I have read many books and watched a lot of YouTube videos to set my life back on track. I stopped caring about my life even though I knew that it was not going according to my ideal way. Later at one point, I got frustrated and decided to change my life. And I have read this great quote on a website... Do you know what that is?
What is a habit?
James Clear in his book Atomic habits wrote that ," A habit is a behavior that has been repeated enough times to become automatic. Success is the product of daily habits—not once-in-a-lifetime transformations."
Tiny considerable changes that you make in your life will make your life more productive and reasonable. He mentioned in that Book several exciting topics like habit scorecards, habit stacking methods, and so on.
Ref:https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits
Let's jump right into them.
1. Prepare a To-do list the night before.
Many people feel comfortable preparing their to-do lists in the morning. But in my opinion, it's better to start your next day the night before itself. Confusing??? It's a simple task to take your notebook or laptop and jot down the left jobs for tomorrow.
One more vital tip to practice to-do lists is to Read that list aloud... Yes. You heard me right... When you read and call out those things loudly, they will be registered to your brain. It's a best practice to read out things loud to make them happen.
2. Wake up early in the morning.
One best tip for this is to keep your phone away from you or at the other end of the room. In this way, when you hear the alarm ringing, you have to get up and walk to stop that stupid sound. It always works for me... Just try and see once...
3. Stretch your body a little.
Here are a few workout options I love to do, depending on my mood and body strength.
4. Meditate or write your gratitude journal.
Sources say that practicing meditation even for 5 minutes will bring significant changes in your life. If you are good at meditation, make it a habit to do that after your workout routine during your cool-down phase.
Here are few videos you can check for meditation.
But if meditation is not your cup of coffee, just like me, you can follow a simple 2 step routine. Trust me, and this brings wonders in your life.
First Step - Take a book or your journal (preferably, I call it my gratitude journal).
Write at least three things you are grateful for in your life. It can be of yesterday or the time when someone helped you or even when someone scolded you when you did something foolish. It can be anything but try to write at least three such cases.
By doing this, you are trading your expectations with an appreciation for all the things you already have instead of depressing for the things you don't have.
This will hardly take 5 to 10 mins.
Second Step- Grounding technique
This step will take less than a minute, but I love doing this. This is called the 5-4-3-2-1 method. You will enjoy this if you do this in a peaceful place. Even your morning balcony will serve the purpose.
Count 5 things you see, four things you feel, three things you hear, two smells, and one taste.
This technique will help decrease anxiety, and hence this is highly recommended as one of the forms of meditation. You can even ask your kids to do this simple activity along with you.
Just try this for few days, and you will see visible results in your stress reduction.
5. Prepare your breakfast and eat it the right way.
We already know that homemade food is more appreciated for so many reasons. You can see what you put in your smoothie. It helps in spending some quality me-time away from electronic devices. And the most important thing is it saves money.
Now coming to the way you eat your breakfast :
If you are staying with your family or friends, make it a habit to sit and eat together. If you are eating with your partner, make sure to enjoy that time and, if possible, discuss your mood, things that you planned to do today, and so on.
Suppose you are staying alone practice mindful eating. Enjoy your food while eating. If you don't like that, it will make you feel alone, read a book while having your breakfast. That way you can consume your food, and at the same time, you can learn new things. Some might say read a newspaper while having your meal, but I don't prefer that as my mornings are more peaceful.
6. Do not use your phone during the early hours of your morning.
You might be disappointed to hear about this but let's all accept that half of our lives are being consumed by electronic devices. When was the last time you felt bored?
I suggest you all enjoyed your mornings in the olden ways when there were no mobile phones. I am not restricting you from any entertainment. In the habits mentioned above, I have given excellent and good workout videos links for you guys. Try doing them instead.
Staying away from the phone during the first and last hour of your day will make your mind more peaceful. The First 1 hour will help you start your day in a more energetic and hopeful manner, whereas the last hour restriction will help you sleep better.
7. Finally, Make your bed before leaving for work
This simple habit here made my life easier. Surprised?? When I asked you to create a to-do list yesterday night, make sure to include this point in that list as well.
Do you know why?? Because striking off that single and straightforward point will make you feel like you have set your life back to track. And most importantly, whenever I came back home for lunch, seeing the organized and well-made bed always made me feel satisfied with myself.
This, right here, my friends, is a self gratitude moment. The satisfaction that you have accomplished a straightforward task will help you tackle all your problems for the day.
If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed. by Admiral William H McRaven
There is this fantastic Book called Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins. In that book, he mentioned an actual incident in how this one simple habit helped him achieve his goal.
Ref - Audiobook
Okay. If you are a person working from home, you might as well ask me .. Do I also Have to adapt this habit??. And answer to this question is --
HELL YEAH! This works for you as well.
When you have made your bed and prepared that for your nighty nights, your brain will register that you should not spoil that well-kept bed, and hence you will be forced to go to your working area to get started with your daily work.
Your bed is solely for sleeping purposes. Do not work there. It will be difficult for your mind to differentiate between sleeping and working hours if you work from your bed.
To recap, here are 7 Simple Morning Habits That Will Change Your Life
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- Prepare a To-do list the before day.
- Get up early.
- Move your body.
- Meditate or maintain a gratitude journal.
- Mindful breakfast routine.
- A big no for phones.
- Always make your bed.
So Finally, I hope you guys might take these tips and follow them at least one at a time. Which habit do you want to try first??? Let me know in the comments 😇
For more on how long it takes to form a habit, see Chapters 3 and 11 of Atomic Habits.
More resources :
Here is a free course, 30 Days to Better Habits, from James Clear for four weeks in helping you guys to follow habits.
The course includes a 20-page PDF workbook (including templates and cheat sheets), plus new examples and applications that can help you for the four weeks course, which is free.
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