The Power of Mornings

Creating the life you love begins in the morning. That is how powerful this time of day is.

What we put in our mornings help to set the mood for the rest of the day.  Putting in place positive habits at the beginning of the day will help usher in positive thoughts, intentions and energy.  

Some pitfall to this though are the following:  

1.  Rushing to the tasks of the day and being overwhelmed. 

2.  Not having slept enough. 

3.  We feel lethargic. 

4.  Not feeling excited to face the morning.  

So, how do we tap into this magic time and make the most of it?  Here are some ways I think we could enhance our morning experiences.  

Power of the first thought.  

1 Minute.  When  you woke up this morning, do you remember your first thought? How about intentionally directing it to something positive first thing tomorrow? 

One thing that helps me is to have God as the first thought of my day.  Immediately, I surrender what is ahead of me to someone much more powerful that anything I will face.  This naturally transitions to gratitude, to hope and yes... everything turns into prayer. A hello to God.  In the quiet of the morning, before anyone else needed me, I tune it to the one I NEED THE MOST.  

Power of Rest. 

We need 8 hours of sleep to perform at our optimum level.  We should abide by this as much as we can.  It is easy to find endless excuses why we would not have enough time to sleep.  Work, family, circumstances.  It is helpful to actually examine how packed our days are before we can say that we did not have "enough time for work, family, friends" that we actually had to steal precious time from our sleep.  Re-examining how we use our time or resources is a good exercise to gain back those precious hours of rest.  

In cases when it is inevitable, when 8 hours is a luxury (i hear you parents, carers, traffic-trapped individuals), make the most of those times allowed by setting the environment for optimum rest.  Keep the room dark, lock the doors if possible, position yourselves comfortably, drink tea 2 hours before sleep, refresh yourself before hitting the sack.  These are practical and common place, but you will be surprised how even we miss out on creating a relaxing sleeping experience for ourselves.  

Its been said that a clear conscience is the softest of pillows and indeed it is. I'd say, a person who is content sleeps soundly as well.    

If all these do not work, look into your lifestyle and your health.  Sugar, smoking, stress and other physical and psychological concerns may be getting in the way.  Have yourself checked, or if it is obvious - most of the time reasons actually are obvious - commit to a lifestyle check and work gradually to execute the change.  

Power of Vitality

3 minutes.  Stretch, drink water, walk or deep breathing.  These are some of the little things you can add to your morning routine to add energy in your day.  Feeling lethargic sometimes is a mindset because we believe ourselves to be too tired.  This may generally be true.  However, I observed that when I am about to travel, for example, I do not feel lethargic even when I take a red-eye flight and sleep only two hours before leaving home.  

Therefore, I could force myself up from bed.  These simple additions to my morning routine helps me foremost to be aware of my body, what I put in it and basically just make myself grateful I could still move them at will and ruminate on the fact that I have a relatively healthy, functional body - my temple still works.  I am alive!

Power of Purpose

Purpose keeps us excited.  There is energy in purpose.  Our brain works when our purpose is clear. However, although it is a good exercise to formulate a life purpose and be reminded of it daily, our purpose may be too big a thing to digest at the beginning of the day.  

In this regard, it helps to excite yourself with little things to do that will water your purpose and keep it alive.     

2 minutes.  Before sleeping, write down some intentions/ goals/ tasks that will pull you excitedly out of bed in the morning.  

2 minutes.  Pull out that list in the morning and set your intent out to the day.  

What should we include in that list? A self-discipline/ improvement project, a favor for a loved one, a change you could implement at work, an act of kindness towards a random individual for the day, a class to attend, a meeting with an old friend you will set, a new recipe you will try out, etc.  

Let the list be composed of one thing beyond the daily grind of the day.  These novelties, these goals, these enriching activities for the day will pump you up positively no matter how little they may be.  

Joy is a decision. Renew that decision as you begin your day, no matter how difficult it may seem.

It may not always ring true.  We may not always feel that it is a “good morning”. 

But that is how habits help flex the muscle of our will.  

Good morning!