I’m sure you’ve read about morning rituals: journaling, meditating, yoga etc at silly o'clock. All great things to start the day. But if you are like me, the term „morning ritual“ already turns me off. Let alone planning a whole routine first thing in the morning when all I want to do is snooze my alarm for another 10 minutes (and then another 10 minutes). I don’t eat breakfast – this non-ritual originally started years ago when I decided I’d rather spend more time in bed than get up and eat. You get the picture.
But here’s the thing: I AM fully convinced that the way we start the day can make a huge difference. So, don’t get me wrong: if you have a morning ritual, I applaud you (and me thinking you are smug says everything about me and not you ;-))! And if you don’t, I encourage you to find something that works for you.
Here is mine: I generally like working with affirmations: short, positive sentences affirming whatever it is I want to achieve as if I have already achieved it. I often write about outdated beliefs that we carry around with us. Affirmations are a simple tool to turn negative thoughts around. The theory behind it is, that our mind cannot distinguish between what is real and what is fantasy. Therefore it believes whatever we tell it (over time). This works by repeating the affirmation often and regularly until they have sunken in.
How do you start your day? For me, my mind tends to race to my to do list, lingering on things that (potentially) stress me out, or maybe goes over unpleasant events from yesterday. This is where I consciously make a decision to refocus my thoughts on what I want instead. How do I want to feel today? What am I grateful for? The great thing is that this only takes a few seconds – but it makes a huge difference! Yes, my other thoughts are likely to creep back in – again and again but if I pick one short affirmation, it is easy enough to return to that instead.
What I am also saying is: by all means take inspiration from people's morning rituals. Easy enough to find examples of them. For something to stick in the long-run though, you need to make sure that it fits in with your life. And this of course applies to everything in life. Don’t be too quick in dismissing concepts that may not seem appealing to you at first glance. Figure out what the good intention is behind it and then work out how you can implement it for yourself.
Do you have a morning ritual? What works for you? I’d love to hear from you! Drop me a comment below or email me.
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