The saying, “You cannot heal in the same environment where you got sick” presumes that changing yourself and your environment can be a healing medicine.

It’s time to find out who you want to be, to see what is not working and to plan something new. Each one of us is a mystery, with both a creative and destructive side. Sometimes what we think we want is not what we manage to do. Sometimes we feel we want to be different but we do not know where to start.

Be the architect of your own life – start with a blueprint

Architects always start by asking questions to see what the new building needs.

1. When do I feel good about myself and my life?
2. What do I recognise needs to be changed?
3. What have I truly accepted that I need to change to have better health?
4. Am I aware of the urgency of making these changes?
5. Is there something I can do differently now than what I did before?
6. Can I introduce something new into my life?

Start laying the foundations of your new life

Here is an opportunity to write your own new story of who you want to become, by doing a short introspection with the help of Dr Seuss, the prize-winning author and cartoonist who wrote many inspiring books for children and adults.

Start by taking an exercise book, which will become your daily companion, and write down each of the following questions below on separate pages – page 1 – 5. Then with the wisdom and help of the thought-provoking quotes from Dr Seuss, write down your own plans, dreams and strategies for each question.

At the end, you’ll have a clear picture of who you want to be, where you want to go and how to get there. You’ll also have found ways to encourage and empower yourself when things get tough. As Dr Seuss says, ‘Kid, you will move mountains!’

Your Blueprint – preliminary questionnaire

All italics quotes are by Dr Seuss to inspire you to have fun while you design the new you.

1. What am I doing with my life?

• “Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one”.
• “You’re off to great places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way!”
• “And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed)”

2. When do I sabotage (harm) myself?

• “Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.”
• “If things start happening, don’t worry, don’t stew, just go right along and you’ll start happening too.”
• “With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you’re too smart to go down any not-so-good street.”
• “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”
• “When you’re in a slump, you’re not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.”
• “My trouble was I had a mind but I couldn’t make it up!”

3. Who do I want to be?

Only you can control your future.

• “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”
• “Think! You can think any think that you wish…”

4. Where can I find my true self?

• “Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you.”
• “Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the things you can think up if only you try!”
• “It is fun to have fun but you have to know how.”
• “You’re in pretty good shape for the shape you are in.”
• “Today I shall behave, as if this is the day I will be remembered.”
• “A person’s a person, no matter how small.”
• “It’s opener there in the wide-open air.”

5. How can I change to be more me?

• “So be sure when you step, step with care and great tact. And remember that life’s a great balancing act. “
• “It is better to know how to learn than to know.”
• “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
• “It’s not about what it is, it’s about what it can become.”

Start building your new life and make a habit of reviewing it every evening

1. Each evening, before you go to sleep, look back on the day with wonder for what has happened.
2. Use your book to plot your progress and find new strategies with the help of Dr Seuss to overcome difficulties and to celebrate your miracles.
3. Write down your miracles and your challenges and sleep on them.
4. In the morning, new strength will come to you with the dawn.

Positive words for inspiration

When forming your responses to problems, you may like to look at these positive words for inspiration:

• Action, abundant, accept, adopt, adventure, achieve, active agree, alive, amaze, appreciate, artistic, assertive, astonish authentic
• Beaming, believe, benefit, big-hearted, blessed, brave, bright bubbly, brilliant
• Calm, celebrate, change, charming, cherish, clarity, clean companionship, comrade, connect, confident, courageous creative, cultivate, curious
• Delight, delicious, discover, deliver, dream big, dig-deep, direct distinguished, donate
• Eager, earnest, easy, efficient, enthusiastic, essence, essential excited, expand, express, explore
• Faith, family, famous, fortunate, flourish, freedom, frolic, fresh, friendship, friendly, full, fun
• Gather, glad, generous, genius, gift, giving, graceful, grin gratitude, grow, group
• Happy, harmony, healthy, heaps, heartfelt, helpful, here, hold, honest, honour, hug, human
• Idea, ideal, imagine, indescribable, incredible, independent, innovative, inspire, intuitive, invaluable
• Jovial, joy, jester, jubilation, juggle, jump, just
• Keep, kind, kindle, kingly, knead, knit, knowledge, kitten
• Laidback, laugh, leader, legendary, learn, lift, light, lively, love lovely, luscious, luxurious
• Maintain, master, mend, metamorphose, mind-blowing, miracle, mission, mobile, mould, modify, motivate, move, muster, multiply
• Nature, natural, nail, nimble, nurture, nourish, novel, now
• Oasis, open, open-minded, optimistic
• Pact, pace, pat, peace, playful, plant, plenty, pleasure, positive proud, poise, popular, positive, prepared, productive, project pretty, purpose
• Quaint, quest, quick, quiet, queenly, quintessential, quality
• Ready, recognise, refresh, rejoice, remarkable, renew, resolve replenish, respect, restore, revere, respond, resolution, rewarding
• Safe, secure, serenity, smart, solution, solve, sparkling, splendid, spontaneous, strong, support, supple, surprise, sure, sustain
• Thankful, thrive, team, tranquil, truthful, trusting, together, transform, trail-blazer, top
• Unity, unusual, unwavering, up, upbeat, untie
• Value, venerate, venture, vibrant, victorious, vigorous, vision vital, vivacious, voyage
• Wander, wait, well, welcome, whole, wholesome, wonderful, wonder, wishes
• Yes, young, youthful, yin yang, yippee, yell, yes
• Zeal, zen, zest, zing, zephyr, zodiac, zzzzz

With thanks to http://www.creativeaffirmations.com/positive-words.html from their ideas.