Do you take advantage of your mornings? Or do you like to slip out of bed just in time to rush into work five minutes late?
You have about 25,000 mornings in your adult life. Make them count.
The morning time is powerful. You should claim your mornings and not let your desire to get a few extra minutes of sleep dictate how they go.
After you see these positive, productive ways to start your day, I think you’ll change your routine if you’re not already waking up early.
1. Affirmations
Affirmations are a part of the morning rituals of some of the most successful people in the world. The idea is to affirm something that is true about yourself, but it’s also a good idea to affirm something that you want to be true about yourself. Write these down and speak them out loud. If you’re affirming something that isn’t true yet, state it as if it’s already true.
2. Gratitude
There’s no better way to start the day than by saying thank you. Gratitude is a practice that will improve your life all around. If you’re an optimist, this should be easy. If you’re a pessimist, practicing gratitude is one of the quickest ways to become an optimist. We all have so much to be thankful for so why not speak it and write it down?
3. Silence
Silent time can be for many different things. It’s a great time for meditation or prayer. It’s also a great time to sit and think. If you’re used to rushing in the mornings, avoid the snooze button and wake up nine minutes earlier – use that time for silence. You’ll be amazed at how smoothly your day goes by adding a little silence and solitude.
4. Exercise
Get the blood pumping and get the health benefits. You’ll feel better, look better and live longer – exercise will also help you to actually wake up and conquer the rest of your morning. There’s nothing like a quick morning workout to help you feel awake and alive. Don’t think that more sleep is always the answer when you’re tired – sometimes you just need a little exercise in your life.
5. Family
The morning is a great time to relax and spend time with your family. Before the kids go to school you can have a nice breakfast or if you don’t get a lot of alone time with your spouse, you can use the mornings to do exactly that before the kids wake up. Starting your day with family time will set a positive tone for the rest of your day and improve your relationships at the same time.
6. Learning
Read, watch educational videos, listen to audio teaching or take a free online class. If you’ll just devote a few minutes to learning each morning, you’ll be surprised at how much you can accomplish in a month or a year. If you’re interested in trying some free courses, check out the following resources:
Click here for even more learning resources.
7. Journaling
Journaling has been a common practice of many people throughout history, such as Benjamin Franklin. It comes in many different forms. You can simply get a blank book and write or you can get a structured journal. The Five Minute Journal actually combines several of the things in this article (affirmations, gratitude…journaling). Journals are great for personal use or to leave to your children and family when you pass away.
8. Ritual
The best way to maximize your productivity is to combine several of these into your own ritual. Find the ones you like the most and do them every morning. If you have time to do each for 10 or 15 minutes, that’s great! But even if you can only devote a couple minutes to each one, it will add up over the long haul.
Check out my morning ritual here.
Photo Credit: NY Times (7-minute workout)