Tag: Start Your Day Right

3 Steps To Sticking With It!

Post author By Support Elf
Post date September 1, 2020
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Let’s think about a healthy habit that you find easy to maintain.

Hands up who brushed their teeth this morning? Of course you did. Now, was that a hassle? Was that a major effort of willpower to convince yourself to do it? Of course not. You just got up, wandered into the bathroom and started brushing, right? Brushing your teeth is an effortlessly healthy habit that you put into practice twice a day without even thinking about it.

Why is it so easy?

One: Your action is in congruence with your deeply held belief, drummed into you since childhood, that oral health is important physically and socially. There is no internal dialogue that goes on every morning about whether teeth brushing is a good thing or not, you have already decided it is, so you act accordingly.

Two: It’s set up for you in a way that’s convenient and easy to action. The toothbrush is right next to the sink, with the toothpaste. Easy. And it happens at a regular time of day which further anchors the habit.

Three: We get an almost instant reward for carrying out the behaviour. Our teeth feel clean and nice and we can deliver a good morning kiss without fear of embarrassment.

Can we use these principles to establish other healthy habits? For sure. We need to make sure we cover all three steps.

We deeply believe in why we are doing it.
We make it convenient and easy to carry out
We build in some sort of reward, especially if the activity itself isn’t yet intrinsically rewarding because it takes longer for the benefits to be apparent.

So, a couple of examples:

Habit we want to establish: reduce coffee intake, no coffee after midday

Why: We are not enjoying feeling so wired and want to be able to sleep more soundly.
Ease: We make it convenient by stocking up on a load of herbal teas and good quality decaf coffee in our desk drawer and at home.
Reward: We reward ourselves with a non-food based treat after four days of successfully carrying it out eg. Meet with friends/ new magazine/ night at movies.

Habit we want to establish: increase exercise, a 15 minute walk daily

Why: Moving our body daily is a commitment to future health and vitality, plus a valuable opportunity for downtime and reflection
Ease: We make it convenient by keeping a pair of trainers in the boot of the car /under the desk so we can stop on the way home or scoot out at lunchtime if we miss our intended morning walking time
Reward: We reward ourselves with a non-food based treat after four days of successfully carrying it out.

Don’t underestimate the value of having simple systems set up that support the change you want to effect.

The pair of trainers at work, the yoga mat in the boot of the car, the stash of herbal teas in the desk drawer can all make keeping the habit up as low maintenance as cleaning your teeth. I have a couple of friends who believe that green smoothies are the best way to start the day, but find mornings juggling getting the kids off to school just too frantic to make it happen regularly. One now spends a few minutes on a Sunday doing 5 little ziplock bags of spinach, kiwifruit, apple, etc so that all she has to do on Monday morning is grab the bag out of the fridge and throw the contents straight into the blender, no hassle. Another simply outsources it and has them delivered fresh weekly. Introducing simple systems that support habits can be the difference between them sticking or not.

What simple processes or systems could you put in place to support the healthy habits you want to establish? It doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive.

It’s much more about reducing the hassle factor so it’s easier to do it, than to not do it. Just like cleaning your teeth!

Tags 2020, challenging beliefs, flexible thinking, Reduce Stress, Start Your Day Right

Emotional Honesty Energy Boosters Happiness Live Happy Inspiration Reduce Stress Resilience

Feeling Behind Before You Even Begin

Post author By Support Elf
Post date October 15, 2019
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Now – do you start the day almost feeling behind before it even begins? In a panic about getting done all the things you need to get done that day? If so, you are so not alone.

Feeling harried and under the gun first thing is very common and highly detrimental, both emotionally (feeling stressed), and physiologically (by flooding your body with stress hormones before you have even cleaned your teeth). Feeling behind before you even begin sets the tone for a stressed out day to follow.

Obviously there is the “I don’t have enough time” thing, but – if you are a regular Wellbeing Wednesday reader (thank you!), you will know you actually already have all the time you need: you just have to better prioritise what you choose to do with it.

