Maximize Your Life Now

Give yourself the best start everyday and you will give yourself the best start to the rest of your life.  A recent article in The Globe and Mail by Sean Kelly declared how you spend the first two hours of your day determines how you live your life and how productive you are.

By simply organizing your morning, you can increase your productivity and success rate throughout the rest of your day. And it all begins with you.

Don’t hit the snooze button. Another five minutes of sleep will add nothing to the 8 hours you just had. In fact, hitting that snooze button sets you back in your commitment to yourself to get up when you promised you would.

Place your alarm clock on the other side of the room and start your day off right by getting out of bed. This may seem small, but starting off with a victory rather than a loss sets the tone for the rest of your day.

Make your bed. Simple and easy. It takes only a minute and you have already completed a task for the day. Success.

Exercise – get in the habit of putting comfortable workout clothes by the bed, and put those on first thing in the morning. Your chances of keeping the promise of an active morning routine increases significantly just by laying those clothes out each day.

Exercise is as good for the body as it is for the mind. The article notes that it also brings oxygen to your brain, improves your mood and opens your mind to learning.

Affirmations – these positive, powerful statements put you in the best frame of mind for a successful, productive day. Even if you only read one positive statement every morning, get in the habit of framing your thoughts into positive action.

Read a book. Just a great way to open your mind, observe, and be ready to learn. This habit rewards you by helping you with your critical thinking, and it is a good reminder that we all have new things to learn every day of our lives.

Refuel. You have heard it many times, likely by your very own parents, ‘breakfast is the most important meal of the day.’ And what you eat in the morning is integral to how you feel for the rest of your day.

Plan a well-balanced breakfast of fruits, proteins and complex carbohydrates. I have begun making a blender full of smoothies on Sunday, and freezing them in mason jars – 1 for every day of the week. I just grab it in the morning, and it is ready to enjoy after my commute.

Take good care of yourself first, and that will help you take good care of others. By effecting positive change in your morning routine, you bring positive change to every aspect of your day: in your family, in your work, and throughout your community.