While spring is the beginning of the year, morning is the start of each day. Start of day is the best time to start anew and fresh because whatever has happened has become the story of yesterday.
When your start morning goes right, it gives you energy and momentum and your entire day can go through smoothly. Imagine if you wake up late, stuck in the traffic congestion, late for your meetings, and your boss scolded you, not a good way to start, isn’t it?
On the other hand, when things are right in the morning, usually, you are able to go through the entire day strong and you will be able to accomplish much more. This is why having good morning habits are important. And below are the 15 habits you may want to consider adopting into your life.
-
Schedule your day
Without a schedule, it is easy that you will lose track in the busy activities of the day. Scheduling your tasks and planning what to do is one of the keys to becoming more effective in life.
Highly successful people like Richard Branson plans his day. You too should do this. When you know what you need to do, you are then able to actively engage and work on the tasks. If you have no idea what to do, most likely you will fall into the reactive mode and do whatever that comes to you.
-
Read for at least 30 minutes
Another great morning habit you can adopt is to read for at least 30 minutes each day. Successful people like Bill Gates, Mark Cuban, Warren Buffett, and Elon Musk, spend hours into reading each day. So what makes you think you don’t have to read?
In the morning, the distractions will be low and you are able to concentrate better. There will be no one to disturb you, thus, this makes morning one of the best time to read and improve.
-
Review your goals and targets
Everybody has goals and targets they want to achieve in life. However, by setting a goal or thinking about what you want to achieve just once is not enough. You must constantly hold the idea of your goals and what you want in your head at each moment.
Most people fail to achieve their goals because they thought that all they need to do is to set their goal once and then that’s it. No, you should review your goals daily. Make it part of your daily morning routine and think of them each day.
-
Practice affirmations
Affirmations work and it is also a great technique to keep you motivated. Therefore, practice affirmation each morning. From the moment you wake up, get into the bathroom, and look in the mirror, you can repeat your affirmation.
Studies have discovered that when you keep telling yourself something, it will eventually become true. Hence, repeat your affirmation to motivate yourself each morning. Put yourself in the right mindset to kick-start a strong and powerful day.
-
Eat healthy breakfast
A lot of people love to skip breakfast, especially when they overslept or when they have to rush. The word “breakfast” suggests that you should break-the-fasting.
You have gone through a long night sleep for about six to eight hours, and your body requires a healthy meal when you wake up. Scientists have found that people who have healthy breakfast in the morning performed better, whether it is in school or at work.
-
Exercise and move your body
Our bodies are created to move. And the best time to exercise is in the morning. Many successful people including Barrack Obama, Square and Twitter’s CEO, Jack Dorsey, Mark Zuckerberg, and Oprah Winfrey exercise early in the morning. Their basic morning exercise habit is their key driver for success
These are extremely busy people, but yet, they make time for basic morning exercise. They understand that exercise is essential to both their physical and mental fitness. When you exercise and practice an active lifestyle, you are able to perform better in other areas of your life.
-
Drink plenty of water in the morning
Do you know that as much as seventy percent of your body is made of fluid? And when you wake up in the morning, your body craves for water for hydration.
Experts suggest we drink at least one to two glasses of water upon awakening. This is because our body parts require water to function properly. Besides that, it is also a great way to detox.
-
Do your most important task
When you start your day, you should do your most important work first. Do not leave your high-impact work until later the day because most of us have the highest energy and willpower in the morning. And it is best to spend doing the high-impact work.
This is just like eating a meal. If you eat the dessert first, you will have no room for the proper meal. Hence, eat the proper meal and then only you get to enjoy the dessert.
-
Enjoy the natural light
Sunlight has a number of advantages such as improve your mood and perception, control your body’s circadian system, and boost your performance during the day. When you wake up in the morning, try to open all the blinds and allow natural sunlight to come in.
Studies have discovered that employees who work in a workplace with natural sunlight are more productive than those who are not exposed to it. So organize your workstation and allow the natural light to come in.
[optin-monster-shortcode id=”lcqnkenuikgqlole”]
-
Keep a gratitude list
Each morning, before you get to work, try to write down at least 10 things you are grateful for. When you write down the things that you appreciate, you make your thoughts cheerful and grateful. This is surely a great way to start your day.
You can list down whatever that comes into your mind. The key is to spend a little time to reflect and truly feel the emotion of gratefulness surging in you.
-
Make your bed
Do not underestimate the small action of making your bed can have in your life. According to US Navy Admiral, Sir William McCraven, he said, “If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed. If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task, and another, and another. And by the end of the day that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed.”
Therefore, make it your morning habit to make the bed. It creates the first small win for your day, and it also prevents you from wanted to lie down on your bed again.
-
Hustle on a side project
Morning time is the best time for your side project because you will be too busy to work during the day. A lot of people started a business when they are free. Ray Kroc did the same by using his mornings and evenings and turn McDonald’s into the largest fast-food chain in the world.
So identify what kind of side project you want to grow, and put in some time to work on it in the morning. There will be no bosses to check on you and no distractions from other people.
-
Meditate for 5 minutes
If you think that you have no time to meditate, think again. You don’t have to spend an hour to do this, all you need is just a short 5 minutes. Meditation is a powerful technique you can practice to maintain your creativity, improve your ability to focus, and also reduce your stress.
A lot of successful people practice meditation and have also credited part of their success to meditation. Famous people like Oprah Winfrey and Arianna Huffington practice daily meditation. It gives you a sense of calmness and boosts your productivity.
-
Take a cold shower
You may think that this is a crazy idea, but science has discovered that taking a cold shower in the morning not only refreshes your body, mind, and soul, it also detoxes your body.
Tony Robbins, the world-famous personal development guru says that he goes through cold water immersion each morning. And he says that this practice has reduced soreness and inflammation from physical activity, plus, also improves his cardiovascular circulation and improves his mood.
-
Reflect your day
If you want to make your life better, you must reflect, review, and do something to improve your life. The problem is that most people do not reflect on their lives, and hence, they have no idea what went wrong and cannot make a change.
Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple said that he reflected his day and asked himself this one question every morning, “‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ If the Answer is ‘no’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.”
You can do the same by asking the same question. When you reflect, you know whether you are making progress or are staying stagnant. You can then make adjustment accordingly to live the life you want.