The early bird catches the worm. We have all either been told or have told someone this saying to emphasize the benefit of an early start. The idea is a rather simple one and the implication is that when you start the day right you are more likely to be effective and successful. Having said that, while knowledge is the first step, just knowing this to be true has not in itself been historically the best indicator of follow-through or motivation. Last month’s post covered some ideas on how to create habits that stick. This month we will discuss some very specific habits that when combined with an early start in the day can completely change your life. These will be taken from author Hal Elrod in the book The Miracle Morning. I doubt any of these will be new to you, it’s not the practices that he recommend that makes this so powerful it's the practice of all of them, every day, that makes it life altering.
It consists of: meditation, affirmations, visualization, exercise, reading and journaling. See, I told you, nothing new! Using the acronym SAVERS ( Silence, Affirmations, Visualization, Exercise Reading, & Scribing) the author provides a recipe for a “great day”. Guaranteed. I can attest to it, if you do all these things, every day, there is no way that you won’t have great day.
The wonderful thing about it is that while it is 6 different things, it doesn’t have to take you 6 hours to complete. In fact when rushed for time you can technically complete it in 6 minutes. Dedicating a single minute to each step. Ideally though, dedicating an hour to it in the morning will make an enormous impact on the quality of your day. To learn all about it and some very helpful tips I highly recommend that you read the book. For the remainder of this post thought I will give you a brief summary of the system along with some tips for getting up in the morning.
In general adding 60 minutes of activity to your life will require you to start getting up earlier. It may not mean necessarily 60 minutes earlier, it could be that you are already exercising in the morning, or sitting quietly while you drink your coffee, but generally speaking some adjustment in when you rise is to be expected. To do this Hal Elrod provides the following suggestions:
Set your intentions before bed- your anxiety level in the morning tends be related to the anxiety level at night, if you go to sleep thinking that your day tomorrow is super busy and exhausting you won’t want to get out of bed in the morning, but if you go to sleep thinking how grateful you are to have a enough work to keep you busy then you are more likely to wake up with a positive outlook on your day. (This is especially true for those who suffer from insomnia, the more you worry about not getting enough sleep and being tired in the morning the more likely you are to be tired in the morning) So make the conscious decision that tomorrow will be great! Perhaps even write it down in your affirmations journal before you go to sleep.
Move your alarm clock across the room- the benefit here is self explanatory
As soon as you rise brush your teeth & splash some water on your face
Drink a full glass of water, dehydration makes you feel tired!
Change into your workout clothes.
Now you are awake! The order in which you perform the tasks is not really important to the result. What matters is that you cover do them all. You need 5 minutes of Silence - whether that is sitting in meditation, prayer, reflection, deep breathing or gratitude the point is you are able to reflect. Say out loud or write in 5 min or less your Affirmations for the day - you can use your personal development goals to inform your affirmations such as I am present in the moment, I am satisfied with work, I accept my self as I am etc.) Spend the next 5 minutes Visualizing how your day will proceed - ALL day, see yourself accomplishing what you need to accomplish while being happy and patient. Now move your body with some sort of Exercise for 15-20 minutes, it can be anything you want, a brisk walk, some HIIT training or a few yoga poses the point is you are moving you body. Read something interesting for 15-20 min or so- not the news, make it your aim to use this time for self development/discovery. Finally Scribing, grab your journal, spend 5 minutes writing, write about what’s on your mind, what you want to accomplish, what you have been upset about, just write. You will find it will give you much clarity!
That will take you about an hour, but you see how you can adjust that depending on your schedule? You could exercise for 10 minutes, and read for 10 minutes, and now you are down to 40 minutes instead of 60. Even at 10 minutes, before the end of the week you will have spent 60 minutes reading and exercising!
Like any new habit, the first 10 days will be excruciating. The next 10 days will be hard but the last 10 days will be bliss! So don’t give up.
I can honestly say that I had never been and happy or effective as I was when I was following this practice. Due to some health issues I had to suspend it for a time and there was a marked difference in my mood and motivation level.
Any room you can make in your life to accommodate the system will be make a difference. Why not give it a try!