January is the perfect time to begin new habits. Here are some tips that will enhance your quality of life greatly:

1. Get a physical (a check up) from your family doctor. Get all measures (weight, cholesterol, blood pressure, etc) done and see where you are at with your physical health.

2. Get a massage, and then put it on your schedule at least monthly. It'll do wonders for your stress levels, and is relatively inexpensive (the masseuse I visit goes for 65/hr and I buy a single two hour session monthly. Yours might be less or more expensive, or provided by a friend or spourse, but you get the idea…)

3. If you are in emotional pain, consider finding a therapist to see. Some of the most successful people I know have a therapist in whom they can confide. You don't have to wait until you have a nervous breakdown to do it, folks, and the objective viewpoint on life can't hurt.

4. Stop taking shortcuts with your physical exercise. I am always amazed at how many otherwise healthy people choose elevators over stairs. If the building is ten stories or less, take the stairs. You'll burn some calories and build some strength along the way.

5. Stop taking shortcuts in general with all you do. Human tendency seems to be to take the easy way out when given a chance. Don't cut corners. Even if nobody finds out, you'll know, and you'll deprive yourself of the confidence that comes from knowing you did the job/task the right way.

6. Drink more water. It's good for you.

7. Start drinking green tea, which is also good for you due to the high antioxidant count. Even one cup a day will help, and is a nice alternative to coffee.

8. Start a weekly routine whereby you take walks with your significant other or a good friend. This serves two purposes: physical exercise and emotional connection. It's also an easy habit to maintain, as you won't get sore (unless the conversation gets heated).

9. Remember the "Leif Smith Everything in Moderation Diet?" It never caught on with the public (for obvious reasons), but now's a great time to start it. Eat less of the foods that make certain parts of you jiggle, and more of the foods that are good for you.

10. Practice saying "no" more. Do this with phone calls, meetings, people selling magazines/cologne/vacuums/window treatments, etc. You'll feel great immediately after doing so. Keep in mind that some requests are inappropriate, also, and deserve a "no." Why is everyone else's time more important than yours?!

11. Pick one item off your 2009 wish list and start saving for it on a monthly basis. Have the funds deducted automatically, so that you will stay on task. You can do this with hot ticket items or vacations; it doesn't matter. You'll get excited doing it, and it will make the eventual purchase much more satisfying and painless.

12. Practice expressing thanks and admiration more when possible. It can only help your relationships. Keep in mind that most individual success stories involve the behind-the-scenes assistance of others.

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One of the components of the work I do in my sport psychology capacity with top athletes is performance enhancement. All too often, I sit with a world-class athlete and realize that the most effective way for me to work with them will be to help them remove their own self-imposed impediments. In other words, I work to help them get out of their own way. Some of the impediments to success I see include:

• emotional baggage ("I've never won the big one," or "I don't want to fail again like last time")
• impaired confidence
• irrational fear ("I won't be able to deal with it if I don't do better this time!")
• faulty support system or lack of one altogether
• technical laziness (letting the basic skill sets lapse)
• selective pessimistic memory

An enormous part of being successful in sports (and life) entails setting the game up to win, which simply means making certain that you reduce self-imposed obstacles to success. It's often easier than introducing a new skill set, which can result in frustration and reduced confidence. It's easier to stop being hypercritical of yourself than it is to visit Hawaii and do a Super Fire Walk of Confidence across hot coals, and it is definitely less effort to maintain mental and physical health on a daily basis than to try to do so after experiencing a stress-related illness that causes time away from work, family, and friends.

It's 2009, and you have an extra second this year (according to scientists). Use it wisely, and set yourself up for success more effectively by simply getting out of your own way. It's a novel approach, to be sure, but one that I think carries with it a high probability of success.

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