Getting My Morning Started Off Right.

So, I have a confession… The last few days I have been in a confusing place when it comes to my own sense of happiness.

Honestly, it’s something that I think about a lot, and feel like I am constantly reevaluating where I’m at, and what I can do better to feel more fulfilled and whole.

This morning, I had somewhat of a revelation.

My mornings, for the most part can be pretty routine:

1. Drag myself out of bed.
2. Think about how I feel and determine what I can do to feel better.
3. Listen to an uplifting podcast or audio-book.
4. Drink coffee and read positive quotes.
5. Clear my mind for 5 or 10 minutes or meditate as you hipsters like to call it.
6. Think about the here and now, and what I’m grateful for.
7. Plan my day, look at my calendar.
8. Get a little workout in, I prefer to just go for walks, mostly I just lift heavy things.
9. Shower, and get started with what ever I’m doing at the moment.

That’s how an ideal start to my day would look. Lately, its been looking more like this:

1. Drag myself out of bed.
2. Think about how I feel and wonder why I feel that way… usually blaming someone or something.
3. Drink coffee and begrudgingly look at my calendar.
4. think about how I really should meditate or something.
5. Feel overwhelmed and like there’s not enough hours in the day.
6. Rush to get started, try to do everything… and I mean EVERYTHING.

So, needless to say that my days are a little less focused on well being, and more focused on the task at hand. Whether the task is in front of me or inside my head, makes no difference, it’s just all reactive.

I prefer to be in a powerful state of mind in order to create my art. The underlying message is meant to be one of self empowerment and happiness, and if I’m not feeling those things, the art is going to reflect that. So, although I have all these things to do, I do none of them, because I’m not willing to sacrifice my message for the sake of being productive… which can make me feel like a failure… it’s so stupid when you think about it.

Ok, back to my revelation.

So, this morning I was thinking about how I felt, and wondered why I felt that way… when it hit me like a ton of bricks… on the forehead… while falling off a mountain.

I wasn’t choosing my thoughts, I was reacting to my feelings right from the beginning. Instead of determining what I wanted to think about, I was evaluating myself emotionally without setting a solid set point for my day. which meant that my day could go either way.

Being deliberate about what you are going to think about is key. Choosing a subject that you want to think about and just thinking about that, and training your mind to focus on what you decide to focus on.

The subject should be empowering, make you feel alive, bold, bright, powerful, exciting. It can be a question that is framed in a way that causes the answer to be a positive one, such as “What are all the things that make me feel awesome today?”

So my days would start off like this:

1. Drag myself out of bed… Still working on this one.
2. Think about what I want to think about and determine the most powerful thought.
3. Listen to an uplifting podcast or audio-book, maybe about the same subject.
4. Drink coffee and read positive quotes.
5. Clear my mind for 5 or 10 minutes or meditate.
6. Think about the here and now, and what I’m grateful for.
7. Plan my day, look at my calendar.
8. Get a little workout in..
9. Shower, and get started with what ever I’m doing at the moment.

I’m not one for routines, but I am one for forming deliberate habits, so this should be fun. I’ll let you know how it goes, but so far, so great!