7 Morning Habits That Can Change Your Life
Changing your life in a long-lasting way takes effort, focus, and commitment. The world we live in today is chaotic and feels like it moves way too fast and with that said more people are looking for ways to simplify the process and find ways that will be the most productive and effective, while still being relatively simple to incorporate into our daily lifestyle.
One of the best ways to successful life-long changes is incorporating a personal and productive morning routine.
This is where the “Miracle Morning” comes in and helps you build a successful morning routine. This 6-step morning routine was developed by Hal Elrod, by curating the best personal development habits.
He was able to get himself out of $50,000 credit card debt, after losing his home in the financial crisis of 2007 by developing a new morning routine for himself. He then started sharing his successful morning routine and people found interest in what he was doing. All the interest and positive feedback from those who created a new successful morning routine thankfully led to a series of best-selling personal development books and his successful speaking career.
I will first talk about how you can get started with his 6-step routine, and then cover a 7th habit, which is highly recommended by time management experts, it is especially helpful for anyone who suffers from procrastination.
Your 6-Step Morning Routine
Elrod refers to these morning practices by the acronym: S.A.V.E.R.S.
1. Silence (Meditation)
2. Affirmations
3. Visualization
4. Exercise
5. Reading
6. Scribing (Journaling)
Do you ever wake up and think “Ugh!” or “Do I have to go to work today”? Sadly, that is how many of us welcome the day, except if we are on vacation, have off for the weekends, and/or have a day off from responsibilities. Have you ever thought about how this attitude or morning mindset affects your emotional health?
Or worse, you oversleep and rush around getting ready for work, praying that you are not late – again. I can probably most people have experienced this type of morning when it seems nothing goes right.
This kind of negative and chaotic approach to starting your day does not prepare you for any challenges you may face at work. Unfortunately, you are starting in an unhappy state of mind, or as some would say, “getting out of bed on the wrong side”, which can cause you to develop anger at the first crisis, you feel like you are playing catch-up all day, or worse, leaving you feeling depressed, overwhelmed, unappreciated and unmotivated.
Following this morning routine will reduce your feeling overwhelmed, dreading getting out of bed in the morning, and reduce unnecessary stress, instead, it will increase your productivity, spark creativity, and help you achieve your goals.
Here are the Steps to Creating an Empowering Morning Routine.
TIP: Do not get overwhelmed trying to implement this new morning routine or think it will happen overnight. It takes time to build a new habit or routine of any kind. Be gentle with yourself and build on these new steps as you develop a new morning routine, so that you do create long-lasting success.
Silence
Purposeful—silence can be achieved by meditation, prayer, reflection, practicing deep breathing, or mindfulness.
There are numerous studies about the benefits of meditation – it is no accident that so many cultures have practiced and embraced some form of meditation for thousands of years. This practice will increase the relaxation of your body, mind, and spirit to positively prepare you for the rest of your day.
Affirmations
Your self-talk has a dramatic impact on your emotional state and resilience. Unfortunately, we are our biggest critic and if you started focusing on positive, empowering thoughts and “speak” to yourself in the same way you would speak to a loved one, your self-confidence increases, you reduce stress, overwhelm, and feel competent to tackle any task put on your to-do list.
Of course, the opposite is true as well. Putting yourself down, obsessing over your faults, and thinking about your “failures”, can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
You can find a huge number of affirmations in books and online. You can easily create your own by asking yourself:
What do I want?
Why do I want it?
What am I committed to doing to attain it?
Who do I want to become?
Why do I want to change?
Here is a list of books that can help you with affirmations.
Visualization
This practice goes hand in hand with affirmations. Once you get clarity on what you want, go a step further by seeing, feeling, and experiencing your goals as if you have already achieved them.
It is especially helpful if you both visualize the big picture and the action steps you need to take to achieve your goal.
For example, if you want to lose weight, visualize yourself at your ideal goal weight, start imaging yourself successfully eating delicious and tasty healthy food. This is a part of who you are now!
Exercise
A lot of people put off exercising until after they get home from work, unfortunately, we are often distracted or tired to exercise after a long day at work, attending appointments, and running errands.
Scribing (Journaling)
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The 7th Morning Habit
There is an old saying that if the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you will have the feeling of satisfaction knowing you are done with the worst task you will have to do for the rest of your day.
Brian Tracy, author of “Eat That Frog,” uses this as a metaphor for tackling your most challenging task, and also, the one that can give you the greatest positive impact on your life.
There is always something that we dread doing on our to-do list, and we procrastinate until we reach the fast-approaching deadline, and that is why your 7th habit is:
7. Do that thing you have been procrastinating first – Eat That Frog!
Starting a new project can be daunting, owning up to a mistake can produce high anxiety, and dealing with an angry person or an unstratified customer can be stressful, unfortunately, the consequences of putting off these situations are even worse and can compound on each other.
Here are a few tips to help you face that dreadful task you have been putting off:
• Dreading that big building project? Break it down into smaller, more manageable action steps or tasks.
• Have you made a mistake? Have confidence by taking responsibility for your actions and people will view you as honest and trustworthy. More importantly, YOU will feel better about yourself.
• Fearing a confrontation? Do not go down a rabbit hole imagining the worst-case scenario, (which usually does not happen). Collect your thoughts and feelings, and commit yourself to staying calm, cool, and collected. It is within your power that you will be able to defuse a conflict.
These 7-habits will help you change your life in immeasurable productive ways. You will welcome each day with increased enthusiasm, energy, positivity, and optimism. Each practice builds on the next to help you make long-lasting changes and help you to achieve your big goals.
Remember, creating a new routine or habit is never easy – until it becomes second nature. The more you practice these routines and habits, the more natural each of them will feel.