So – let’s be practical. If you are feeling stressed and under time pressure in the morning you actually two options:

Get up earlier / press snooze less / go to bed earlier

Streamline the morning. Either make something more efficient or, don’t do it at all and stop feeling like you ”should”.

Most people I work with are generally operating from a sleep deficit position as it is, which makes the option 1 even less palatable, putting option 2 way out in front. If you are currently feeling like you “don’t have enough time” in the morning what would you like to deliberately choose today so you can start your day with more focus and calm tomorrow?

Where can you be more efficient?

Set out your gym kit the night before?

Leave your yoga mat in the car?

Buy a stash of protein bars so there is always one to grab on the way out?

Or what can you decide, on reflection, just isn’t adding enough value to your morning to justify the time stressor it creates?

Maybe you can delegate it (“I’d like you to stack the dishwasher before you leave please; you are 45 / 17 years of age: does that seem reasonable to you?”) or just not do it at all?

Perhaps that routine morning walk with the neighbour or rushed dinner prep actually creates more stress than relieving it?

What can you adjust in the mornings as a permanent way of making you feel you have just a little more time and breathing space?

What could you deliberately choose today so you can start your day with a little more focus and calm tomorrow?

Tags Happiness, Reduce Stress, Start Your Day Right, Stress Management

Live Happy Inspiration Positive Thought Strategy Reduce Stress Self Care and Self Love

Sleep Quality vs Quantity.

Post author By Support Elf
Post date April 23, 2019
No Comments on Sleep Quality vs Quantity.

I will improve sleep quality (not just quantity).

Probably the most valuable currency of modern life is attention. The quality of attention that we bestow on another human being so they feel truly seen and heard is increasingly in short supply.

The second most valuable currency (okay, Top 5 for sure) would be sleep. Quality and quantity of sleep. It would be rare to meet anyone who wouldn’t give a big “Hell Yes” to the question, “Would you like 2-hours additional sleep a week?” or who is not carrying some sort of a sleep debt around beneath the artfully applied Touche Eclat.

Our bedtime is what sets us up for the quantity of sleep we are going to get – that’s just maths. You go to bed at x time; get up at y time; therefore possible maximum sleep is z hours. And that is what we all tend to focus on, the quantity of sleep. Trouble is, this is hard to move given how many responsibilities people are juggling.

The easier gains I am finding are to be had in the area of sleep quality. Here are a couple of tips for improving your sleep quality:

Knock the booze on the head a few more nights of the week. I know, I know. Annoying, but I have to say I have been amazed at how well this works. I haven’t got the space here to go into all the ins and outs of it, but basically even a fairly small amount of alcohol disrupts your deep sleep / REM sleep quality in the second half of the night (we tend to drop off quicker, but the second half of sleep is more disrupted): hence feeling a bit slow and groggy in the morning. The “just one or two” glasses of wine / G & T’s DO make a difference. The clarity of waking up after consecutive booze-free days has blown away members of my Life Coaching Academy who have tried it as an experiment. This is not about cutting our parties and occasions, just the one or two small ones of an evening whilst cooking. Personally, I have found I am actually needing less quantity of sleep (about 45 mins less) as the quality of sleep is so much improved. If you want to improve sleep quality quickly, this is a remarkably easy fix.
If you find it hard to drop off to sleep then improve your sleep quality by having a bath or a shower before bed. If you think about it we do this with babies and children as standard. The whole bath time routine that is the signal that it’s night time and to calm them down before hopefully a whole night’s unbroken sleep (it could happen, right?). That bath time effect works on adults too. A warm shower or bath before bed artificially raises your body temperature, which means it drops more quickly than usual when you slip between the sheets, telling your brain that it’s time to go to sleep now. It really works to improve your sleep quality. Try it and see how you feel in the morning.
Final sleep tip for you is a quantity tip. Getting an extra hour’s sleep a night is hard for most adults: we are busy and there is stuff to do in the evenings, chores, social stuff, connecting with loved ones and so on. Going to bed a whole hour earlier when you might only get home from work or the gym at 8 pm is not an appealing thought and, frankly, it’s pretty hard to do (yep, we have experimented with that too)… but… going to bed just 15 minutes earlier? That’s easy. How do you do it? Where do you find the extra 15 minutes? You eliminate the “Faffing About Time”. The aimlessly checking Instagram for no reason in particular. The starting the new episode when you know you are not going to see it through to the end. The random tidying of stuff that doesn’t matter. The going up and down the stairs for different things rather than just cleaning your teeth and getting into bed. We all have 15 minutes of Faffing About Time we can cut out without feeling any pain. And, if you do that…. boom: you gain just under 2-hours of sleep a week. A hundred more sleep hours a year. The equivalent of 12 and a half extra full nights’ sleep a year! Just from cutting out your fifteen minutes of faff.

