Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to make drastic changes in order to notice an improvement in the quality of your life. At the same time, you don’t 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, you’ll find small ways to improve all areas of your life in the next 100 days.

Home

Walk around your home and identify 100 things you’ve been tolerating; fix one each day. Here are some examples:

• A burnt light bulb that needs to be changed.
• A button that’s missing on your favorite shirt.
• The fact that every time you open your top kitchen cabinet all of the plastic food containers fall out.

Write down 5 to 10 things that you’re grateful for, every day.

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.

Learning/Personal Development

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.

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 it’s time for bed and you can’t identify anything you’ve learned that day, take out your dictionary and learn a new word.

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.

Finances

Create a budget. Track every cent that you spend for the next 100 days to make sure that you’re sticking to your spending plan.

Don’t buy anything that you don’t 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.

Time Management

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.

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.

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. Television, video games, social media...

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

For the next 100 days, plan your day the night before (laying out an outfit helps, too). 

Health

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, you’ll have lost 5 pounds in the next 100 days.

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

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

Choose one food that constantly sabotages your efforts to eat healthier—whether it’s the decadent cheesecake from the bakery around the corner, deep-dish pizza, or your favorite potato chips—and go cold turkey for the next 100 days.

Your Relationship

For the next 100 days, actively look for a new positive quality in your partner every day, and write it down. At the end of the 100 days, give your partner the list you created. 

Social

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

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.

For the next 100 days, don’t even think of passing judgment until you’ve heard both sides of the story.

For the next 100 days, do one kind deed for someone every day, however small, even if it’s just sending a silent blessing their way.

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

For the next 100 days, stay in your own life and don’t compare yourself to anyone else.

Now...ask yourself, has this 100 days been better than the days before them? If yes, keep up the things on this list that you feel helped you. 

(Adapted from an article in Lifehack by Marelisa Fabrega)