Establishing a morning ritual has been shown to be one of the key driving factors of many high achievers and is a pathway to connecting to the sacred space that exists in us all. This sacred space is golden and untouched by the busyness of the mind and the outside world. Creating the habit of waking up in a positive state of mind with a set routine is an incredibly powerful way to ensure that you reach your full potential. As Aristotle said,
“If we are what we repeatedly do, excellence is then not an act but a habit.”
So how do you create excellence in your life and ensure you are achieving your life’s true purpose?
One powerful way to do so is to wake up at least 45 minutes but preferably 60 minutes before you need to. Set a tone on your alarm that is in harmony with nature and if there is no bright sun, imagine a wonderful sun rise gently easing you into the day. It is, of course, important to adjust your bed time accordingly to ensure that you are still getting adequate sleep. This hour is your golden hour and gives you a window of opportunity to masterfully sculpt the type of day you wish to have. By making this a habit, day-by-day, you are creating the life that you want as opposed to simply being swept along in the chaos of modern life.
Your mind needs quiet time for reflection, to develop and learn more about yourself – who you are, what is important to you and how you can start to take action on the goals that you want to achieve. The morning is definitely the best time to do this as the subconscious mind is still very active and for many people it is a natural time for increased creativity. If you have been trying to deal with either a personal or professional challenge this is the time of day where solutions can literally just pop into your mind. Robin Sharma, the famous American leadership expert who presented at the Pendulum Summit in Dublin earlier this year started his famous 5am club and identified a morning ritual as one of the key concepts in building a successful life. ‘Success’ in this sense really means spiritual success and the ability to find and follow your purpose.
While it doesn’t have to be 5am you get up please do take the time to carve out an hour before the rush of daily activity kicks in. Every part of you will benefit from this much needed ‘me-time’. Deciding on how to spend that hour is entirely subjective to your needs but ideally it should include activities that benefit you physically, mentally, emotionally and help you to achieve your goals. Below are some suggestions.
Physically
Waking up and exercising every day is really a no-brainer in terms of the health benefits. By being fitter physically you put yourself at a much lower risk of illnesses, you increase your confidence and self-esteem, your brain operates to an optimum level and you can focus more clearly, make better decisions and have more empathy for those around you. The type of exercise is up to you; a walk, a run, yoga, lifting weights or a combination of all of these. Find what works for you and stick to it. Put aside 20 minutes each morning for this. This is not intended to provide all of your daily exercise but simply to get the happy hormones flowing and your muscles oiled for the day ahead.
Emotionally / Mentally /Spiritually
Writing a journal is a wonderful and healthy way to detox negativity from your mind. It provides a safe place for you to offload any concerns, worries or irritations you may have. It can also be useful for deconstructing any dreams you may have had the previous night and provides an incredible opportunity for developing self-awareness and learning about who you are, your values and why you behave in certain ways. It forces you to examine yourself.
“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
(Attributed to Plato)
Mediation: Take this time to enter into silence. Even 10-15 minutes of mediation will do wonders for your peace of mind. If you don’t already practise mediation, download one of the many guided mediations from YouTube or check out the Meditation page on A Lust for Life. Jon Kabat Zinn who brought mindfulness to the West back in 1970’s is particularly clear and inspirational.
Goal setting: Use your journal to set daily, weekly, monthly and annual goals. The exercise of just writing your goals down and committing them to paper makes it much more likely that you will achieve them. Use your longer term goals to set your daily ones so that each day you are taking proactive steps towards realising the goal. For example, you may have a large goal such as getting promoted or finding a new job and it is important to identify what you can do today to move towards that. In this example you could approach your boss with an idea you have or ask some friends to keep an eye open for possible opportunities. Be specific in defining the daily goal – tell David I am looking for a new job and could he see if xxxx are hiring.
Affirmations: Are an incredibly powerful tool for putting you in a positive state of mind. Whatever it is you desire to feel or behave, affirm it! For example, if you suffer with anxiety you may choose to use the affirmation, ‘I am calm’. If you struggle with confidence issues sending a message to your subconscious, ‘I am comfortable in any situation I find myself in’ is going to have a great impact on your confidence for the coming day. It is important to also include gratitude affirmations, for example, ‘I am grateful for this new day.’ Realising how fortunate you are to be alive and to count all the good things you already have is wonderful for your mental well-being.
Self-Hypnosis /Visualisations: Look at your goals and use the power of self-hypnosis and visualisation to focus on the goals you have outlined and imagine them as if they are already true, already realised. Using all of your five senses imagine the goal already realised. For example, if the goal is to get a promotion – visualise your first day in your new role.
You won’t regret implanting the new positive habit of a morning routine into your life and once you start to benefit and become more accustomed to it, it will become non-negotiable. If you travel a lot for work or have a different routine every day you can still make this work. It takes self-discipline and at the end of the day self-discipline comes down to self-love and the belief that you deserve to be the very best you can be.