Twelve and a half extra nights sleep a year? You are welcome.

Tags 2019, flexible thinking, positive thinking, sleep, Start Your Day Right, stress relief

Live Happy Inspiration Positive Thought Strategy Self Care and Self Love

A Dozen Ways To Start Your Day With Purpose. Part 3

Post author By Support Elf
Post date February 12, 2018
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Up the Anti On Your Morning Routine – Part 3

Continually hitting the snooze button? I hear ya.

It can be harder to get up when it’s dark in the morning, but a good morning routine that nourishes you in mind, body and soul can kick start your day in a great way. So right now is a great opportunity to revise your morning rituals and start your day with a spring in your step.

The better you start your day the better your day goes.

Here is the final installment in the 3 part series for you packed with a dozen ideas for you to cherry pick into your morning routine to start your day with purpose.

9. Set intentions or gratitude’s

Much is written about affirming gratitude’s in the morning, and indeed it is the perfect time to do so as it sets you up for a day of goodness coming in your general direction. Wayne Dyer, the well-known spiritual author and speaker, said he would set his feet down out of bed each morning with a “Thank You” as his feet hit the floor. Literally a ritual of “Thank” with the right foot and ”You” with the left as the perfect positive start to the day. This is so simple, and even better takes no additional time in your morning. You could also use the tip from Part 1 and anchor 3 things you are grateful for to when you are cleaning your teeth. The key I think in this practice is to keep it fresh, three NEW things each day to be grateful for, no repeating! This will start waking up your brain cells as well as your heart each morning.

10. Connect with who is there to connect with

So easy to be connecting with people on Facebook and connecting with world events in the news or on the telly but not truly connecting with the people right in front of us in the morning! Energetically it’s easier to zone out and be passive but is that the most connected and energised start for our day? Giving out the energy we wish to receive – to the people and animals we share our homes with, or a cheery good morning to the neighbour or the dog walker we pass on our morning walk connects us to what is truly important to us, and means we are sharing a bit of morning sunshine too.

11. Emulate the greats.

If you study some of the most respected, high achievers in society you will find the vast majority have very powerful morning routines that they use to set themselves up for a successful day. Many will meditate, many will read, and many will have gratitude or goal setting affirmation practice rolled in as well as exercise. I know it’s very easy to think ‘well, sure, Richard Branson, Tony Robbins or whoever has an army of private chefs and cleaners and nannies and whatnot, and what applies to them could not possibly apply to me”, and there is an undeniable reality to that. However, studying the morning routines of someone who inspires you to see what you can learn, and perhaps incorporate an element of, in a small way is a way to energise your morning with great deliberation. Sure a 30 minute mediation session on a mountaintop at sunrise is not going to work for you, but using a meditation app for an 8 minute guided meditation before the household wakes just might be exactly what you need to shake up not just your morning routine but your commitment to your wellbeing and life goals.

