20 Tips on How to Spend Your 525,600 Minutes Wisely

by Gail Lynne Goodwin, founder InspireMeToday.com

2014 will give us the gift of more than 525,000 minutes to spend any way that we’d like. Many of us say we “don’t have enough time”, but for this next year, as with all other ones, we all get the same amount of time - about 525,600 minutes.

What we do with the gift of these minutes determines the quality of our life, the condition of our health, the level of our happiness, the value of the memories we create and the difference we can make in the world.

Minutes spent stressed or worrying are wasted. Fear not only makes us ill and kills our dreams; it also reduces our minutes without providing productive results. None of our unused minutes can be saved as “rollover” minutes for the next year. None can be given to others and the wasted ones will be lost forever. When we look at our minutes from this perspective, it helps us realize the gift we’ve been given.

Here are 20 tips to consider on how to spend your 525,600 minutes wisely:

Spend time with people you love. Cherish family and friends. When we look back at a year, the things that stand out are usually times spent with loved ones, and the moments of connection with one another.
Have FUN! If you’re not having fun, go do something that IS fun!!! Spend your time doing what you love and what brings joy into your life.
Release the past. Don’t waste a good minute worrying about a bad one. Know that everything is perfect exactly as it is. Trust that there is a reason, even when you can’t see it.
Be positive. Realize you do have a choice and choose to be positive in your thoughts and your actions. You may not be able to control a situation but you can control your response to it.
Don’t quit! Keep moving in the right direction. Trust yourself and your abilities. Just because something didn’t yet work out as planned, doesn’t mean it won’t work out. There is always a way and you can’t lose unless you give up.
Embrace change. Resisting change is like trying to swim upstream. Instead, embrace it and go with the flow.
Connect with Nature. Watch sunsets. Talk to a tree. Listen to the wind. Taste the sweetness of a fresh apple. Study a leaf. Play with a dog. In all things, find your connection to something bigger than you.
Love life! Do what you love and love what you do. Happiness and good health come from spending minutes doing things that bring you joy. Laugh! Relax, be playful and remember, life is meant to be fun!
Expand your world. Learn about other cultures, celebrate our differences while finding common ground that unites us all.
Create a vision. Write down 100 things you want to accomplish this year and share it with someone you love. Create a vision board to keep your dream alive! Dream big dreams and trust that you’re on the right path to make them happen. You deserve the very best in life- claim it!
Listen to your inner voice. Many times, wisdom comes to us in silence.
Spread kindness. Connect with one another. Share a smile. Perform random acts of kindness. Choose love. Be love.
Exercise your mind and your body. We only grow old when we’re stagnant. Move and grow.
Pause. Breathe. Take time for yourself. Know that you matter and remember, you must first fill your own cup before you can give to others.
Pass it on. Share. Give away things you don’t need. Share love and resources with others, remembering that blessing flows more easily through a stream without a dam.
Pay attention to serendipity. Live connected to something greater than you.
Open unto and into the possibility of life. Live with faith and hope as a part of your life instead of apart from them.
Be conscious of your thoughts. Know that your thoughts hold the power to create tomorrow’s reality. So think good thoughts.
Celebrate the moments of your life. Honor your accomplishments and those of others.
Be grateful. No matter where you are, express gratitude, knowing that what you focus on grows. If you’re going to create more of something, let it be gratitude.

When we invest our minutes in things that matter, health and happiness will be ours.