How does your day start? What are the first things you think about? What are the first things you do?
If you are like most people, you start your day thinking about the yesterday. You might be stressed about the work you did not get done…or the bills you did not pay. You might be mad about a conversation with a co-worker or a spouse. Or you might be worried about things coming up today or tomorrow. You are thinking about all you have to get done. You worry about the meeting you will have or the project that is nearing it’s deadline. You are stressed that there will simply not be enough hours in the day to get it all done.
Either way a few things are true;
1. You are not living “in the now.”
2. You have started your day in stress mode.
Dr. Joe Dispenza talks about this phenomenon in his book Becoming Supernatural. It’s no wonder, he says, that we feel like we are living the same day over and over again. We start each day in the past! By the way, I totally get it. I struggle with this a ton too. My natural state is “go, go, go.” That means when I wake up, my brain is ahead of me. I struggle to not start my day “on the wrong foot.” It’s a daily struggle. So what do I do? Each morning, especially on those days where I can feel my stress taking over from the start, I do three quick things.
1. I Take a Deep Breath: The whole goal here is to slow my heart rate down. There is no sense in starting the day in stress mode. I know that intellectually. But this simple exercise helps me take control of my physiology.
2. I Make a Quick List of Things I am Grateful For: I talked about the power of this yesterday. The fact is, you can’t be upset or negative when you are grateful. So by re-setting my mindset to gratitude, it helps me to get back on track, mentally.
3. I Get Up and Start Taking Action: For me, a ton of the anxiety I feel comes for worrying about the problem…whatever that problem is. Once I get up and start working on the project, I feel better. For me, nothing cures worry like taking action on the problem. So on this week of Thanksgiving…gratitude wins again. Let me know if this helps you…or share with me your “go to” morning strategy!
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