12. Start the day the write way

I have a phrase I use a lot with my VIP coaching clients and in my online coaching community ~Wellbeing Warriors~ – which is “stressful thoughts don’t belong in your head – they belong on paper”. The reason for that is that stressful thoughts multiply at lightning speed in our minds. Before we know it we can descend into a vicious negative spiral that can kick our day to the curb before we have even got dressed, worrying about every damn thing that might no go well, or who we have offended or might let down or might not have time for that day. When we put our stream of consciousness down on paper it allows us to see it for what it is, with calmness and clarity that is just not possible whilst our monkey mind runs away. Many people find that journaling in the morning, to calm their mind is the best possible set up for the day. It allows them to consciously proceed into their day with the clarity of focus, and to have put their worries into perspective. It doesn’t have to be a huge time investment; an 8 to 10-minute journaling practice can reap enormous benefits in terms of emotional resilience and mental focus.

Our morning sets the tone for our whole day so there you have a dozen ideas to Start Your Day With better energy and focus. I hope you can cherry pick one or more that you can incorporate into your morning routine to start your day with calm and purpose. Have a great day.

Read Part 1 and Part 2 here

Tags positive thinking, Start Your Day Right

Live Happy Inspiration Positive Thought Strategy Self Care and Self Love

A Dozen Ways To Start Your Day With Purpose. Part 2

Post author By Support Elf
Post date February 5, 2018
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Up the Anti On Your Morning Routine – Part 2

Continually hitting the snooze button? I hear ya.

The better you start your day the better your day goes.

Here is Part 2 in a 3 part series for you packed with a dozen ideas for you to cherry pick into your morning routine to start your day with purpose.

5. Don’t Hit Snooze On Repeat

Super tempting I know but it tends to mean we start the day with less energy and a lower mood when we fight getting up and press snooze on repeat. Trust the time you set the night before and get up after your first snooze is done. If you are feeling repeatedly tired this can be a symptom of Adrenal Fatigue in which case look into that and get some support (you can start with my book, loads of helpful recovery tips) or it’s just a sign that you are not going to bed early enough – in which case, do the math and sort your bedtime routine.

6. Deliberately make your focus positive

It’s very easy for our mind to quickly get set on a laundry list of all the things we have to do today, what might go wrong, all the potential pitfalls and hurdles, and to feel time poor before we have even really started our day. This is an all too common but very poor mental foundation for the day ahead. A far better start is to deliberately send your mind to think through all the things that could go RIGHT today. What are the BEST-case scenarios you would like to enjoy – and to set emotionally yourself up for a day you are looking forward to rather than dreading.

7. Get some natural light

It can really bring our mood down when we are getting up in the dark, and coming home in the dark. Natural sunlight has an important impact on hormone and vitamin production that keep us healthy and happy. If you are up before the dawn, set a mental note to squeeze in some daylight during the day, particularly if you work with under artificial lights, so you can help your body help you to regulate both mood and sleep which will help you get up the next morning with more ease.

8. Move Your Body

Many people swear by exercise as the best start to their day. This can be harder if you are not a morning person, you have a lot of family responsibilities first thing, or just find it harder in the dark. The key here is to go with your situation and your body clock. If it makes you feel good do it, if it adds a huge additional stress to your morning then that’s an energy drainer rather than booster and you are better finding a way that fits better for you, and dropping the whole “should” around it. Also here its key to be super flexible with the amount of time this needs to take up. 5 minutes gentle stretching before you get into the family wakeup routine might be a great investment for you: release all perfectionism around “it has to be half an hour or it’s not with it”. Small daily actions add up to big long-term impacts so push all “should”’s to the side to incorporate what works best for you to start your day with focus and purpose.

Read Part 1 here

Part 3 coming soon…

Tags positive thinking, Start Your Day Right

Live Happy Inspiration Positive Thought Strategy Self Care and Self Love

A Dozen Ways To Start Your Day With Purpose. Part 1

Post author By Support Elf
Post date January 30, 2018
No Comments on A Dozen Ways To Start Your Day With Purpose. Part 1

Up the Anti On Your Morning Routine – Part 1

Continually hitting the snooze button? I hear ya.

