Assess Your Joy Level. Are you currently having any fun? Are you making a living or making a life? Often busyness beats out fun. In order to have the time of your life, It is essential to do joyful things. Where do you go to find your smile? Joy comes in many packages for different people. Some find joy sitting on the beach with their toes in the sand, listening to the cresting waves. Others find joy reading to a child or listening to music. Tap into your joy at least daily.

Keep Your Brain Sharp. This doesn’t automatically happen. Just like you work your body parts to keep in shape, you must do the same for your brain! Dive into a crossword puzzle, take a class, watch Jeopardy, build a model car, or learn a new language. A friend of mine and I bought simple Italian books for ourselves. We email in Italian from time to time. We share just one phrase at a time. The recipient then has to look up that phrase to see what it means. It’s a fun way to learn because we do funny phrases sometimes.

Lend a Helping Hand. I know from experience and from the experiences of others that helping someone is an excellent way to enhance life. The life of the person you are helping as well as your own. Whether you volunteer with a charity or help out at church, find a way to give back just for the sake of humanity. Throughout your day you will find opportunities to help a stranger. When you help someone with no ulterior motive, you demonstrate kindness. Kindness is key to living a life of substance.

Practice a Grateful Heart. Gratitude is vital to productive living. It brings contentment and opens the door for more blessings and favor. I keep a unique marble in my purse and every time I am digging around for something and I touch that marble, I think of something to be thankful for. Angry people have something in common. They lack gratitude. You can’t be angry and grateful at the same time. When you are grateful for all that you currently have, you are in the right frame of mind to receive prosperity.

Develop a Charismatic Personality. Charisma is defined as: A rare personal quality attributed to leaders who arouse fervent popular devotion and enthusiasm. It is also called personal magnetism or charm. Be the kind of person that others want to hang out with. You do this by being positive and upbeat and also by taking an interest in other people. Find out what makes people tick. Ask questions and show interest. When the other person does most of the talking, they walk away thinking, “What a nice person!” Just because we took the time to listen.

Take Control of Your Thoughts. This one step can absolutely change your entire life. We received 10,000 thoughts per day. Of those thoughts, 2/3 are negative. In order to have the best life possible, we must learn to master our thoughts through self-discipline and also through what we let into our minds. Read something inspirational right before you go to bed. Listen to motivational speeches. Watch something uplifting and manage the amount of news you absorb. These are great ways to relax and center your focus on goodness. Nobody can go back and start a new beginning but anybody can start today and make a new ending. Your life is waiting for you!