Almost Smart Cookie Tip: 

        There are No Short-Cuts to Self-Improvement

Oh, if it were only as easy as reading a book, attending a lecture or--gulp! going to counseling in order to find happiness.  Even talking with your religious leader will not work unless you are truly willing to do the hard work of facing yourself.  Here are some tips to help you on your path of becoming your best and happiest self.

1.  Go ahead and be afraid.  It's normal.  No major changes in life--even if the changes are for the better--occur without some anxiety. 

2. If your anxiety gets too out of control, seek medical help.  There are excellent anxiety medications that can help you get through your tough times. But medicine works best when you combine it with therapy.

3.  But don't fool yourself into thinking that just because you are going to therapy that you are doing a good job.  Many people are good at fooling themselves and the therapist.  Clients often withhold key information.  In order to benefit from therapy you have to change what you do and think.

4.  Yes, seek religious help, read books, attend lectures.  But once again, these methods are only as good as your use of them.  "Seeing the light" or "getting it" only works when you follow through with new behavior and attitudes.

5.  Forgive yourself when you falter--and you will.  Few people improve in a steady climb.  And don't beat yourself up for falling off your course.  Get back on it.

6.  No matter how much it hurts, self-discovery cannot kill you.  If you fear that facing yourself is too painful and treacherous, get counseling immediately.

7.  Expect your improvement to happen both quickly and slowly.  We tend to learn both over time and in transformational leaps.

8.  Keep in mind that you most likely have one life to live.  Think now about how you want to live it.

9.  All choices and decisions are made with incomplete information.  There is never any guarantee that you have made the right one.  Life has wild cards.

10.  See life as an on-going learning opportunity where people do have the capacity to change.