The better you start your day the better your day goes.

Here is a 3 part series for you packed with a dozen ideas for you to cherry pick into your morning routine to start your day with purpose.

1. Don’t reach for your phone first

It’s so tempting to reach for technology before anything else. A massive percentage of people start their day by checking Facebook, emails and the news whilst still in bed. This is not the greatest start to your day as it sends your energy in multiple different directions before your feet have even hit the floor. Dissipating our focus before we have even started the day puts us into other peoples agenda’s before we have eve set our own. Keeping your mental energy space clear with no tech for at least the first 10 minutes of the day allows you to get your head into what you need from the day before you start worrying about responding to that tricky email or comparing to someone else’s perfect Instagram life.

2. Make your bed

There is a lovely phrase that goes “Messy Head: Messy Bed”. It’s so true. Much inner pace can be found through the reflection of outer order. Taking 1 minute to pull back the covers and plump a pillow creates a small but powerful sense of control and order at the top of the day. That small symbolic act of controlling your environment at the start of the morning is a powerful signal to yourself that you would like the rest of your day to proceed in an orderly fashion.

3. Start Fresh

A brand new morning is always the chance to start over. We get presented with it every single day. New Years resolutions need not wait for January to roll round, and an intention to eat right or treat our body well need not wait for an arbitrary Monday morning. If you have something you want to achieve then simply BEGIN. This morning is as good a morning as any other. Harness the clean sheet that the morning brings, recommit to yourself and choose in favour of what you want most.

4. Anchor a habit to teeth cleaning

This is an effortless, healthy habit that we all possess. As a morning ritual cleaning our teeth is as solid as it comes. It provides the perfect opportunity to use that “no matter what” lifetime habit to a new habit you are keen to start. So perhaps you might want to do squats whilst you clean your teeth – that’s a few minutes of squats effortlessly nailed each morning. Or you might want to use that time to mentally create a gratitude practice or affirmation repetition or some other habit you have been looking to create. Use that dedicated and non-negotiable teeth cleaning time to anchor in a new health habit with ease.

Part 2 coming soon …

Tags flexible thinking, Start Your Day Right

High Energy Happiness Self Care and Self Love

Start your day right – Part 2

Post author By Support Elf
Post date April 18, 2017
No Comments on Start your day right – Part 2

This week, we are continuing on with how to start your day off on the right foot so you can make time for self-care and ease into your day instead of hitting the ground running.

4. Get grateful before your feet even hit the floor

This is such a good tip for bringing more ease and lightness to your morning. When you press snooze on your alarm* start listing things in your life you are grateful for. Happy moments from the previous day. Just start listing them and developing this as a habit. You will probably snooze back off, but this at least gets your brain with the programme that we are choosing to start the day on a positive note. You will be surprised how quickly this becomes a habit.

ALARM>>>BEEP. Ohhh…okay…what was good about yesterday? What were my happy moments? What am I grateful for?

It breaks the bad habit of waking up and within seconds being on the anxiety train of “oh God…I’ve got to get XXXX done today, and then YYYYY is probably going to….”

While you are still between the sheets, break the habit by establishing a new, far more empowered habit of starting your thoughts each morning with appreciation.
*Unless you are some kind of human unicorn who bounces out of bed before their alarm trilling, “I’m a mmmmmmmmmorning person!!!! Hello, world!!! ” In which case, you need no help, you’ve got it covered.

5. What would I like to go RIGHT today?

One of the reasons we sometimes have a bad day is because we self-create it by expecting to have a bad day. We wake up and our mind automatically starts off on a train of thought about how underprepared we are about that meeting. And that we are going to be really pushed to get to the dentist and back. And I bet the traffic will be really bad too because it’s raining. And if Tom doesn’t sort that thing out like he promised then….and so on. It’s a really easy train of thought to follow – we start with one thing that might not go that well, and then it links seamlessly to another…and another…so before we know it, we are stressed out about our day before we have even got out of our pyjamas.

