SET YOUR MORNINGS FOR SUCCESS

One of the most important things we need to master for having a healthy and happy lifestyle is to master our mornings. I mean, is the way we start and set the intention, energy, and emotions for the rest of our days, so if we start in a rush, frustrated from the past and future events, and we don't take time for gratitude, intention setting, and get ready in ease we will have a bad day.

However, eliminating unconscious beliefs, values, habits, and routines that have been there for years or even your entire life can be challenging and hard to see accomplished. Today I am giving you the tools you need to set your mornings for success and live a mindfully healthy lifestyle.

DESIGN YOUR DREAM MORNING

First, we need to think and design what your dream morning would look like. It is different for all of us, we all have different life, jobs, and goals, some of us are single, others have a partner, others have kids, every morning will look different for all of us.

It is important that you look for what the perfect morning would look like FOR YOU! Close your eyes, and visualize every single detail from the second you wake up to the moment you have to get ready to start with your day. You can also go as far as to noon, after all having a good morning at your job, or at the gym, or doing any errands should also be a good dreamy one.

Pay attention to every detail, and use your five senses. Allow yourself to be there and feel every single emotion that your visualization brings because those feelings will be the force that drives you to make long-lasting changes.

Then when you finish grab a piece of paper or better yet a journal and dump everything down. Don't judge, don't second guess yourself, don't bring any obstacles or excuses, just write it all down.

REFLECT AND PLAN

Now that you know what your dream morning would look like, start thinking of ways that can help you create your dream morning.

Here are some questions you can ask yourself:

- What are different ways that you can get what you want?

- What do you need to stop doing to help you have a better morning? What is making you feel frustrated, sad, stressed, anxious, or simply does not go hand to hand with what your dream morning looks like?

- What are some things that you are doing now that actually work and help you be inspired and productive on your mornings?

- What things do you need to start to help you have an amazing start to your day? A perfect day at the gym? At work? At home?

Now that you know what you need to stop, keep and start you can make a plan. Make a schedule, and make time for those things, and if that means you need to wake up earlier, which in most cases are, then set your alarm, put that on your schedule and create the intention to have a beautiful successful morning.

CREATE A MORNING ROUTINE

Having a morning ritual or routine is very important to help you ensure that you are starting your morning right. The very first hour of your day is the most important hour of all! Make that hour count because that hour will set the mood for the rest of your day.

For example, if you wake up and the first thing you do is think about past or upcoming events that stress you out, you already messed up with your mood. You are already in stress mode, feeling anxious and probably frustrated or angry.

On top of that, you did not make time for self-care, relaxation, to prepare with calm and ease, and get out of the door walking instead of running.

However, if you wake up on time, and practice new habits and routines like, waking up earlier, not looking at your phone, take 5 minutes to go outside and appreciate a new morning, the sunrise, nature, etc you setting a mood of gratitude, calm and easy not just for that morning but for the rest of your day.

There are some very helpful habits that will help you have amazing mornings:

- Wake up earlier. Make a list of your new morning habits, and give it 60 minutes to accomplish them all, then set your alarm clock to wake up those 60 minutes earlier.

- Move! (20 minutes) Do quick cardio, or workout and get those happy hormones dancing all over your body! Workout also helps increase energy so you will be creating that great mood for your mornings.

- Read or listen (20 minutes) to a book, podcast, or video that motivates and inspires you. One super cook tip would be listening to a podcast or audiobook while you workout so you can save those 2o minutes for either more sleep or something else.

- Meditate (5-10 minutes). Meditating helps to calm the mind, read your thoughts, and listen to your gut. It helps to flourish new ideas, to solve problems, and to create peace, blissfulness, and joy. It also gives gratitude.

- Journal (5 minutes). Dumping any thoughts out can help you to get out all of that negative energy accumulated in your body and take the stress out. Journaling also helps you see better what we feel or think and help us create more accurate solutions to our problems.

- Check your schedule and to-do list (5 minutes). Not planning for success is planning to fail. If you don't have a clear vision of what your day will look like and make sure you don't forget any tasks you will end the day all stressed out, frustrated, and unproductive, take that to your sleep, have a horrible night/sleep, and wake up with all that build up and take it with you through you new day.

DECIDE YOU ARE LIVING YOUR DREAM MORNINGS NOW

There is something amazing about the power of NOW. Our brains don't know the difference of a thought that you are having about the past, present, or the future, for your brain every thought you are having are things happening right now. It is important that you set yourself for success NOW, and think like you have a successful dreamy morning NOW.

One way to feel like you are already living your dream mornings is to start implementing little things that will make you feel dreamy. This could be a morning coffee, a candle, a robe, smooth cozy music... these little things do count!

Think about the one thing you are looking forward to that day, and if by any chance you don't find anything that excites you for that day, then ask what is one thing that will excite you today and put it on the calendar. You must always have something to look forward to.

Also remember that what you have today, at some point in your life, you wanted it. Be grateful for the things you do have today and take the first step to make the new changes in your life.

BABY STEPS

The last tip for today will be to go with baby steps! You don't have to implement all your new habits and routines tomorrow morning. If you have been having the same morning you had today for years, then it will be hard to change it. Don't rush it.

Instead, decide what you want to start first, maybe this could be to work out because that will really wake you up and increase your energy, so maybe you want to tackle that one first, well, set the alarm for only those 25 minutes earlier. You can also leave everything ready the night before so you can dress up fast as soon as you wake up.

Practice this new habit for at least one week, then you can start implementing a second new habit. If there's anything I have learned over the last few years, is that quick drastic "changes" are just recipes for failure and for giving up quickly. It takes 21 days to break an old habit, 60 days to be okay with a new habit, and 90 days to fully implement unconsciously and physically your new habits.