Mornings! You can either love them or hate them. You must have probably heard many people complain about the beginning of their weeks as it is the starting point of another five straight days of work and of various occupations. For parents, they must bring their kids to school before heading to work. For students, it is the beginning of another week. They have to handle responsibilities and organize their academic projects while waiting for the next weekend in order to have some time off. Although many of these scenarios may be true, some people have decided to see these early hours of the day as a great opportunity to set up new challenges for themselves. This portion of the population consider their mornings as sacred times where the success of their days, which ultimately leads to the success of their lives, are mostly played. They have managed to incorporate the morning time as a key to a successful lifestyle. Just to name a few, Robert Iger, CEO of Walt Disney once said at an interview that he wakes up at 4:30 AM every morning. Shawn Carter, CEO of Roc Nation, who also runs sixteen businesses simultaneously, according to his own words, claims to be ready for work at 7:30 AM. The former Oxygen Channel CEO, Gerry Laybourne, claimed to wake up at 6 AM every morning in order to step out of her house thirty minutes later. For many of these successful men and women, it is not simply a matter of waking up early, it is also, if not more, what they do once they’re awake.
1. Rise and Shine
To be successful, you’ve got to be your own source of light by waking up before the sun somes out. None of these things are going to work if this particular step is not accomplished successfully. Robert Iger can never do what he does now if he gets off his bed after the Walt Disney parks open to the public. Therefore, set up your alarm clock at the most convinient time for yourself, ideally before 7 AM. By doing so, you will create a habit and will internalize one particular time which will then become your own as time goes by. Also, watch out for the time you sleep at night as it greatly determines the amount of energy you will have in the morning.
2. Exercise
Doing some physical exercise, whether it be a thirty minutes run or a forty minutes session at the gym can help be proactive and more productive during the rest of the day. You may be surprised by the amount of wok your mind can handle in a single day if hundreds of reps were done earlier by your body. You must have heard of the expression ”A strong body makes your mind strong”. If not, then you should try it by yourself and see the results! Still not convinced? Know that CEOs Ursula Burns, Steve Murphy, and Frits van Paasschen, for as busy as their lives are, have scheduled a time during some mornings of their weeks, where they must absolutely exercise before heading out.
4. Adopt A positive Mindset
We all face personal challenges, but one should never let unhappy stories of yesterday affect a brand new day full of new opportunities. Every day is a chance to create a new life. Open your email and write a little note to a friend that you haven’t heard of for a long time. Dyana Steele even suggests us write personalized handwritten letters to someone we care about and then send it via traditional mail. It may take a while to get a response, but ultimately, the ball will come back to our court for that person will appreciate the thought we had for him or her. Good thoughts create good actions, and good actions cause good reactions. The way we think greatly affects who we are.
4. Organize, Plan, and Map Out Your Day
In the morning, the mind is fresher and our reflections clearer. Prepare and plan important things you must do during your day. Make sure to include in your to-do list something you have never done before. Many successful people are where they are because at some point in their lives, they did something someone never did before them, even themselves. Never forget that in order to get something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done. Paulo Coelho, a bestselling author, often repeats in his book Eleven Minutes to always take risks as somebody who never takes risks in life is someone who have never failed, thus, someone who have never learnt how to overcome challenges in order to advance.
5. Work On A Personal Passion Project
The average successful person have something he or she cherish more than anything else. Usually, this particular passion is what participates to bring about the success he or she has in life. After a long day of work where we have participated to meetings, conferences, or just done a bunch of homework, taking some time to work on a personal activity we love can be tough due to our lack of energy and concentration. Take sometime during the day or just an hour every morning to do something you love doing can greatly increase your chances of becoming successful in your personal field of activty. That can be novel writing, art-making, physical activities, dancing, or anything that you can do without being aware you are doing it for you are so passionate about it. Live the life you love and love what you do!
6. Make Time For Your Loved Ones and For Yourself
Work should never become a challenge to spend quality time with your family and your loved ones. Many CEOs qualifies this to be one of the toughest challenge they have to deal with in their lives. Every successful person have learned to create a balance between these two aspects of their lives. If they haven’t done so successfully, the worse can occur! We can take the case of the Swisscom CEO Carsten Schloter who committed suicide during the summer of 2013. He claimed himself that his work couldn’t give him enough time to enjoy his personal life with the people he cared for. Have breakfast with your family, go have lunch with your wife or your husband and spend some time with friends. These are priceless moments that should never be taken for granted.
7. Meditate To Clear The Mind
People who always expect the best out of others usually always expect the best of themselves first. Make sure your mind is clear and your objectives well aligned. This will help you go reach these goals one by one without being distracted by the world around which can be very noisy at times. Stay connected with your to-do list by meditating and focusing your mind on what you have to accomplish. Meditating greatly help do this because it takes all the dirt off the soul, and clarifies the world in front of us as well as the road we must take above all else.
8. Check Your Email, Read The News, and Be Informed
Stay in touch with your reality by reading your Email to provide responses to those that needs them and by staying informed about the events happening in your city, in your country, and in your world! You must have probably asked yourself why so many successful people are thought to be naturally gifted or are born with pure luck. In fact, although that may be true to a degree, they also are aware of what goes on around them more than the average person. Being informed about the world help you see on a regular basis opportunities knocking at your door, and even, things to avoid. Be informed about yourself; that is, your personal abilities, your strenghs as well as your fears in order to confront them. Also, get to know the others, what they like, what they expect, and be interested in what they do. In other words, know what goes on around you by any means.
9. What Are You Grateful For ?
Successful people have recognition and are grateful for the life they have because they are well aware of the large number of people who would like to be in their feet. That is why they work so hard to stay there. A quality many successful people have in common is the ability to be grateful to life. Some even do take the time to write down everything they are grateful for as a recognition to life. Go on and write yours down too! These people have learned to say thank you thousands of times and they recognize gratitude as one of the best attitude to live by.
10. Repeat
You have managed to do it once? Well what stops you from repeating it if it provides you the ability to lay out your life in a way that you want to run it each and every day? Do it again! Many people want to be successful but aren’t willing to do what it takes to get there. In order to eat fruits of success, one must be willing to not only give more than receiving, but also to give more than anybody else wills to. Wake up early, exercise, stay positive, organize yourself, offer time to loved ones, be passionate, meditate, stay in touch with your reality, be grateful, and most importantly, do this every day.
The Timespace 