You can change this by consciously directing your thoughts. We humans can have a real tendency to gravitate towards the negative without us even realising it – so help yourself turn that around by popping a post-it note on the bathroom mirror where you clean your teeth – and as you brush ask yourself the very deliberate question – What could go RIGHT today? And then link that to something else that could go well, or that you can think of an ideal outcome for. Start deliberately challenging your focus towards the positive.

What are 3 things that could go right today? What would be an ideal outcome?

1. ___________________________________________________________________________________________
2.____________________________________________________________________________________________
3.____________________________________________________________________________________________

6. Stop looking at technology first thing

I know I know, I go on about this a lot. Technology is our friend, and fantastic in so many ways. But honestly, if you are looking for a day that’s calm, focused and full of fun/achievement/peace of mind – whatever it is you are after – then checking your email and social media when you are still in bed or still shuffling about in your PJ’s is not going to serve that.

1. Unless you are a heart surgeon on call or similar, no email you have is that important/time sensitive that it cannot wait for 15 – 30 minutes while you ease yourself into your morning in a calm way that works for you.

2. When you check your tech, you are immediately taking yourself out of your own agenda and headspace, and immediately putting it into someone else’s. Reading that email about the problem with production splits your mental focus before the day even begins.

It takes the focus off you, and what you (and your family) need to set you up optimally for the day, and puts a large percentage of it in the office/school/someone else’s stuff. Start the day doing your own stuff. If you want to be calm, happier, more successful in whatever it is you are into – have those few moments at the start of the day focused on what you want, not the 19 other people’s agendas in your inbox. It will allow you to start the day with clarity and perspective.

I commit to not checking my tech, and staying in my own stuff til………am.

Tags challenging beliefs, decision making, destress, enjoyment, Mornings, Start Your Day Right

Emotional Honesty High Energy Happiness Live Happy Inspiration Positive Thought Strategy Uncategorized

My Instant Mood Booster Trick

Post author By Support Elf
Post date October 18, 2016
No Comments on My Instant Mood Booster Trick

Want to know a magic trick where you can instantly change your mood and motivation just by changing one letter that you habitually use? Of course, you do. Who doesn’t want to feel more enthused and less resentful, to procrastinate less and do more?

Okay, so it’s this. What have you GOT to do today? Finish that report? Do the washing? Pick the kids up from school? Go for a run? Make dinner for 5? Take the car for a service? Grocery shop? Review the budgets? Answer your email?

Each day is packed with so much stuff that we just have to get done. There is a great pithy quote that sums this up to perfection “Life is just one damned thing after another” (variously attributed to many, including Winston Churchill and Elbert Hubbard). And some days it sure can feel like that. A hamster wheel of getting from one thing to the next, to the next. There are so many things to get done, it never stops. No wonder we can get resentful and some days can seem like a grind.

And if that’s just modern life, just reality, how can we change that?

Well, we can shift our perspective instantly through changing the language that we wrap our experiences in. Words are the magic emotion carriers that define our experiences. Read these out loud to yourself to see if you can feel the change in your emotional response:

I’ve GOT to pick the kids up from school today

I GET to pick the kids up from school today

Different, right? The first sentence we can feel resentful, rushed, harried. The second evokes gratitude, luck, happiness. After all, many people would give anything in the world to go pick their child up from school. Perhaps their children are grown. Or they are doing a week about and don’t get to see them for another six days. Or they have lost some pregnancies and would give anything to go hold a little one’s hand and pick up a piece of appealing potato cut “artwork”. So, I get to pick the kids up from school today? The experience becomes infused with a whole different emotional response.

Try this:

I’ve GOT to answer my email.

I GET to answer my email.

Trickier example maybe, but the same principle applies. The first is filled with frustration and pressure, the second with purpose and resolve. Having email means we have a job! There is work to be done, and we are financially compensated for it. Our opinion or service or expertise is being sought in some way. A complete absence of email these days is an indication of no work, no job. So, I get to answer my email. Great! Let’s get on with it.

