Start Your Day Right

  Good Morning!  Happy Monday!  Are you ready for the week?  If not, check out How To Have a Great Week when you finish reading today's blog.  I want to talk to you this morning about setting the tone for your day.  How do you usually start your morning?  Are you rushed?  Frustrated?  Can't find your keys?  Do you wake up early or late?  Breakfast or no?  The way that you start your morning often times sets the mood for your entire day.  Have you ever noticed that if you wake up late and feel stressed in the morning your whole day seems to kind of continue in that pattern?  Successful people are often known to be early risers, and here's why... they wake up early to prepare!  I've heard speaker's call this concept "The Hour of Power."  But it's a fairly easy strategy which you can use to bolster your attitude and productivity too.
  It's so important to start your day from a position of peace, preparedness and positivity, and you can do this by intentionally setting aside a little extra time each morning to build some new habits.  My morning looks something like this....
   
   7AM- Read Scripture and Pray
   8AM-Blog/Read (Personal growth books)
   9AM-Write
  10AM-Get Ready for Work

  Now, obviously this is more than an hour's time, and not everyone has the luxury of going into work at 11 am like me.  However, on days when I have to be at work at 7AM, I simply shorten the list to Scripture and Prayer time and Blogging, and I get my reading and writing done later in the day.  The important thing for me is to make sure that I spend my time with God first thing in the morning so that I am in the right frame of mind to face my day and then to get my blog written so that it does not get neglected.  (Oftentimes what we put off doing does not get done).  I can't tell you what you need to put in your morning quiet time.. it might be exercise, meditation, or a healthy breakfast, but I can tell you that having a morning time set aside to focus yourself and prepare yourself for the day is essential to being your most productive.  If you don't set your intention for the day, the day has a way of setting your intentions for you, and that's not usually a good thing.
  Another important way to set the tone for the day is often missed during our daily commute.  Perhaps you turn on the radio or the news on your drive or walk to work.  Often times we mindlessly listen to whatever is on, and we lose a valuable opportunity to prepare ourselves to have our best day.  Personally, I like to use my few minutes on the way to work to put my mind and attitude in the right place.  I listen to an uplifting audio or my recorded affirmations on the way to work, and I also have a playlist of only positive music which I turn on when I have longer commute days.  Be purposeful about what you put into your mind, especially first thing in the morning, and you will find that it affects your whole day.
  If you are looking to grow yourself, succeed at whatever you need to accomplish today, and do it all with a positive attitude, then begin today to change your morning routine and set yourself up for a winning day.  I hope you make this a productive and positive week!  I can't wait to see you succeed!

~K.W.