Motivation for Life: What Would You Do if You Could Have a Do Over?

"The only thing it takes 365 days to change is a year" - Hypnotherapist David Block

"If at any time you make a mistake and want to change your selection, press the star key on the telephone pad." - AMC 20 Movie Theater recording

Both of the above quotes imply a radical shift in popular thinking about change. They imply that changes can be made quickly, and don't have to take a long, long time.

I am constantly searching for the very best "change tools" I can find to help the people with whom I work. I look for tools that offer rapid and effective change, and meet at least three criteria:

1) Simple - any one can use them

2) Profound - they work quickly and they last

3) Dependable - they work just about every time

Recently a friend shared with me a wonderful quote from professional speaker Brian Tracy that meets all these criteria and has the potential to be a very rapid and effective change tool. Here's the quote, in the form of a question:

"If you were starting over today, what would you do differently? Whatever your answer, start doing it now."

All of us would like to have a chance for a "do over" in some area of our lives. Well, maybe in many areas. Although we cannot change the past, this question offers great direction for making both the present and the future more like we would want it to be.

Let's look at several areas of our lives and some questions about what we might do over, and then start doing now.

In the area of relationships, would you:

Be closer to those around you? Stay in touch with people? Let those close to you know how much you value them?

In the area of family, would you:

Spend more time with them? Go more places with them? Throw out the ridiculous notion of quality time and replace it with quantify time?

In the area of marriage, would you:

Learn how to communicate more effectively? Make sure, on a regular basis, that your spouse knows they are #1 with you? Honor and cherish them. Remember those words? Ask your self, what am I contributing to making this a cool place to be?

In the area of education, would you:

Go back to school? Find out about something you've always wanted to know? Take a class you've always wanted to take? Take the time to get really good at something?

In the area of health, would you:

Get in and stay in the best shape you can? Get rid of some extra pounds? Remember, there's overweight people and there's old people, but there's not a whole lot of old overweight people. Eat in a way that supports you?

In the area of finances, would you:

Design a life instead of just making a living? Keep track of where the money goes? Work and live within a budget? Put away something for the future on a regular basis?

In the area of attitude, would you: Pay attention to yours? Model an attitude you would want friends and family to model? Find something positive in almost any situation?

I'm certain there are other areas of your life that you can apply this question. Remember folks, life is not a dress rehearsal, although most of us act like it is.

Here's the question again,

"If you were starting over today, what would you do differently? Whatever your answer, start doing it now."

Don't get caught up and stuck in "I wish I coulda-shoulda-woulda." Focus on what you can do now, and simply and profoundly, go do it.

Visit SecretsofGreatRelationships.com for tips and tools for creating and growing a great relationship. You can also subscribe to our f*r*e*e 10 day e-program on how to enrich your relationship today, from relationship coach and expert Jeff Herring.

In The News:

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President-elect Barack Obama speaks about the economy at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.,  Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)AP - President-elect Barack Obama warned of dire and long-lasting consequences if Congress doesn't pump unprecedented dollars into the national economy, making an urgent pitch Thursday for his mammoth spending proposal in his first speech since the election.



Senate Budget Committee Chairman Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., right, accompanied by House Budget Committee Chairman Rep John Spratt, D-S.C., left, takes part in a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington,  Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)AP - President-elect Barack Obama's proposed tax cuts ran into opposition Thursday from senators in his own party who said they wouldn't do much to stimulate the economy or create jobs.



Palestinians throw stones at an Israeli watch-tower during a protest against Israel's offensive in Gaza, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Thursday Jan. 8, 2009. Militants in Lebanon fired at least three rockets into northern Israel on Thursday, ripping through a crowded nursing home and threatening to open a new front for the Jewish state as it pushed forward with a bloody offensive in the Gaza Strip that has killed about 700 people. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)AP - The U.N. halted deliveries to the Gaza Strip on Thursday after gunfire from an Israeli tank killed an aid truck driver, and the threat of a wider conflict arose when militants in Lebanon fired rockets into northern Israel.



Pedestrians walk past Generations Menswear on 8th Ave. in New York Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009. Retailers are reporting dismal sales for December, confirming fears that the holiday season was the weakest in four decades.  (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)AP - Retailers reported dismal sales figures for December on Thursday as even Wal-Mart Stores Inc., one of the bright spots in the industry, finally buckled under the pressures of the deteriorating economy.



President-elect Barack Obama makes remarks on the nations economy, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009, at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)AP - Barack Obama is officially the next president of the United States, Congress declared Thursday in fulfilling its centuries-old constitutional duty to certify and tally the electoral college vote from each state.



A sign instructs job seekers at the California Employment Development Department in Sunnyvale, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009. The country lost nearly 2 million jobs through November and more bad news is expected this week when the government releases data on weekly jobless claims and December unemployment. No matter how bad those numbers are, and economists expect at least another 500,000 jobs were lost last month, the pain is stretching into 2009.  (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)AP - The number of people continuing to seek unemployment benefits has risen sharply, according to government data released Thursday, indicating that laid-off workers are having a harder time finding new jobs as the recession enters its second year.