We know the language we use with others is tremendously powerful. We are aware that some well-chosen words can heal or transform a situation in a moment. We also know that some words once spoken can rip a life apart in an instant such that it will never be the same again. Our words have tremendous power – and we are hyper-conscious of that in our interactions with others. In our interactions with others, we select them with care.

Here’s the thing. The words you habitually use with YOURSELF are even more powerful. If your internal dialogue is full of “I’ve got to” and “I have to”, you’re going to feel trapped, resentful and frustrated. Often. It’s disempowered language. It denies the reality of the choice you have in your life.

Empowered language such as a simple switch to “I get to….” will profoundly affect how you move through your day.

This morning I felt the pressure of a deadline looming, a blog post I’ve got to write for you. That’s not the most inspirational place for me to approach what is an opportunity I feel profoundly grateful to have each week. I get to talk to you, about what’s on my mind, and hopefully uplift, inspire or give you something meaningful to ponder. I get to do this on my own blog. How cool!

And yes, the deadline does seem to come round with a cunning regularity that seems more frequent than the weekly that it is! However, I haven’t GOT to do this; I GET to do this. I get to write for you every single week. How lucky am I. It’s a pleasure and never a chore that I get to do that – heartfelt thanks from me today to you, dear reader, for reading and making this a part of your week and a part of what I get to do for a living.

Action Step: What have you got to do today that you feel frustrated or resentful about? Change your language about getting to do it instead, and feel your mood and motivation rise.

Tags decision making, flexible thinking, Happiness, positive thinking, Start Your Day Right

Live Happy Inspiration

Start Your Day Right – Part 2

Post author By Support Elf
Post date June 21, 2016
No Comments on Start Your Day Right – Part 2

How we start our day has a covertly powerful influence on how the rest of the day rolls out. Here are three more strategies to combine with last weeks to help you take control and create a morning routine that will help you start your day right.

Read part one here

4. Get grateful before your feet even hit the floor

This is such a good tip for bringing more ease and lightness to your morning. When you press snooze on your alarm,* start listing things in your life you are grateful for. Happy moments from the previous day. Just start listing them and developing this as a habit. You will probably snooze back off but this at least gets your brain with the programme that we are now choosing to start the day on a positive note. You will be surprised how quickly this becomes a habit: Alarm beep. Oh, okay, what was good about yesterday? What were my happy moments? What am I grateful for? It breaks the bad habit of waking up and within seconds being on the anxiety train of “oh God, I’ve got to get X done today, and then Y is probably going to…” while you are still between the sheets.

Break the habit by establishing a new, far more empowered habit of starting your thoughts each morning with appreciation.

*Unless you are some kind of human unicorn who bounces out of bed before their alarm trilling “I’m a morning person, hello world”, in which case, you need no help, you’ve got it covered.

5. What would I like to go right today?

One of the reasons we sometimes have a bad day is because we self-create it by expecting to have a bad day. We wake up and our mind automatically starts off on a train of thought about how underprepared we are about that meeting, and that we are going to be really pushed to get to the dentist and back, and I bet the traffic will be really bad too, and if Tom doesn’t sort that thing out like he promised … and so on. It’s a really easy train of thought to follow, we start with one thing that might not go that well, and then it links seamlessly to another and another, so before we know it we are stressed out about our day before we are even out of our pyjamas.

You can change this by consciously directing your thoughts. We humans can have a real tendency to gravitate towards the negative without realising it, so help yourself turn that around by popping a post-it note on the bathroom mirror where you clean your teeth. As you brush, ask yourself the very deliberate question What could go RIGHT today? And then link that to something else that could go well, or that you can think of an ideal outcome. Start deliberately challenging your focus towards the positive.

What are three things that could go right today? What would be an ideal outcome?

