Making a significant change in your life can be both daunting and exciting. Whether you or someone else has made a decision that will cause an upheaval, you can make the most of it by being positive and proactive. Tack this list to your mirror or refrigerator and star* the ones you want to give special attention to today.

Time for a rewrite!! You've put another year to bed and now you get to decide if you like the program you've been living or if the next episode needs some tweaking or perhaps a major overhaul. You can make subtle or significant changes to the show. You can write an entirely different script or you can simply change the dialogue. You could add more interesting or supportive characters, and drop the characters that don't help drive the storyline. You can add more action or more contemplation. You have ultimate control over how your story unfolds.

What changes do you want in your story? A new business. Less eating. Gentler words. Reconnection with old friends or making new ones. Meditating. More physical activity. Stopping self-medication. Building a garden or a boat. There are so many ways to fill your story with your personal values or your own goals. What are yours?

The first task in a rewrite is to decide what you want to change that will promote the story you want told. Of course, the follow through gets tough when the weeks begin to roll into old patterns, so vigilance is paramount.

Here are some very clever ways to make those changes, then keep them in place after making them.

Whether you have been given a diagnosis of depression, anxiety, or some other serious-sounding disorder, or you just have the "blues," or "jitters," there are some essential ways you can take matters into your own hands.