1. Wake Up One Hour Earlier
First things first. To own your morning, you need to incorporate some activities into your life. Since your mornings are already as busy as they are, the only thing you can do to make room for new habits is to wake up at least an hour earlier. Not to mention, waking up early is already a huge feat in itself! Waking up an hour earlier can give you a sense of achievement and fulfillment. It can give you a confidence boost and emotional lift as you start your day with an accomplishment.
2. Spend Your Best Time by Taking Stock of Yourself
The best time you have during the day is right after waking up. It is when your energy tank is still full and when other people have not yet pushed their agendas to you. By staking stock of yourself in the morning, you will have more energy to figure out waht you want out of your life and it usually lies in the deepest, purest, and “unadulterated” desires of your heart. You can pray or meditate in order to calm down and focus on the most important things. By praying or meditating, you can connect not only with the Divine, but also with yourself, your purpose, your mission, your own agenda, your own goals, your own dreams, your own heart, and the things that deeply matter to you. You are worth your best time. Also, in stillness and quietness, you can affirm yourself and fill your mind and your heart with uplifting words and encouragement.
3. Write Down, Revisit, or Revise Your Long-term Goals
Feeling inspired and empowered yet? Don’t simply let the inspiration pass. Put them into writing. Write down your long-term goals and your lifelong dreams. Capture the deepest, purest, and “unadulterated” desires of your heart and have direction for your day and the rest of your life. After writing down your goals and dreams, make it a habit to remind yourself of what you truly want to achieve in your life every morning. As you gain more clarity with your dreams and how you are going to achieve them, you can always revise or refine them and include some action plans on how you are going to make them a reality this year, next year, or even five to ten years from now. As they say, “Never overestimate what you can do in a day. But, never underestimate what you can do in a year.” What more in a decade?
4. Set Your Daily Goals
No matter how great or how inspiring your goals and dreams are, you can work on them only one day at a time. Now is the only time you have. In order to make the most of your life, you have to make the most of each of your days. Start by writing down the three most important tasks you need to accomplish for each day. A simple to-do list will do. Make sure they are aligned with the long-term goals and dreams you wrote in step three. When you have finally gotten used to finishing three tasks per day, you can increase the number of your important tasks to seven. If you increase it to more than seven, you might get too overwhelmed. While vision and direction are in your long-term goals and dreams, action is in the present moment. You can look back to the past with gratitude. You can look ahead to the future with hope. But, the present is the only moment you truly have to make things happen. Live one day at a time.
5. Sharpen Your Expertise
When you finally find your purpose, the one thing that you love to do and the one thing wherein you can make the greatest contribution, you have to keep improving at it. You have to keep developing your skills, increasing your knowledge, and mastering your craft. And the best time to do so is in the morning, when your mind is still fresh, alert, and open to new ideas. Not to mention, new ideas can excite you all throughout the day! You can read periodicals, journals, and publications related to your industry. If you are a doctor, you can read about the latest in modern or even alternative medicine. If you are an architect or engineer, you can read about latest trends in exterior or interior design. If you are a business person, a subscription to a business magazine may prove extremely beneficial. Some self-help and thought-provoking books also work well for almost everyone.
6. Use Your Head Start and Start Acting
Planning, affirming yourself, and even sharpening your skills are great. But, they are useless if you will not take action and deliver results. Action trumps everything, every time! You can also make use of the hour you wake up earlier to get a head start in your work. It feels good to start working when everyone else is just waking up. It feels better when you are already gaining momentum when everyone else is just coming in to work. And the best feeling in the world is finishing all your tasks when everyone else is just gaining momentum. Don’t waste the hour you wake up earlier but use a head start! Not to mention, the silent moments in the office are usually the most productive. It’s a sacred feeling.
7. End a Vicious Cycle of Waking Up Late by Sleeping Early
The hardest step in owning your morning is actually waking up early. Whenever you wake up late, it already drains you of your energy, motivation, and confidence for the whole day and you end up dragging yourself to work. Then, when you cannot accomplish all your tasks in a single work day, you work overtime and pull an all-nighter. Then, it becomes a vicious cycle of sleeping late and waking up late. First things first. Let go of all your backlogs and start anew. Sleep early tonight, so that you can wake up early tomorrow. Start with a clean slate! Besides, maybe your backlogs were not really important for you to keep deferring them anyway. Own your morning and seize your day by having a good night’s rest. Your past does not define your future, but it sure is important when it comes to waking up early! How about you? How do you own your morning and seize your day? Featured photo credit: Watching Sunrise by whologwhy via flickr.com
