is talking to you, remain focused on

what theyre saying, instead of rehearsing in your head what youre going to say next. Paraphrase what

you think you heard them say to make sure that you havent misinterpreted them, and encourage them to

elaborate on any points youre still not clear about.

57. Practice empathy for the next 100 days. If you disagree with someone, try to see the world from their

perspective; put yourself in their shoes. Be curious about the other person, about their beliefs and their life

experience, and about the thinking process that they followed to reach their conclusions.

58. For the next 100 days, stay in your own life and dont compare yourself to anyone else.

59. For the next 100 days, place the best possible interpretation on the actions of others.

60. For the next 100 days, keep reminding yourself that everyone is doing the best that they can.

25 Tiny Habits That Could Totally Change Your Life

Research, as well as common sense and personal experience, is showing us that small steps get us to far

away places. The key is to consistently take those small steps in the same direction. Building a big, life-

changing habit is difficult: its hard to keep the willpower going long enough to see change.
But building a tiny habit? Thats doable. BJ Fogg, Director of the Persuasive Tech Lab at Stanford, has done

extensive research this very topic.The Fogg Method uses the effectiveness of tiny, specific habits to create

big changes in behavior.

Here are 25 tiny habits you could add into your life. They dont seem like much, but if you practice them

regularly, they can change your energy level, your fitness, your relationships, your work, your community,

and your environment in big ways.

Tiny Habits for Better Physical Health

1. Drink a glass of water first thing in the morning. We often dont get enough water in our systems, and get

so busy throughout the day that we dont think about stopping to replenish our supply. Or we replenish with

soda or coffee or tea but not water. Trigger yourself by leaving a big glass out on the counter or table. Or do

what I do, and get a big travel mug with a lid. At night, I fill it up with a lot of ice and a bit of water, and in

the morning its waiting for me: a nice, cool cup of water. Flush the toxins, kickstart your system, wake

yourself up.

2. Park as far away as you can from the door. Fight the effects of a sedentary lifestyle by getting more steps

into your day whenever you can. In fact, simple things like a longer stroll from the car to the door might be

more effective than a vigorous work-out at counteracting the effects of long hours at a desk.

3. Eat raw fruit or vegetables with every meal. Think: a green side salad, a slice of melon, some berries, a

few carrot sticks and cucumber slices. Not only will you get more nutrients in, you will also be getting in

more fiber and potentially helping your body lose weight, retain energy, and decrease hunger.

4. Stand up and stretch every hour, on the hour. Trigger yourself with a beep on your phone or watch (do

people still wear those?) or computer. Sitting for extended time periods is a bad idea for both your body and

your brain. You need a mental and physical break, and it doesnt have to be a big deal. Just stop, when your

on-the-hour beep sounds at you. Stand up where you are, reach over your head, take a deep breath, touch

your toes, roll your shoulders.

5. Carry a small bag of nuts or beef jerky everywhere you go. Something protein-rich will help stave off

hunger as well as keeping you from getting to that ravenous point when youll eat anything in sight, no
matter what the calorie count is. Getting a little more protein in your diet can help boost your metabolism

and build your muscle, as well.

Tiny Habits for Better Mental Health

1. Ask open-ended questions. Instead of throwing out questions just so you can insert your own opinion, ask

bigger, better questions. Avoid asking questions that can be answered with a simple Yes or No. Try questions

that start with What do you think about? and How would you.? or What is your experience

with? Then listen to the answers with the attitude that you are here to learn. Having an open perspective

and initiating deeper conversations will help you to relate with others, cultivate empathy, keep your own

problems in perspective, make new friends, and learn new ways of approaching life. Imagine the wisdom

you would gain in five or ten years if you just have one of these conversations every week.

2. Keep a tray of art supplies out on your table/desk/shelf. Dont force or even expect yourself to clock in a

certain number of minutes or productions. Just keep them out, in reach, so that when you feel like doodling

around with something artistic, it is effortless. Bonus points: switch the art medium out every week or month

(pastels, crayons, watercolors, ink, clay, playdough, carving knife & wood block).

3. Sit in silence for a few minutes every day. We dont have to call this meditation, because that might be a

little too intimidating. You dont have to sit cross-legged. You dont have to close your eyes. You dont have

to be Zen-like in anyway. Your brain can be flying a hundred miles an hour, but dont say or do anything.

Just sit, comfortably, and breathe for a few minutes.

4. Jot down everything on your mind for a few minutes at the end of the day. This is a brain dump in the

easiest way possible. Its not a big deal like a daily journal or to-do list or planner might feel. Keep a simple

notebook by the bed, and give yourself a few minutes to pour out everything thats on your mind before you

go to sleep. Dont edit. Let it all out, in any format, in any order. It doesnt have to make sense, even to

you. Studies show that this type of writing can reduce anxiety and depression. Alternative: use a voice

recorder and simply talk, in unedited stream-of-consciousness style, for a few minutes into your recorder.

5. Repeat a personal mantra to yourself when you hit stress points. Make it something simple to remember

that calms you and reminds you of the important things in life. This is a simple way to retrain your brain and

tell it how to respond to stress. Instead of letting stressful points send you into a panicked mode, you pull out
your mantra and tell your brain that its going ot be okay. A few of my favorites: This too shall pass. I am

stronger than I think. I can learn what I need to learn when I need to learn it. Ive handled worse than this. I

am not alone. There is freedom here. When I take responsibility, I take power.

