Learn to break your habits

We all have our little rituals: you only go to the cinema with him, you only shop at Sainsbury's, you only do housework on a Saturday and you eat ravioli every Wednesday night. These kind of habits are perfectly normal and a comfort to use. But when something different comes along (a job offer in Kuala Lumpur, a gorgeous guy who wants to see you again), it can cause fear because it doesn't fit in with your  routine - and you could miss out on a golden opportunity.

What to do: Ask yourself what you really want right now. "We should ask ourselves what we seek on a regular basis", says Isabelle Filliozat. Start off gradually by changing mundane habits: have something different for breakfast, alter the route you take to get to work, wear heels instead of flats (or vice versa), go to the Indonesian instead of Chinese... 

Extra tip: If there's one phrase that needs to be removed from your vocabulary, it's "I'm more of a coffee person" (or a Hobnob person, a Toyota person, a vintage person...). This is how we end up being psychologically dependent on something which we use to define ourselves. Saying "I prefer coffee to tea" doesn't seem that different a statement, but it defines you as a person who makes choices, not as a person whose choices define them. The same goes for men, cars and clothes!