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It's February, Christmas is a memory, you have broken your New year resolutions, the weather is ...well we all know about the weather.

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But take heart, because this is as bad as it's going to get.

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And if you are feeling miserable there are simple tricks to help you see they sunny side again.

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Here, life coach Helen Chapman, of Askwith, near Ilkley , who specialises in helping business people to be happier and more effective in their working lives, gives ten tips to beat the blues

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"We have much more control over our moods and general sense of well-being than we often give ourselves credit for. When we feel blue we tend to forget all the things we know make us feel better and instead we get stuck into doing and thinking things that do not cheer us up. With a bit of practice we can train ourselves to be more cheerful, more of the time.

"To quote Anthony Robbins, 'If you always do, what you've always done. You'll always get what you've always got.'

"So, if you are feeling good and things are working, don't change anything. If you are not feeling so good or things are not working try something a little different and notice the difference it makes."


1. Bring back the fun
When did you have the most fun, feel the most relaxed or feel the most exhilarated in 2009? These times may have been on a holiday, just walking with friends, reading a great book or something completely different. Can you remember two or three times that you really enjoyed? What were you seeing, hearing and feeling then? If we remind ourselves of the enjoyable things in our lives we re-experience many of the feelings we felt at that time. So if you are feeling a little blue today, you really can bring back some of yesterday's fun.

2. Concentrate on what you can control, not what you can't
If we worry about all the things we cannot do anything about, we drive ourselves and the people around us crazy. If we spend more of our time concentrating on the things we can influence we feel much happier and more in control. Try writing a list of all the things you can do nothing about and throwing it in the bin. Now write a list of all the things you can control and take action.

3. Be proactive
A great technique for a more positive approach is to ask yourself these three simple questions;
What is the outcome I want?
What can I do to help to make this happen?
What is the first thing I will do?
By thinking about what we want rather than what we don't want, we increase the chances of it happening.


4. Be gentle on yourself
We are often so much harder on ourselves than we are on other people and we can spend a lot of time criticising ourselves or setting unrealistic expectations for ourselves.
How would you treat your best friend? You would probably congratulate them for their successes, however small, and encourage them to learn from their mistakes rather than dwell on them. Can you try and do a little of this with yourself. Try telling yourself, "It's OK, you are doing the best you can"

5. Smile and the world smiles with you
Smiling and laughing do amazingly wonderful things to our bodies. Can you remember how good you felt after having a really good laugh-out-loud time? When was the last time you had a really good giggle? When we smile our body releases chemicals that make us feel really good. The interesting thing is that the body doesn't know the difference between a real smile and a fake smile, or a real laugh and a pretend laugh – it releases the same chemicals. So why not find opportunities to laugh and smile more today, even if it is a little forced at first.

6. Take a deep breath and relieve the tension
The way we breathe can either relax us or add to our feelings of tension. How are you breathing at the moment? How tense are you? Just noticing our breathing and where we feel tense can make us feel calmer. To make yourself feel even calmer take five or six really deep breaths and let go of your tension with each out-breath.

7. Lift yourself up
What we do with our bodies can have a profound influence over our moods. If you are not feeling on top of the world, notice what you are doing with your body. You are probably slouching a little, probably sitting down and looking down. Try changing that position and see what happens. We generally feel better when we sit up, put our shoulders back and look up.
It is very difficult to sit up and look up and feel down!

8. Notice the good things
We see the world not as it really is but as we choose to see it. You can choose to see the good things or the bad things. If you spend a little time noticing all the wonderful things in the world you will feel so much better. Why not make a list of all the positive things in your life and all the good things you've noticed today.


9. Choose what you let irritate you
You cannot change what happens around you but you can choose how to react to it. If you are feeling good and somebody comes and shouts at you, are you going to let their issues spoil your good feeling? If the traffic is slow or the lights are on red are you going to choose to get wound up or to let it go. So, if someone or something starts to irritate you today take a deep breath, sit up, smile and think of all the things that make you feel good.

10. Make enough time for you – you are important
Finally, I think the best tip for staying cheerful is to decide to make enough time for you and the things that relax you. You know what makes you feel good and strong so find more ways to do these things more often.

Finally, if all else fails , you can look forward to Fri June 18, which is calculated to be the happiest day of the year.


*Helen runs workshops on Beating Stress and Developing Resilience with fellow coach Clare Gallagher and has written a book and e-book on the topic. For more information see www.pelicancoaching.com.