If you don’t take control and prime your day the way you want it, life and other people will do it for you.
Every day is either a day you own or a day that owns you. The difference usually comes down to the first 60 minutes.
Here are three of my favorite morning rituals that put me back in the driver’s seat.
MEDITATION
It clears my mind and centers me before the world starts pulling at me. Instead of waking up and reacting to emails, texts, and everyone else’s agenda, I get to sit above the day instead of racing to catch it.
The science is real also…. meditation increases grey matter in the brain, which strengthens memory, sense of self, empathy, and stress regulation. But the deeper gift is that it slows down your experience of time. You respond instead of react. You lead instead of chase.
GRATITUDE WALK
- Fresh air
- Sunlight in the eyes
- Body movement
- Nervous system regulation
Top it off with GRATITUDE for another day of life, and you’ve stacked four of the most powerful biohacks known to humans for free, in under 20 minutes.
I go for a walk and feel through what I’m grateful for. Big things, small things, current things, old things. I make it a game and try to find something I’ve never felt before. Simple things like having a clean toothbrush :)
Gratitude is the fastest way to change your state. And your state runs your day.
FREE FLOW JOURNALING
15 to 20 minutes. Non-stop writing. Whatever’s in your head, get it on paper.
When I first started doing this, I had a lot of resistance and what came out was absurd and that’s the point. You’re not writing a book. You’re clearing the cache. Nobody has to read it. Not even you. You can throw the journal out when you’re done.
The biggest gift from this practice….more flow and more creativity for the rest of the day. Because the noise you would’ve been carrying is already on the page.
If you don’t already do one or more of these, try one at a time for two weeks. That’s it.
Then decide if you want to keep doing it.
Let me know if you try them and how it goes.
Naeem
P.S. Here’s a poem worth reading twice:
Enjoy Yourself, It’s Later Than You Think
You work and work for years and years, you’re always on the go
You never take a minute off, too busy makin’ dough
Someday you say, you’ll have your fun, when you’re a millionaire
Imagine all the fun you’ll have in your old rockin’ chairEnjoy yourself, it’s later than you think
Enjoy yourself, while you’re still in the pink
The years go by, as quickly as a wink
Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think-Guy Lombardo