In this Jan. 5, 2009 file photo, disgraced financier Bernard Madoff leaves U.S. District Court in Manhattan after a bail hearing in New York. A defense lawyer for Bernard Madoff is expected to submit written arguments Wednesday to a judge who is probing whether the disgraced Wall Street financier should be jailed before trial. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)AP - Prosecutors said Thursday that investigators found 100 signed checks worth $173 million in Bernard Madoff's office desk that he was ready to send out to his closest family and friends at the time of his arrest last month.



AP - Researchers at Cornell University have discovered that Aedes aegypti mosquitoes — the ones that spread diseases like yellow and dengue fever — alter their wing vibrations in a mating signal.

Maureen O'Conner places a vase of flowers and a sign by the entrance to the Jumbolair Aviation Estates where actor John Travolta and his family  live Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009 near Ocala, Fla., while Roberta Arnes, right, pays her respects to the Travolta family for the lose of their son.  The Travolta family is back in their home in the complex after returning from the Bahamas, where their 16-year-old son, Jett, died at the family vacation home in Grand Bahama. (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin)AP - John Travolta and family were expected to host a private memorial service Thursday for their son, 16-year-old Jett Travolta, at their gated-community home in central Florida.



This Sept. 7, 2007 file photo shows Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz tipping his hat to fans as he leaves the game after giving up a hit to Washington Nationals' Ronnie Belliard, ending Smoltz's bid for a no-hitter, during the eighth inning of a baseball game at Turner Field in Atlanta. Smoltz has reached a preliminary agreement on a contract with the Boston Red Sox, a stunning end to his long career with the Atlanta Braves. The deal was expected to be finalized later Thursday Jan. 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Gregory Smith, File)AP - After more than two decades with the Braves, John Smoltz appears likely to finish his stellar career wearing a different uniform. In a stunning end to one of baseball's longest runs, Smoltz reached preliminary agreement on a contract with the Boston Red Sox after failing to work out a deal to return for his 22nd season with the Braves.



President-elect Barack Obama arrives with Nancy Killefer, his appointee as White House Chief Performance Officer, during a news conference at his transition office in Washington, January 7, 2009. (Jason Reed/Reuters)Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama warned on Thursday that the U.S. economy could stay mired in recession for years without bold action and he urged lawmakers to work day and night to pass a massive stimulus plan.



A Palestinian stands in front of Israeli soldiers during a protest in the West Bank village of Bilin near Ramallah against Israel's offensive in Gaza January 8, 2009. (Eric Gaillard/Reuters)Reuters - Palestinians faced even grimmer conditions in the Gaza Strip on Thursday after a U.N. aid agency halted work, saying its staff were at risk from Israeli forces fighting Hamas militants, after two drivers were killed.



A customer shops at a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Rogers, Arkansas, June 5, 2008. (Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters)Reuters - Wal-Mart Stores Inc and other top U.S. retailers delivered disappointing December same-store sales and profit warnings on Thursday, sparking fresh recession concerns that hit stock and currency markets.



Bernard Madoff is escorted from Federal Court in New York January 5, 2009. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)Reuters - A search of accused swindler Bernard Madoff's office desk revealed he had signed checks totaling more than $173 million ready to be sent, U.S. prosecutors said in court papers on Thursday asking a judge to jail him.



Oleh Dubyna, the head of Ukrainian state energy firm Naftogaz, arrives at the European parliament Foreign Affairs Committee in Brussels January 8, 2009. (Francois Lenoir/Reuters)Reuters - Russia said on Thursday it would restore gas supplies to Europe through Ukraine once international monitors were in place, but Moscow and Kiev remained at odds over the terms of any supervision.



People walk past the Bank of England in central London, January 8, 2009. (Rob Bodman/Reuters)Reuters - Economic weakness in Europe worsened and disappointing sales from Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, knocked financial markets lower on Thursday, strengthening the case for government stimulus and new rate cuts.



Reuters - A criminal probe into the CIA's destruction of videotapes showing harsh interrogations of terrorism suspects is almost finished, court papers made public this week show.

A man looks at a large screen displaying India's benchmark share index on the facade of the Bombay Stock Exchange building in Mumbai, January 7, 2009. (Punit Paranjpe/Reuters)Reuters - India's Satyam Computer faces a crisis of "unimaginable proportions," its interim chief executive said a day after the chairman revealed profits had been falsely inflated for years.



Palestinian youth inspect a destroyed kindergarten following an Israeli air strike overnight in Gaza City. Rockets fired into northern Israel from Lebanon have sparked a new military alert as Israeli jets carried out mass strikes on smuggling tunnels in Gaza.(AFP/Mahmud Hams)AFP - Rockets fired into northern Israel from Lebanon on Thursday sparked a new military alert as Israeli jets carried out mass strikes on smuggling tunnels in Gaza.



A man warms himself near a stove in a bar in the town of Belovo, Bulgaria. EU-sponsored talks collapsed Thursday between Russia and Ukraine on resolving a gas dispute that has cut supplies to Europe in the midst of a bitterly cold winter, with Moscow blamed for the failure.(AFP/Boryana Katsarova)AFP - EU-sponsored talks collapsed Thursday between Russia and Ukraine on resolving a gas dispute that has cut supplies to Europe in the midst of a bitterly cold winter, with Moscow blamed for the failure.




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