Here are four rules I've come to live by:

First, do what I love. 

If I don't enjoy something, I get rid of it or don't do it.  Sounds crazy, right?  I worked for three years to build up a one-man band act with my saxophone, a keyboard, and my flute. Then, one day, after doing the gig for a corporate Christmas party, I decided that the one-man-band act might pay enough, and might be fun, but it would not be the musical outlet I was truly seeking:  that of interacting with other musicians and touring around the country (or world). So, I stopped doing it.  I sold most of my gear, including my P.A. system, flute, and keyboard, for pennies on the dollar. Then, I focused on talking to people about my aspiration to play in a band, to front a band, and make great things happen musically.  Two years later, I met Dino, and we started a band called The Olive Club. We played music we enjoyed for over three years. That led to an understanding of how to lead a band.

Now, I play in Black Market Trio and Body, one band is afro-latin-lounge with conga, bass, and sax (groovy, huh?!) and the BODY is funk/soul (www.myspace.com/body). Both are very fun for me, and I lead both projects.

My position on our decisions is to just make them and don't look back.  Why have regrets?  Regret doesn't help us with where we are today.  Nor does it help us with where we are going.  What does help is to make a decision, and move on, and be satisfied that is was right, no matter what we did. Just make sure that what we do is what we love.

So few people know what they love. What do you love? Is it the current American Idol star? Is it Britney Spears? Anna Nicole Smith, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Paris Hilton? Really? It amazes me how much people spend time reading about OTHER people, when they could be living their life the way the want by spending that time doing their own thing. The things you want, the things you need, and the things you love are usually not found from someone else's life; they're found in your own.

Second, do the hardest things first.  

I know that when I do the hard things first that my life seems so easy I wonder how it could have been any other way.  Just doing the easy things caused our life to become cluttered. We might as well face our challenges head-on and then cruise through the easy part later. Whenever I get bogged down, I almost always find that I'm AVOIDING the difficult things. Of course, then they don't get done. I feel unproductive. I don't succeed. I lose opportunities. That's what happens when we avoid the difficult things. When, on the other hand, I TACKLE the hardest things first, I find that by doing those things life is then more open for the easy stuff to get done. Try focusing your to-do list upon the challenging and most important to your life development as your "A-List" items. Once you do, the B's and C's will become more fun, more free, and you'll have more to show for your actions. Works every time for me!

Third, allow myself to feel emotions.  

When I'm happy, I like being happy and laughing.  If I get angry, I gave myself permission to scream or break something. Go ahead, really, it is okay to feel!  I once heard Kevin Ryerson say, "I believe we were supposed to have emotions.  Such as joy, anger, happiness, sorrow.  As the Old Testament said, 'I am a loving God, I am a jealous God, I am an angry God, etc.'  -- if it is good enough for God, it is good enough for me!" When we allow ourselves to feel, yet remain "aware" of what we are doing or saying, we enable ourselves to become fully human.

I believe most disease comes from DIS-EASE - in other words, discomfort with our life, our body, our health. And that comes from stress, poor activity, crummy diet, and things like that. So, if we're breathing properly, eating properly, exercising regularly, and smiling, laughing, and LOVING each other more, aren't we likely then to have less disease? Feel your way to a better life!

Fourth, be positive and have faith in myself, and in my ability to manifest.

With all of the programs like "The Secret" and other self-help, it amazes me how much we still can get affected by self-doubt. People who look down are going to be more depressed. It just makes sense.

I like to look up at the blue sky, see the birds chirping, and smile. And find something to laugh about.  If we aren't laughing, we aren't living. With once ounce of joy we replace a thousand sorrows  Through faith in our self, we enable the world around us to give back to us. Through our belief in our self, we create our world, our life, our potential.

So, to recap, try these techniques to improve your life:

1. Know what you love.

2. Do the hardest things first in the day.

3. Allow yourself to feel your emotions.

4. Be positive and have faith in yourself and your ability to manifest.

Taking a look at how we live our lives can be refreshing.  By leaving the things that aren't working (after seriously trying), doing the hard things first, allow our emotions to be real, and smile and laugh along the way, the journey can be better for all of us.