Raise your standards
Another avenue toward re-creating your life involves starting with what's right in front of you. In your daily life, undoubtedly, there are areas where you want change. Try raising your standards for how people treat you and how you treat yourself. Start with something from your list of tolerations (e.g., the things you are putting up with). You can read more about tolerations in my article in the June 2000 issue of PalmPower at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue200006/pptolerate001.html.

Say, for example, you're tolerating a slow Internet connection. The new standard you might set for yourself would be that all your work tools are cutting edge. You might use affirmations like, "My computer is always running at peak performance." Now what do you have to do to move toward that new standard?

List five action items regarding this goal in your To Do List, then schedule appointments with yourself to do them in your Date Book application. Ask smart friends what they would do. Call in an expert. Spend some money.

How about setting a standard of being more honest? First, get very specific about whether that means being honest with yourself, honest with others, honest when you say how you feel about something, etc.

Maybe you want to be truly honest with yourself about your financial situation or nutritional habits, but aren't sure whether your perception that you're pretty financially or nutritionally healty is accurate.

You can track spending using the built-in Expense application on your Palm device, or you can use a third-party application like ExpenzPro at http://www.zoskware.com/expnzpro.htm. An application called DietLog can help you monitor your eating habits. It can be found at http://www.dietlog.com/dietpal.html.

If your intention is to improve your overall honesty, your conscience will let you know when you're crossing the line. You may find yourself making some difficult choices, but this is the reward: When we make clear choices and decisions we are freed, liberated from uncertainty. However, beware of instant karma whenever you raise your standards. My clients report that the universe tests their commitment whenever something big is on the horizon. Hang in there!

Celebrate all your choices
Perhaps DietLog revealed you weren't eating right and you want to improve your nutrition. Maybe you decide you're no longer going to eat any artificial sweeteners, MSG, or palm oil, so you start reading ingredient labels and avoiding diet drinks, popcorn, and chips. Do you skip the soup at your favorite Chinese restaurant because it probably already has MSG in it? Maybe, but if you allow yourself to have the soup, please love yourself enough to enjoy it. Standards are something to strive for, choices that affirm we're in control of the details of our lives. Even when we choose to let one go in the moment, we become stronger by realizing our own power of choice.

Create systems that support you
Say you decide to check your computer monthly to make sure it's running at optimum performance. Now you have a system in place to maintain the new standard: check the computer monthly. You can easily set a reminder for yourself using Date Book. All you have to do is enter it once and then set the event to repeat monthly. Or, you can create an item with a Due Date in your To Do List and, once you've completed the task, manually schedule it for another Due Date.