How do you feel about home remodeling projects, things like adding a deck, changing cabinets, hanging light fixtures? This says something about how you do life remodeling. When I walk around the aisles of my local home improvement store, I can tell the men and women who love home improvement, and those who don’t. I love talking to them to see what inspires them. I often learn through conversations with them how they approach home improvement is the same way they wander the aisles of self-improvement projects. If you don’t like home remodeling you may not like life remodeling. Of course, there are exceptions to every “rule.” No matter what you decide, fall is often a time for wandering the aisles of self-improvement. By aisles of self-improvement I mean classes, bookstores, workshops and seminars… all the ways we find self-help work.

I like small remodeling projects. I like sprucing up my home with new things. I create a vision in my mind of what is possible, then bring it to reality. Each fall, I love the feeling of back to school. It’s my time to remodel myself in small ways.

John C. Maxwell said, “Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.” In home remodeling some things are unavoidable. For example, if you live in a home long enough, you will have to replace the carpet. Kind of like life, as you live in your body eventually you need a little remodeling in thoughts, beliefs or actions. Growth, as Maxwell states, is optional. We all have the choice to grow or not grow. As a reader of Choices magazine, I know you are choosing to grow and change from that place of knowing you have lots of options.

As I remodel my home and my life, I shop to put a few new tools in my tool belt. Here are tools you may want to put in your tool belt as you remodel.

Tool #1: Instruction manuals. This fall, pick up a book or two to inspire your remodel. My book, Everyday Mindfulness: From Chaos to Calm in a Crazy World, is a short daily reader to set a daily intention.

Tool #2: Choose a hammer, a hatchet or shovel. Where am I going with this? You would not plant a garden without taking out last year’s weeds. Why are you building your self-improvement on top of last year’s thoughts, beliefs, and actions? Get the equivalent in the self-help world. Pick up a pen and start writing in a journal. Think about what is working, what is not working and what you want to remodel in your life. Use the power of your pen (hatchet,) to cut away the ideas and stories that no longer serve you.

Tool #3: Pick up a few basic adhesives to rebuild. Think of these as nails, screws or glue…the things that hold your remodeled life together. Each fall, I revisit the vision board I made the previous December. I celebrate what has been completed. It’s never too late in the year to create a vision board. Pick out a few images and make a vision board of your own.

Self-improvement, like home improvement, is better when shared with a friend. This fall, find a friend, join a book club, create a vision board, learn a new skill. Mindfully take down something you no longer like about your life and replace it with a new vision. If you are looking for a mentor to help, fall is a great time to hire a coach.

At the pace of life and change today, self-improvement is no longer inevitable or optional. Put on your tool belt, grab a friend and grow on.

This article originally appeared in the Autumn 2019 issue of CHOICES Magazine