You are responsible for making sure you are served up a full helping of life. No one else can go to life’s buffet line for you. You won’t get what you want if you let anyone or anything else select your main course.

If you want a life with no regrets, you have to live each day with no regrets, to do that means you are living authentically. Authentic living means you are being true to yourself, paying attention to what you truly want and not letting fear, or what other people will think, stop you. This fulfilling lifestyle involves doing what you want to do, going where you want to go, being who you want to be. You know you are living and working without regrets when you are fully engaged, alert, alive, enthusiastic, and in action in your life.

When you are living your life authentically, problems are seen as possibilities; obstacles are seen as opportunities to learn and to do things differently. What would be different for you if you were truly living an authentic life? Would you go back to school and study ballroom dancing, Buddhism or beer brewing; travel through India on a bike; risk that romance with the new neighbor; start a new business?

The only obstacle between you and a life without any regrets is you.

Take the time. In the words of George Elliot,”It is never too late to be what you might have been.” If you are ready for a new proactive lifestyle, where you will be more fulfilled  and squeeze more juice out of every day, read on:

Strategies for Living Without Regrets

1. Commit Yourself to Authentic Living
Right now this is the only life you have. Make an agreement with yourself that you are not going to sit this one out. Commit to being a participant, not an observer. Commit yourself to the process of finding and following your dreams, wants and desires.

2. Point Out Past “Pro-Actions”
Make a list of all the moments in your life when you felt most alive. Then identify what was it about each of those experiences that made you feel that way. For example, if you identified serving in the Peace Corp as a time of aliveness, identify if it was the adventure, the opportunity to educate others, to help shape a community, or learning about another culture, that was the real positive and invigorating part of the experience. Alternatively, if you felt proactive when you first used a computer, was it doing something new, achieving a goal or actually working with technology that made you feel great?

3. Tolerate Nothing
Ask yourself, what are you tolerating in your life? Is there a health challenge you are not addressing, a relationship you have long outgrown, a home full of paraphernalia that is crowding you? If you are not being proactive in life and handling these things, you are tolerating and being reactive to them and how they impact you.

4. Identify “No Regrets” People
Make a list of ten people you are acquainted with that you believe live life fully and authentically. These are the people you want to spend time with, collaborate with, pioneer with, play with. Reach out to a few of them and make something happen.

5. Jot it Out
Keep a journal for a week and notice when you are feeling the most alive. Write these things down, and then at the end of the week reread your journal and see if there are any common threads or directions that need further investigation.

6. Try New Things
Make a list of all the things you would like to do. Add to the list everyday. Once a week, for six weeks, try something new. In addition to having new experiences and perhaps finding some new talents and passions, living without regrets means trying everything you want to try.

7. Get Into Action
Once you commit to proactive living—living without regrets—the only thing left to do is get moving, get working on it, get going. Write out all the big and small action items necessary to get you living your proactive lifestyle. Start small with little steps, and as momentum builds you will find yourself naturally engaging fully in life, naturally not holding back.

As you begin this new lifestyle, watch closely and notice what is different. Maybe soon you will place an awning or a plaque, or even a welcome mat by your front door that lets all who enter know: here lives a person with no regrets.

They just interviewed me and I think you will be both inspired and get some great ideas.

Listen now at http://tr.im/JOOu

http://www.attractclientswithease.com/articles/resolutionsstick.htm

Happy New Year,

When you have your own business, staying motivated and staying inspired is key.  Almost every year I have sent my clients, to post on their wall for the whole year, a dynamic and colorful daily inspiration card that they can download and post on their wall to stay focused, happy and in action all year.

I am especially love this year’s version. Download it here.

The theme for my business this year is Make It Thrive! Make that your theme or come up with something else that will inspire you for the next 360 plus days. Expect Success!

Caterina