If you want to start your day feeling powerful and enthusiastic, certain habits can help you achieve this consistently. None of them is difficult to establish if you’re fed up with how things are and ready for real change in your life.
The things you do first thing in the morning greatly affect how productive, successful, and cheerful you are throughout the day. To maintain a powerful and motivated state of mind daily, follow the protocol outlined below. Rather than starting them all at once, I recommend adding one to three of them to your daily routine per month.
Get Up Early
There are many advantages to getting an early start on the day. It’s quiet. There are no interruptions. There are no crowds. And it’s the coolest part of the day during hot weather.
The time you get up is the first act that sets the pace and your attitude for the rest of the day. If you get up late, you’re behind schedule for the rest of the day. It also lowers your mood, knowing you didn’t get up as early as you wanted.
I get up at 3:40 am daily. I know that sounds crazy. However, it has become quite normal for me now, and I love it for the reasons I mentioned earlier. Establishing this schedule evolved over several years. I started by getting up at 5:00 am, then at 4:00 am, and finally at 3:40 am.
I was inspired to get up at 3:40 a.m. when I learned that several famous and wealthy individuals also rise at that hour. I also wanted to extend that blissful period of uninterrupted quietness. This is the period I do my best writing before breakfast and after exercising and showering.
Brush Your Teeth Thoroughly
While sleeping, your teeth, gums, and especially your tongue accumulate undesirable materials, including stinky bacteria. Your lungs and other organs work to remove this material from your body via your mouth as you sleep. You must remove this junk from your mouth right away. You should not swallow or flush it down with water, juice, or coffee.
Start by scraping your tongue with a tongue cleaner and washing your mouth with warm water. Then, power brush your teeth and flush out any remaining material between your teeth and below the gum line with an oral water irrigator.
For more information, read Bad Breath: How to Eliminate & Prevent It.
Drink Water First
You have gone without the element that makes up 70% of your body for 6-8 hours or more. Therefore, drinking a full glass of purified water immediately upon waking each morning is essential. If you’re going to exercise, be sure to drink more water during that activity.
I said first because you should drink water “before” you drink coffee or anything else. It’s the best thing for your body and the most needed at the start of the day.
Shun Artificial Stimulates
Coffee and energy drinks only provide artificial, temporary, and inefficient stimulation. They are inefficient because the energy they produce is uneven and often disrupts optimal brain function.
Have you ever drunk too much caffeine from any source and found that your concentration and thinking had become difficult? You experience a 45-minute rush initially, followed by a rapid decrease in energy, and finally, a crash. Wouldn’t you rather have a strong, even energy flow throughout the day without the highs and lows?
As you can see, I’m not a proponent of coffee, especially energy drinks. I gave up coffee years ago. I now rely on this protocol to get energized each day.
Count Your Blessings
Carefully reviewing all the things you are grateful for is the best way to cultivate a sustained, upbeat mood. It also aligns your vibe with what you want to attract into your life.
If you do the opposite and think about all the things that are wrong in your life, you’ll likely attract more of the same. You’ll also put yourself into a sour state of mind.
I start counting as soon as I get out of bed. When I need a kick in the butt, I contrast things that I am grateful for with an image of someone less fortunate. For example, I was thankful for my home this morning and compared it to pictures of homeless people I saw in a documentary. I don’t stay with these sad images for too long, though. I don’t want to draw myself toward that outcome. So, I quickly return to the inspiring stuff.
No matter how small they are, count your blessings! As the number grows, so will your gratefulness and uplifting feelings.
Review Your Goals & Wisdom Nuggets
Reviewing your goals recalibrates your settings for reaching them. If you don’t review them, you’ll likely lose focus and waste time doing things that don’t help you achieve your goals.
Wisdom nuggets, as I like to call them, are inspiring quotes from famous people. Since most people don’t have much time in the morning, reviewing your favorite quotes is a quick way to get motivated and on track. I assembled an extensive list of inspiring quotes (here) that you may find helpful.
I struggled to keep up at the beginning of my third year of university. To stay motivated, I created a collage of my favorite quotes, hung it on the wall, and read each daily. I graduated with honors. 🙂 I have continued to use quotes for the same purpose ever since.
Do Aerobic Exercise
Doing aerobic exercise first thing in the morning gets all the systems in your body flowing, raises your mood through the release of endorphins in your brain, and sets a positive tone for the day. You’ll find that all the systems in your body operate more efficiently after you’ve exercised. The greatest reward (endorphins) is in how great you feel. This feeling can last for hours.
I swim during the spring and summer, and during the fall and winter, I power walk. I chose power walking and swimming for many reasons. They don’t require any special equipment. They don’t wear down your joints. They are invigorating due to the difference in seasonal temperatures. And they can be done throughout your life.
Meditate
Meditation can be that sweet, peaceful space in your day when all is right in the world.
Meditation teaches your mind and body to relax, focus, harmonize, and function optimally. The effects are cumulative. The more times you do it, the more you benefit. Many meditation techniques exist, but I am most familiar with Transcendental Meditation (TM).
I learned TM during my first year of college. I believe it helped me graduate with honors. The process of learning how to do it was by far one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. It helped immensely to calm me down and gain more clarity and focus.
TM is performed twice daily, for 15-20 minutes, before breakfast and dinner. Many famous people practice TM. If you’re interested, search online for a TM center near you.
Drink, Eat Fruit
If you have time to do some work or plan your day before breakfast, drink some freshly made fruit or vegetable juice. I’m referring to the type you make using a juicing machine. If you don’t have the time to make it or can’t afford a machine, drinking a “small” glass of unsweetened and low-sodium juice will do. In addition, eat some fruit, like a slice of orange, papaya, apple, or melon. Also, have more water handy.
The fruit, especially the juice, will quickly replenish depleted nutrients after sleeping and exercising. This will give you a boost of energy and enhance your natural high from exercising.
I usually have 2-3 hours between meditating and preparing breakfast. With the addition of juice and fruit, this period is the most productive of my day.
Eat a Super Healthy Breakfast
Eating a super-healthy breakfast will fuel your body, mind, and spirit, leaving you feeling energized and empowered. If you eat a sugary or high-fat animal-based breakfast, not only is it horrible for your health, but you’ll also feel lethargic afterward. This happens because you’ll get a sugar rush followed by a sugar crash, and it takes tremendous energy for the body to digest animal flesh.
My breakfast is plant-based now. Like getting up early, this change happened over a couple of years. However, the transition from 90% vegetarian to 100% vegan occurred almost overnight. I decided to become a vegan after watching several documentaries about the impact of food choices on our physical and mental health. I listed them under “Documentaries” here.
I describe my breakfast and include a recipe for preparing it in this article, Vegan Superfood Breakfast Bowl.
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Many people place little importance on how they start their day. They drag themselves out of bed at the latest time possible, eat an incredibly unhealthy breakfast, rush to work, and then have more coffee and donuts. These people are easy to recognize. They are overweight, slow-moving, temperamental, and marginally successful.
Those who know the importance of how they start their day are also easy to identify. They are trim, brimming with energy, high-spirited, and extraordinarily successful. And they are smart.