Each morning truly is a brand new opportunity. Each day is another chance to get it right.
The happiest, healthiest people embrace this truth and use it
to their advantage. They have effective morning rituals that gradually
improve their well-being and give their lives purpose. Here’s what they
do differently:
1. They wake up with a sense of gratitude.
In other words, they start the day with love in their hearts and
minds, and are truly appreciative of their life and all of its priceless
idiosyncrasies. They practice small acts of gratitude in the morning
by expressing thankfulness directly to the people they care about, and
to the immediate circumstances (health, opportunities, etc.) they could
so easily take for granted.
The more a person is inclined to gratitude, the less
likely he or she is
to be depressed, anxious,
lonely, envious, or neurotic. Bottom line: Consider how very fortunate
you are. Consider it every morning. The more you count your
blessings, the more blessings there will be to count, and the happier
you will be.
2. They begin anew.
They know it’s a brand new day to start over and do something
different. Yesterday may have been a complete bummer for them, but
today is a new day for learning, success and adventure. Realize this.
Live now. Not before. Not later. Just NOW – in the moment you’re in.
Inhabit your morning completely. Don’t rent it out to the past.
Don’t let your history interfere with your destiny! Let today be the
day you stop being a victim of yesterday’s circumstances and start
taking action towards the life you want. You have the power and the
time to shape the rest of this day. Break free from the poisonous
victim mentality and embrace the truth of your greatness.
3. They use self-inquiry to affirm a purposeful start to the day.
Steve Jobs’ morning routine used to start by looking in the mirror
and asking, “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do
what I am about to do today?” And Benjamin Franklin asked himself each
morning, “What good shall I do today?” I challenge you to come up with questions that keep you on track and push you to live a purposeful life, for example:
- What would I like to remember about today?
- How will I sincerely honor my own desires and truth today?
- What can I do to make a positive difference in the lives around me today?
4. They read something positive.
Some happy people read a bit of scripture each morning, while others
read inspiring books, articles or quotes to get their day started.
Either way, they have a ritual to read some form of self-improvement
literature to stretch and grow their insight and knowledge. It’s starts
their day off on a positive note with positive, productive ideas to
guide their day’s journey.
And that’s crucial, because in life you often have to create your own
sunshine. So read something positive every morning when you wake up,
and let it inspire you to do something positive before you go back to
sleep at night. That’s how memorable days are made.
5. They follow an effective morning routine.
Happy, healthy people know that morning routines are critically
important. They help you focus and build momentum for your day, and
they give you the freedom to be present and relaxed – to enjoy just
being right where you are each moment, rather than rushing from
somewhere to somewhere.
Once you get your routine in order, for the first time in a long
time, you will be able to, quite literally, smell the coffee. For truly
easy-going mornings, reduce the number of decisions you must make.
There are two simple ways to do this:
First, make your big morning decisions the night before: what to eat
for breakfast, what clothes to wear, what you need to take to work, etc.
Second, build a simple routine for as much of your daily morning tasks as possible.
Really, there’s no need to drastically alter the simple things like
how much time you give yourself to get ready for work, how complex of a
meal you make for breakfast, or bathroom and shower rituals from one
morning to the next.
6. They give themselves enough time to eat a wholesome breakfast.
You can’t possibly have a happy, healthy day if you feed your body
garbage first thing in the morning. Period. Your body is a temple.
You are what you eat. So do not eat processed food, fast food, and all
the filth the big processed food companies try to pass off as “healthy.”
Does it take ten extra minutes to prepare a wholesome breakfast? Yes
it does. Is it worth it? Yes it is! Most foods that you don’t have
to prepare manually statically cause sickness, cancer, and disease. Do
they taste good? Sure. It’s all well-seasoned, pre-packaged poison.
This is why so many people are sick – mentally, emotionally, physically,
and spiritually – because they are hooked to the taste of poison,
instead of being hooked to real foods that heal and
provide the human body with good health and wellness. Don’t make this
mistake. Fuel your body properly first thing every morning.
7. They move on gracefully to what’s most important.
As human beings, we are goal oriented. We like making progress.
When we accomplish one of our goals, we smile about it. That’s why the
happiest people I know are also some of the most successful people I
know.
And success is not something you have; it's something you DO.
It’s something you experience when you wake up and act accordingly. So
let your first hour set the theme of proactivity and success that is
certain to echo through your entire day. The key is to focus your
attention first thing in the morning on the right things. Why? Because
at some point we all wonder, “Why is it so impossible to get everything
done?” But the answer is stunningly simple: We’re doing too many of
the wrong things.
Several research studies have shown that people never get more done
by blindly working more hours on everything that comes up. Instead,
they get more done when they follow careful plans that measure and track
key priorities and milestones. So if you want to be more successful,
less stressed, and a lot happier at the end of a long day, don’t ask how
to make something more efficient until you’ve first asked, “Do I need
to do this at all?” Simply being able to do something well does not
make it the right thing to do. I think this is one of the most common
problems with a lot of time-management advice; too often productivity
gurus focus on how to do things quickly, but the vast majority of things
people do quickly should not be done at all.
So get out there and have a great day!!