Tiny Habits for Better Productivity and Work

1. Pretend to be your hero. When youre faced with a challenging situation, an intimidating project, a new

career leap, an important meeting, think about a hero in your industry or career. Then ask yourself what this

person would do in your situation. How would she handle it? Would he be intimidated? Fearful? Or

confident and calm? Now imagine yourself doing exactly what you think your would do. This helps to

clarify what the right actions are for you by removing the self-doubt and negative self-talk that can bog you

down in uncertainty.

2. Do a 5-minute daily review at your desk at the end of the day. Before you leave work, or from your desk

at home before you wrap things up for the day (or night!), take five minutes. Write down what you

accomplished in a quick, bulleted list. Write down what you didnt accomplish that you had hoped to, and

what stopped you. Dont beat yourself up for your failures, just notice, if you can, what caused you to get off

track. And notice how much you did accomplish. This type of review is a way to help your brain focus on

the positive (I did accomplish something today) and will help you to become more aware of the things that

tend to derail you or distract you from productive work.

3. Turn off all notifications for at least one long block of work time every day. Our brains are not adept at

switching from one task to another. The single ding of an email notification or text, even if its about

something completely unimportant, can cause you to lose up to 40% of your work time. Is it really worth it?

Maybe if you have infinite time at your disposal But we all know that you dont. So do yourself and your

career a favor, and silence all the dings and chirps for at least one long block of time (2 4 hours).

4. Respond to all invitations and opportunities with Ill check my calendar. Stop the knee-jerk response

that you give, whether it is negative or positive. Maybe youre too quick to say no (I am). Or maybe youre a

people-pleaser and youre too quick to say yes, and find yourself over-booked and overwhelmed. Give

yourself time to evaluate each opportunity by simply making it your practice not to answer right away.

Instead, say, Ill check my calendar and let you know. Then, when you have a little time, check your

calendar, your priorities, and determine what you can fit it in.
5. Spend 5 minutes a day thinking about the process you will take that will get you to your career goals. This

is the right kind of positive visualization. Visualizing the end result doesnt usually help you get there. But

visualizing yourself doing the steps you will take to reach your end goal can help you to actually follow-

through on those steps when it is time.

Tiny Habits for Better Relationships

1. Call, text, or email one friend or family member a day. Staying in touch has never been easier, but its all

too easy to only connect with the people we see at work or the ones who just wont stop showing up in our

Facebook feed. Reach out a little further than that to stay connected with the friends and family members

you value. It only takes a few minutes to invest in a relationship, with the result that you have a strong

network of people around you, both near and far.

2. Write a thank you note every week. This can be an exercise solely for you: write a thank-you note to

someone whos passed on but impacted your life, and tell them all the things you wish you could say in

person. Or write a note of thanks to someone who is or was part of your life and send it to that

person. Cultivating gratitude helps to lessen the fear in your life. How much better would your life be if you

had trained yourself to be appreciative instead of afraid?

3. End your night with a word of thanks or encouragement. This is the kind of simple habit that can make or

break a lifelong relationship. Before you roll over and go to sleep, let your significant other know you accept

and value him or her. You dont have to be elaborate: I love being with you, or Thanks for being there for

me, sends the right message. If youre not in a relationship, give yourself a word of thanks or

encouragement. Sounds silly? Maybe. But it can help build your confidence and keep you from letting one

bad day spiral into depression.

4. Pause before you answer or respond to people. Train yourself to listen well, by giving yourself time to

think up your response in that pause, not while the other person is talking. This not only shows that you

value what the other person is saying (which communicates acceptance and respect) but it also gives you

time to weigh your attitude and words. In a high-tension situation or stressful conversation, a simple five-

second pause might be what keeps you from blowing up and ruining a relationship you value.
5. Give yourself a time out. Life happens. Youre going to hit points when you feel stressed, frustrated,

angry, or impatient. Thats okay, because if you can give yourself a time-out then you can keep things in

perspective. You cant expect yourself to be a non-emotional robot, but you can train yourself to take a five-

minute break from humanity when things are getting to you. Walk around the block, lock yourself in the

bathroom, take a quick drive with the windows down and the music blaring. Find the time-out chair that

works for you, and use it.

Tiny Habits for a Better Community and Environment

1. Take a short walk around the block with a trash bag and pick up litter. This weekly or daily ritual will help

you to be more aware of how you treat your daily environment, and you never know the effect it can have on

others. Sometimes just one person taking the time to make something better can spark others to take better

care of things, as well.

2. Stop and say hi to your neighbors. Make it a habit to do a little more than a nod or smile. It takes just a

moment, whenever you see them out, to walk over and say hello. Create a friendlier community and help the

people around you get plugged in, too. Some of my best friends are neighbors who were willing to lean over

the fence and chat for a minute. Now theyre the ones calling to see if I need anything when they run to the

store, or offering to babysit my kids if Im not feeling well.

3. Borrow before you buy for big purchases. Its not always possible, but why not try it? Save money and

help the environment. Make it a habit to borrow first, try it out, and see if its what you really

need/want/must have. Then try to buy used before you buy new. Obviously this wont apply to every big

purchase but it will apply to a lot.

4. Set aside money for giving. It can be a small amount. Really. Five dollars can make a big difference to

somebody. Out of every paycheck, or every months total income, put aside a small bit for giving. It has to

be no-strings-attached, and anonymous is the way to go whenever possible. Help out your neighbors. Donate

to a charity. Buy that homeless guy a meal. We are all part of the same human family.

5. Keep your bike out where you can see it. No, you dont have to use it Just put it out there, in front of

you, where you can eyeball it. Every day, when you run to the car and hop in. Wait, you dont have a bike?

Hmmm. Maybe call up a neighbor and see if you can borrow one.