Mastering Your Morning Mindset

If you have your basic morning routine (BMR) down you can start working on mastering your morning mindset. Your BMR is outside work, for the most part, your morning mindset is where we do the inside work. Your physical preparations allow the mind to focus on the big stuff.

Visualize how you want your day to go. Visualization is a tool used by entrepreneurs, thought leaders, and world-class athletes. "As a man thinks so he is" is the truth. We must train our minds to focus on the outcome we want and be able to picture it in order to go in that direction. Visualization coaches and sports psychologists command huge fees for their services because the practice provides results. If you have your vision board completed then you can spend some time looking at that too. 

Stop imagining all that can go wrong. Seriously. Just stop. Worry is exhausting. Remember, you have the power to turn off your monkey mind and refocus your mind on your visualization of how you want your day to go.

Speak kind words. To yourself. I am so saddened sometimes by the way I hear women talk to themselves and about themselves. I get it. During a recent drama, I was telling my husband what a failure I am and in the middle of the words coming out of my mouth, I thought "No. That's not true. I'm just upset. This is what my mind says when it's upset and frustrated." Notice I didn't let that thought run around in my mind for long. You may even have to say "No." out loud to yourself. That's okay. Whatever it takes to tame the negative thinking and get back on track.

Work a puzzle. An easy crossword puzzle is a great way to wake up your thinking ability in the morning. Or choose any other mind-stimulating activity to get your brain firing

Put on some music. In the spirit of full disclosure, I am a morning person but I'm not really a music person. I have never hit the snooze button and can actually count the times the alarm has woken me up on one hand. If you have trouble getting going in the morning, and it can be difficult during the short days of winter. Music can help.  I prefer silence to start the day, but remember this is all about YOU and your sustainable choices to create good habits. Music is an outside contributor we can use to change our mood. Create a playlist of music that gets you moving or puts you in a good mood so you don't have to try to find something every morning. 

Let some light in. Your brain is wired to interpret light as an indication that it is time to wake up and start the day. Don't hunker down in the dark like it's a WWII blackout. Open the curtains and shades, turn on some lights, sit in the room of your house that faces east so you don't miss the sunrise. If moving your body includes a walk that's a great way to get some early daylight. 

 Create something. According to neuroscientists our brains are most creative directly following sleep. The first three hours you are awake are the most creative you are going to be all day. If you don't have time to do a lengthy creative process before heading out to work or dropping off the kids at school then journal to capture thoughts and ideas you can return to later in the day.

You can do all or some of these things. But they are all proven components for preparing our minds for whatever the day holds. In order to get the most done we need to get ourselves in a positive place before we come up against everyone else's agenda for our day.