Starting The Day On Your Terms.

I never really knew I was already doing this, it was just what I did. I was never someone who had set multiple alarms. I was never someone who would rush in the morning to get to work. In fact, I have always been very casual and relaxed. I have always been the "early one". If something started at 6 pm I would be there by 5:30 pm. Being early allowed for anything out of my control to pop up, but it would never affect me because I was 30mins early. Even to this day, I arrive 30 mins early to anything and everything. I would often listen to some music, write down 3 key tasks to complete that day, I like to go over my finances every morning and know exactly what my money and business is doing at any given time. See what I have come to realize is how many people DON'T do this. They start their day being reactive. Whether that is because they set multiple alarms which causes them to rush in the morning or skip things like showering, brushing your teeth or even breakfast. Other people start reading emails, checking Facebook and Instagram messages and being reactive by commenting back, sending emails, replying to that message, etc. When you start your day being reactive to others, it's over. You may as well go back to bed and start the day all over again. At what point do you ever hope to get back some control in your day if you have already allowed others to control your actions. See when you set rules and parameters in place for these things, such as email responses, it means you are in control of your day. When you are in control of your day its amazing what can happen. Did you know for example notifications on your phone can cause anxiety? The anticipation of waiting for another 'ding' or that facebook reply from a heated client puts you on constant high alert. The brain chemicals are going mad. When that notification does go off, a small amount of cortisol is released. Now, this is normal when in times of heightened anxiety it's your body's way of getting ready to handle the situation. The problem is that when this keeps happening because you keep getting notifications, you get a long term build-up of cortisol. This is bad because it can leave you in this constant state of fight or flight. Maybe you already feel like this is you? A simple fix for this is to ensure all your notifications are switched off. You then look at your messages & emails once or twice a day at a specified time to minimize the anxiety. So now your phone notifications are off, what else should you be doing in the morning? Well, this is going to be individualized. You could do any of the following: - take a cold shower - enjoy a quiet coffee and breakfast - write down your goals for the day - affirmations - workout - yoga/pilates - meditation - read You need to find what works best for you that allows you to have the most productive and stress-free day. The first few minutes of your day can already tell me whether you are in control of your life or not. So are you in control of your life? Written by Jason Mottlee