Nailing down a routine that benefits you and your working schedule can be quite a hassle, but just how important is it? For years I had gone on without making any changes in my morning routine and surely enough, there weren't any major adjustments in my life as a result. We all yearn to be more productive, have more financial freedom, live more abundantly, and be healthy, yet, most people hardly ever change their approach to life or recurring situations. I believe that the first waking hour of the day is the most significant and sets the tone for what follows.
We can see this play out on a macro level or even a more micro level. As in nature, our environment "primes" certain behaviors or thoughts and triggers certain responses as a result. It is this natural existing cause and effect relationship that we know to be true, but hardly give it any attention. Much like our environment, our thoughts also initiate a similar chain of reactions and prime our very existence. Chances are if you wake up and give in to some negative thoughts about how your day might go or an ongoing situation you might be dealing with, it's safe to say you'll have a rather crummy day. The great part is, if we change how we reacted to those negative thoughts as they were coming in, we enable ourselves to be open for something new and inviting to happen while activating different neuronal pathways within our brain and inhibiting others.
This is where forming a daily routine comes in handy. IT'S NEVER TOO LATE. Ultimately, the life we end up with is simply an accumulation of all the choices we make. In order to become aware of your choices, track every action that relates to the area of life you want to improve. Simple. Carrying around a notebook can do wonders...With this insight, you can then reverse engineer what it would realistically take to achieve the goals that you have set out. While there is no one routine that is cut and paste for all, I believe there are a number of things that will contribute to living a more success conscious lifestyle.
Some of the things that I have found to be profound take very little effort and time, but do wonders. I usually start off my day by writing 2-3 pages that don't necessarily have an objective tied to it. I treat it as sort of a stream of consciousness and approach it from a nonjudgmental perspective. In addition, I like to stretch and/or meditate which really allows me to relax. We tend to be the stiffest upon awakening so this really helps with blood flow, releasing tension, and mindfulness. Typically, from the moment we wake up, our awareness alludes us and we move from point to point giving into our most hardwired unconscious thought patterns. At the end of the day, I like to recap and rate how productive I was on a scale of 1-10 in terms of my work, health, and overall attitude towards life that day. I also write down a list of things I hope to accomplish the next day in detail and describe how I would like them to go. Having a clear vision in mind is extremely important and by doing it before bed, you can then prime your subconscious mind to initiate that reality. Lastly, I like to utilize this time to give gratitude to at least 10 things that I am most grateful for. This developed over time and at first, I was highly resistant but it is the most humbling thing we can possibly do. I sleep much better because of it and it's important to put things into perspective, especially when we live in such a fast-paced world that is constantly shifting.