It is the start of a New Year! You have probably thought about renovating your home this year. Perhaps it is more important to renovate yourself!

There are many things that you can do as part of your “self renovation.” There is always ways to making yourself into a better person. Things that you can focus on as part of your renovation include: your appearance, your money earning power, your personal power, your interpersonal relationships, your knowledge of your ethnic group and your personal happiness.

Let’s start with your appearance. If you renovate your home, you obviously would want to improve the appearance of your home. Just as there are drastic ways and subtle ways to change and improve the appearance of your home, there are both drastic and subtle ways to change and improve your personal appearance. Subtle ways to make subtle changes are much less daunting to yourself and your significant others. Simply get a subtle make over to improve your appearance. Get a haircut, buy some skin cream, change your make up application and exercise to tone up your body. Both men and women can get a more modern and hip hairstyle which is a way to look younger instead of that “old” hairstyle. Skin care products are available for both sexes. Nice clear and smooth skin can be achieved through diligent use of these skin care products. For women, perhaps it is time to get rid of that baby blue eye shadow from the Sixties and go for a more elegant smoky tone look. Of course we can all benefit from a little more exercise! Get out and take walks. In the winter “mall walking” is a popular indoor “sport.” Go ahead; get a fresh new appearance by giving yourself a subtle make over!

Your money earning power can be increased if you take the time to really analyze it. Your “day job” may be your only and most important source of income. Think of ways to increase your money earning power within the parameters of your “day job.” Upgrade your skills and knowledge by taking courses or getting additional training. With more skills and knowledge automatically comes increased earning power. Additional formal education would enable you to change careers to a much higher paying career. Additional income can also be earned from one of your hobbies. There are many people out there that have turned their hobbies into very lucrative full time careers. Think of what you just love to do and then find ways to earn money from it. If you love to fix and repair old watches as a hobby, think about selling some of your refurbished watches for some extra income. Basically if you think in unlimited ways, your earning power will also become unlimited!

Personal power is the perhaps the most important element for achieving success in life. It all starts with your belief in yourself. Once you are thoroughly convinced that you have personal power then it shall be. There are ways to “psych” yourself up in order to achieve this state of mind. One way is through positive affirmation statements that you can repeat to yourself. An example would be, “I have the power to produce successful positive results!” You should reinforce this statement by repeating it to yourself when you wake up in the morning, during the day and at night before going to sleep. You can even send yourself emails with these affirmation statements. Use your own words so that they resonate deep within your conscious and subconscious mind. Pump yourself up and go out in the world with megawatts of personal power to light up your way!

Your interpersonal relationships can be improved or completely “renovated.” Let’s say that your have a very good relationship with somebody. In this case, no major “renovation” of the relationship is required. However, you should work to maintain or perhaps slightly improve things. People in a relationship need constant reassuring. It is important to show that you care about the other person. Special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries should not be forgotten but rather, acknowledged and celebrated. Send a card, make a phone call, bring or send a gift. Find a way to say that you have not forgotten and that you care. It is also very important to show you care without any special occasion to prompt your caring words. Call a friend for no reason other than to say, “You are a good friend and I value our friendship.” Tell your significant other that you love them. Tell you children that you love them. Tell your parents that you love them. Spread the love!

Some of your interpersonal relationships may be in need of “repair” and “renovation.” In a bad relationship there is tremendous friction between personality types. You may perceive the other person as being “difficult” and wish that they would change. It is almost impossible for you to change another person’s personality. You have probably tried and failed. Even severe behaviour modification techniques do not work on certain people so how do you expect your constant verbal requests for a change in the other person to work? You do not have control over the other person. They will continue to do whatever pleases them. You do, however, have control over your self. Rather than trying to change the other person, you can change your attitude towards that person so that there will be less friction between you. You can learn to accept certain faults in others and become more tolerant. Of course, in the case of a really toxic relationship, the best thing to do is literally and figuratively, “divorce” yourself from that person. You chose who you want in your life. Keep your close relationships closer and end those toxic relationships! It is your life and your choice who you want to have an interpersonal relationship with!

While you increase your knowledge of your ethnic group, you will be increasing knowledge of yourself as a person. You can start to answer the philosophical question, “Who am I?” by stating your ethnic origin. I am Italian. There is no denying that being Italian is an essential part of who I am. There are cultural and genetic elements that define me as Italian. What is your ethnic make up? Study your ethnic origin. Learn to speak the language of your parents and grandparents. Plan a trip to your birth place or country of origin. Immerse yourself in your culture! Explore the music, art and literature of your culture! We live in a multicultural country so wave that Canadian flag and also wave the flag of your country of origin!

Personal happiness is an emotional state. It is dependant upon your way of thinking and your attitude towards life. If you simply choose to be happy right now based upon the things that you already have, and then you will be happy. We have to learn to be grateful for what we have. Rejoice in the fact that you have a family that loves you. Rejoice in the fact that you have a comfortable place to live. Rejoice in the fact that you have good health. Learn to live in the moment and to be happy in the present moment. The past is not worth worrying about and tomorrow is yet to come. So be happy right now!

Make a plan to renovate yourself. I wish you all a very Happy New Year and Happy Renovating!