11

Find something about yourself that you’d be justified hating and then find a reason to love it.

Example: I’ve found three grey hairs in the last week. I'm absolutely not that old. I’d feel justified in hating this, but rather I love it because it makes me more like my mom. (Hah, love you mom!)

Learn to love your faults.

Learn to have better days.

10

Find reasons to smile. Click here for several! You won’t be disappointed.

9

Celebrate mediocrity. Even the losing soccer team gets trophies. Even the lame facebook statti get “liked." Sometimes accomplishing a menial task such as a trip to the bank, buying your groceries, waking up on time, etc becomes worthy of recognition. Celebrate your mediocre accomplishments; it’s by finding joy in the small successes that average days improve.

8

Respect
the
rules,


even if
you
don't
understand
them.

7

Try something different with your appearance.
Be a little braver. (Or perhaps a little more subtle?)

You know when you look at someone and think, "I wish I could pull that off?" Well today is your day. The only difference between people that can "pull something off" and you is that nobody ever told them they couldn't do it.

Clothes, hair, shoes, earrings, smiling more, Sharpie-on your eyebrows? The possibilities are endless.

Do what you want, but do something new and different.

Doing something different can make the difference between an average day and a better-than-average day.

6

Remember where you've

come from

and use it

to decide

where you want to go.

5

Floss your teeth.

It's good for them, and even though it's tough love, it'll make them happier in the long run. Flossing is like exercise: it hurts at the beginning but the more you do it, the easier it gets and the less it hurts. Periodontal disease isn't near as much fun as...well...pretty much anything else in the whole world.

And seriously, there's a certain level of satisfaction that comes from flossing. Your smile will be brighter, your teeth will be happier, and your day will be better.

4

Read something today.

…a book, a magazine, an article, the newspaper, a billboard, the words on a TV ad, updates on your preferred social media site, your horoscope, a letter, the nutritional information on your cereal box, something educational, something intellectual, something that will make you feel dumber, the clues from an old crosswords-puzzle book, the information on the back of your driver’s license, a blog (ahem…THIS blog!), a children’s book, something for work, something for play, something for education, something you’ve never read before, something you’ve read a million times, something spiritual, something you’re curious about, something famous, something you once wrote…anything!

Read something and today will be better.

“The more that you read,

the more things you will know.

The more that you learn,

the more places you’ll go.”

~Dr. Seuss~

3

Talk to someone you love. There are reasons you love them: remind yourself of all those reasons. Visit them, call them, go out to lunch together…do whatever it takes. If not in person, then email, fax, facebook, text message, etc… there are too many ways to contact the people we love and I’m convinced we don’t talk to them often enough!

A better day is just a phone call away.

(It's genius because it rhymes...and because it's true.)

2

Be nice to strangers. Hold the door open for the person behind you. Make eye contact with the grocery store checker. Compliment someone [example: "Excuse me, you have lovely eyes."]. Making a stranger’s day better will make yours better too.

1

The standard rules of driving cars are also the standard rules of driving shopping carts.

·         Slower traffic keep right.

·         If you need to stop, pull over.

·         If someone looks like they’re in a hurry, get out of their way.

·         If there’s a dog or some other small animal in the path of your cart, try not run it over.

·         Try to keep your small children and elderly loved ones from driving shopping carts unless you’re sure they can handle the responsibility

·         Signal your turns and don’t cut people off.

·         Apologize if you crash into someone

I’m convinced that better shopping cart drivers will create better shopping experiences.

Better experiences create better days.

See? It’s this blog is working it’s magic already.

In the beginning

I go to college…because I want to be smart and educated and stuff. This blog has been created for a communications class at Southern Utah University in which we’ll be studying social media in all its forms. My plan (which I assure you is not evil in any of its forms) is pure and unadulterated success. I’ll recruit the most followers, gain the most readers, inspire the most blog-stalkers, and cultivate the most traffic, thereby earning myself the minimal extra credit points promised to the class member with the most successful blog by the end of this spring semester2011.

Join me in my journey. Follow me on the path. Traffic the heck out of this blog. Invite your friends. Come along as I strive to inspire and uplift us all with 365 steps to better todays, brighter tomorrows, and more fantastic lives altogether. A better life is just one day away.

And hey, if I win the class competition, I may just share some of my extra credit with you.