When it comes to living the life of your dreams, it’s often easy to identify the behaviours and habits that you should be making part of your routine in order to achieve your goals, but not so easy to actually put them into place.
One reason for this is that life so often gets in the way that the plans we set out get disrupted and we get disheartened and find it difficult to get back on track.
The vast majority of people tend to be more productive in the morning and kicking off your day with your most difficult tasks is a well-known productivity tool. An extension of this is to have a morning routine that boosts your health and willpower and sets you on the right track for the rest of your day. Read on to learn more.
Positive self-talk
A key part of a good morning routine is an affirmation to ensure you start the day in a positive mood. Although many people find the idea of giving themselves a positive pep talk a little silly, it is a technique that has proved successful for many of the most successful individuals in society, from U.S. Olympic athletes to leading Navy SEALS.
In particular, members of the elite fighting unit are taught to tell themselves everything is okay and to keep thinking positive thoughts even when they are in the most difficult of situations. Whenever you fear things might be getting on top of you, finding a quiet place to repeat a few positive affirmations to yourself can be a great way of gaining a little perspective and giving yourself the boost that you need to carry on.
Put your health first
Your morning routine should include a burst of physical exercise. If you have struggled to control your weight or maintain a satisfactory level of fitness in the past, making it part of your regular routine each morning could be the key to success.
A short series of yoga routines or a burst of high-intensity exercise will not only give you a physical and mental boost but can also help to reduce stress and anxiety, putting you in a far better frame of mind for your whole day.
By tackling your exercise first thing in the morning, you are far more likely to be able to complete it on a regular basis. Leaving your visit to the gym until lunchtime or after work means you are more likely to get distracted. It also demands more in the way of effort as you have to take a shower before you can return to work or head out for the evening. By getting all your exercise out of the way as soon as you wake up, you can take a shower, get dressed and start the day truly afresh.
Seek help when you need it
Establishing and writing out a morning routine is only the first step. Sticking to it is quite another. Don’t feel bad about yourself if you struggle at first and give yourself permission to chop and change your activities until you settle into a routine that feels right and leaves you filled with positive energy. There are, of course, times when no matter how much willpower you have, it will never be enough. If you are dealing with a serious addiction to substances such as drugs or alcohol, you may need professional help. There are many excellent drug treatment centers in Delaware and other parts of the country where you can receive the help and assistance you need to get back on track.
Once you have come through the other side of your addiction, you can then implement many of the routines described here to help you continue to stay away from the substances you are currently unable to resist.
Find inspiration in others
In the old days, if you wanted to be a great painter, you would find an artist and become their apprentice, watching everything they did and learning how to apply their methods to your own work. The world of business is no different. Many of the leading entrepreneurs in the world today got their start working for other companies and those who did not, were sure to spend plenty of time studying other organizations in order to learn from their mistakes.
An increasing number of entrepreneurs and leading figures from the world of fitness, finance, and many other fiends now make public the details of their own morning routines, making it easier for you to seek inspiration from those particular individuals who you most admire. By seeing how they start their own days and working out which of their routines is most likely to improve your own mornings, you can save yourself an awful lot of trial and error when it comes to finding what works best for you.
Treat yourself, a little
Most scientists now agree that willpower is a limited resource. This means that if you are using large amounts of willpower in order to resist having a snack or spending hours bingeing on reality tv, you will have less willpower available for other areas of your life.
However, there are some ways in which you can boost your willpower. One way is to continue to make use of it. Rather like a muscle, your willpower will become stronger the more you use it. Another technique to employ is to allow yourself small indulgences that allow you to relax slightly but do not involve you taking part in the worst of the unhealthy habits that you are trying to avoid.
For example, when your blood sugar falls below a certain level, it becomes much more difficult to concentrate. One of the reasons we reach for sugary snacks when we are tired is because we crave the instant sugar boost they give our brains. However, if you allow yourself a small snack based on some high-quality carbs and do so before you feel completely drained, you will get the pleasure of the snack without the negative effects. Making such a snack part of the end of your morning routine can be a great way of rewarding yourself for completing all the tasks on your list.
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