10 Top Tips for Staying Positive This New Year…

Eric Gilston, Life & Business Coach, Author of the Amazon Best Seller ‘The Life Coach’s Toolbox’ and regular FashionCapital masterclass speaker, reveals his top 10 positive tips to achieve a mindful and accomplished year ahead…

1. Start a Journal, recording all the things that you do that you would not have done in normal circumstances. As well as what you did, record how it made you feel and any benefit that you got from doing it. Put aside a set time, later in each day to write in your Journal.
2. Find all those pieces of music that you have not listened to for many years and make time to enjoy hearing them again. Record in your journal the memories they brought back and what your feelings were.
3. Find all those books that you have purchased in the past, and either started to read or never started, and start reading them. Maybe start with only one hour a day and build from there if you’re enjoying what you read.
4. “If it’s to be, it’s up to me”. My favourite one liner. So, it’s up to you whether you feel sad or feel positive. Don’t look to blame anyone else for how you feel. Choose to be positive EVERY DAY.
5. “A year from now you may wish you had started today”. None of us know when all of the current situation will end, so with having more spare time than you have had for a long time, think of something that you always wanted to do, and start the process NOW.
6. “Use GOALS as a way of keeping your VISION clear and visible”. Write down two goals that you would like to achieve in the next month. Then write down the strategies you need to take to achieve them. Then take the action and achieve your goals. See how you feel at the end of the month. Record your feelings in your Journal. Then start again with new goals.
7. “People who are optimistic, accomplish more”. So, start believing that when this episode is all over, your new life will be even better than previously. Why should you believe that this cannot be the case?
8. Have the Mindset that things WILL get better, and that we have a lot of positives in our life that we have to think about in times of adversity. So, make a GRATEFUL LIST of all the things that are good in your life and that you are grateful for. My list has 34 items. Can you beat this?
9. Find something NEW to start, e.g. learn a language, study a subject you didn’t like at school, learn to play a musical instrument, etc. You can think about something to do that is brand new to you. How will you feel when you have achieved this?
10. Finally, having read the above nine tips, make a list of ALL the things that you could do starting from today, and then rank them in the order that would give you the greatest satisfaction, enjoyment and pride. Now start on what you’ve ranked Number 1.

Two Bonus Tips: 1. Revisit this strategy on a regular basis, e.g. every Monday morning, to help you assess where you are on a weekly basis.  

2. Don’t watch the TV news for too long. There is a lot of repetition and you can get yourself very depressed very quickly. Just follow the POSITIVE comments moving forward.

Eric regularly holds masterclass sessions with our learners, staff and wider community if you would like to find out more and possibly attend one of his sessions please check the FashionCapital masterclasses section.