What’s The Story – Morning Glory!
What’s the very first thing you think when you wake up…or at least when you are fully conscious? Is it…oh s**t I’ve got to do xxxxx or Oh NOOOooo its going to be a rubbish day!…
It will come as no surprise to tell you that how you start your day will definitely impact the outcome. If you have your own business, it’s likely that you are so entangled with the minutia it’s almost impossible not to wake up wondering if you sent off all the invoices or triggered the right social media campaigns. All of this can lead to burnout – I speak from experience!
Take a leaf from the Masters, instead of allowing the negatives to pile in as you wake, make the conscious decision to start with the mindset that it’s going to be a great day, start with gratitude for what you already have and how blessed you are and you will sow the seeds to attract more abundance and blessings into your life.
An easy way to start is just to think of three things you are grateful for, that gives you the energy and enthusiasm for the day ahead (even if things are not all rosy at the moment).
On waking….
I’m grateful for…
And…
And…
That’s it!!
So after you have ‘given thanks’ how should you use those first few minutes as you lie in bed? One great suggestion is to mentally rehearse how the day will be, visualise what you will do in what order, and exactly how it will look and feel, if you know you have a difficult meeting, see yourself feeling confident and happy as you come out of it, if you’re in the process of trying to lose weight or eat more healthily ‘see’ your radiant colourful avocado salad that you will eat at lunchtime…you get the picture.
This visualisation of the day ahead can be far more powerful than a simple to-do list, there has been some debate recently about writing lists, it’s been suggested that they are a waste of time and only 40 per cent of what we put on our list is ever completed. When the writer of the article Kevin Kruse suggested that successful people such as Richard Branson wouldn’t waste time writing to-do lists, Branson hit back with an excellent blog post saying…
’I can assure him that I do indeed write to-do lists and prioritise items. I live my life by writing lists – there is one next to me right now. Without to-do lists, I would use my time far less effectively, and have a lot less fun. People wonder how I fit in kitesurfing and tennis every day alongside business meetings – the answer is good planning and to-do lists’
You can’t argue with someone as successful as Richard Branson, I don’t intend to ditch my to-do lists completely but I have recognised the power of that mental rehearsal at the beginning of the day, after all, writing out the route of a marathon or even writing…’run for two hours’…isn’t going to help you reach your goal, you need to actually do the run, in the same way writing out the notes for a piano piece won’t turn you into a virtuoso player, you need to actually play!
Interestingly though it’s well documented that both athletes and musicians who visualise their performance in detail achieve a better outcome when they execute it. The message is clear, it is important to write down what needs to be done, preferably with a priority order, (your to-do list) and it’s really important to actually commit to DOING IT, rather than just writing it down, but by far the most productive exercise is to ‘see it’ first – so that you have already ‘lived’ through it…mental rehearsal is everything.