1………………………………………………

2………………………………………………

3………………………………………………

6. Stop looking at technology first thing

I know I go on about this a lot. Technology is our friend, and so fantastic in so many ways, but honestly, if you are looking for a day that’s calm, focused and full of fun/achievement/peace of mind/whatever it is you are after, then checking your email and social media when you are still in bed or shuffling about in your PJs is not going to serve that. Unless you are a heart surgeon or similar, no email is that important/time sensitive it cannot wait 15-30 minutes while you ease yourself into your morning.

When you check your tech you are immediately taking yourself out of your own agenda and headspace and immediately putting yourself into someone else’s. Reading that email about the problem with production splits your mental focus before the day even begins. It takes the focus off you, and what you (and your family) need to set you up optimally for the day, and puts a large percentage of it in the office/school/someone else’s stuff. Start the day in your own stuff. If you want to be calm, happier, more successful in whatever it is you are into – have those few moments at the start of the day, focused on what you want. It will allow you to start the day with clarity and perspective.
I commit to not checking my tech, and staying in my own stuff until ………. am.

That’s six strategies to help you start your day off right.

See here next week for two more to help you get out of bed on the right side.

Tags Start Your Day Right

Live Happy Inspiration

Start Your Day Right – Part 1

Post author By Support Elf
Post date June 14, 2016
No Comments on Start Your Day Right – Part 1

Y’know how sometimes the day can just start off all wrong, and then go rapidly downhill from there. I am sure you know the feeling. There is a reason that “getting out of bed on the wrong side” is a phrase we use to describe someone who is being grumpy and obtuse – how we start our day has a covertly powerful influence on how the rest of the day rolls out. A deliberately created morning routine is one small thing we can do for ourselves that has a disproportionately large impact on how our days unfold. Here are 8 strategies for starting your day right:

1. Prep a bit the night before.
Obviously this one is a not rocket science. If you have the juicer out and on the bench, you are far more likely to use it. Similarly, if the kitchen is clean and tidy rather than last night’s dishes in the sink, you are far more likely to prep a healthy breakfast. What small tasks can you square away the night before that will add ease and flow to your morning?

Identify the things that are your most common morning irritants. Maybe it’s deciding what to wear and a heap of outfit changes. Or never having an ironed shirt. Or it might be putting the lunchboxes together under pressure or finding the sports kit. Identify your top 3 morning irritants and make a plan to eliminate them the night before (pick the outfit, iron the shirt, sort the lunchbox, find the cricket bat from its inexplicable hiding place behind the sofa). If you can resolve the top 3 irritants in advance, you are already on your way to a much easier start to your day.

My top 3 morning irritations are:
1. which I can resolve/lessen by
2. which I can resolve/lessen by
3. which I can resolve/lessen by

2. Set expectations
Few of us live in a bubble, so clearly other people in our domestic situation play a role in how our morning starts. This is a good time to reset some expectations on tasks and timing expected in the morning, so everyone can have an easier start. Maybe the kids are older and it’s a reasonable expectation that they make their own bed before school or pack their own bag? Maybe your partner is always late out the door and so that makes you late too. Or the buddy you get a ride with lets you down often and turns up late. Have a check in on any expectations that it would be a good idea to reset or redefine, so your morning has a calmer start. One conversation could make a massive difference.

I’d like to reset this expectation _______________________with ________________ so that ______________________________________________________________

3. What sets you up for the day?
What’s your number one non-negotiable? For some it might be 15 minutes to meditate. For others it might just be a solo 4-minute shower without anyone sticking their head in and screaming “muuuuuuuuuum…”. Clearly this differs widely and is deeply individual. What do you need to set you up best for the day? Identify one non-negotiable – if it’s just one thing, you are far more likely to make it happen than if it’s a whole list of “would like to’s” (well…a green juice, and then read the paper, and then a little light yoga, walk the dog then off to work – too hard and too many). Pick one and make it your non-negotiable for setting your mood in the morning:

My non-negotiable morning good mood setter is ______________________________

Part 2 – Coming up next week!

Tags Start Your Day Right

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