The Single Most Important Action to Win Each Day
There’s many key decisions a person makes throughout the day that will result in achieving what one wants not only in the day, but over the course of longer periods of time. The greater the desire or want the more consistent decisions that are needed to actually achieve that.
From studying successful people and what decisions they consistently choose you will learn that the single most important action to Win each day is to wake up on the first alarm.
Be realistic with yourself, if you are satisfied in life and have no internal drive to accomplish anymore than what you have right now the odds of you randomly waking up on the sound of your alarm when you hit snooze five times daily probably won’t happen.
Over 50% of people hit snooze on a daily basis, if you do this, you’re not alone. Successful people understand that you want what’s on the other side of waking up on that first alarm. You want the ability to control your time without feeling obligated to do your normal day to day tasks immediately upon waking.
Okay so you now are awake and out of bed at the time of your first alarm.
Now what?
There’s a very popular youtube video from a Navy Admiral giving a commencement speech that explains the wisdom of this simple act has been proven to lead to the completion of more tasks throughout the day.
This simple task is making your bed. Making your bed gives you a sense of pride that you completed the first task of the day and that you are in control. This also reinforces that the little things in life matter. If you can’t do the little things in life, the big things won’t matter.
After you make your bed, immediately drink a 16 oz. glass of water. Your body needs to rehydrate and wake yourself up. Drinking water kick starts your metabolism. When water is the first liquid that your body intakes it flushes out your stomach and balances the lymphatic system, thus building a stronger immune system.
Now it’s time to wake your body up physically. By exercising early, you may feel more energized throughout the day. Your focus and mood also increase as your body releases more endorphins, the feel-good neurotransmitter. Once done working out you will have a sense of accomplishment, giving you a more positive outlook for the day.
Select an exercise that includes stretching for at least 10 minutes, and if possible increase your heart rate during this time.
We have now completed the physical health task for the day. Now we need to focus on mindfulness. Tim Ferris is a famous author and entrepreneur. He specializes in speaking with the ultra successful people who are at the top of their career fields. He mentioned that 80% of people he has interviewed practice mindfulness daily.
There isn’t a specific way to practice mindfulness. The only important part is that you take time daily to practice mindfulness. As time goes on and you are consistently practicing mindfulness you will find what works for you.
Creating these habits will create a new perspective for you if you can consistently apply these habits to start your day. The hardest part is just getting these started. Remember, you want what’s on the other side of the alarm and these habits. By creating new habits you have to give your body and brain time to adapt to what you are doing from these new choices. Be patient.
The single most important action to Win the day is to wake up on the first alarm. This is the catalyst that will fuel the rest of your day. After waking up immediately do the following:
- Make your bed
- Drink a 16oz glass of water
- Physical activity
- Mindfulness
To make it easier to remember what daily process you want to incorporate into your life try adding these new habits to routine habits (brushing your teeth, showering). This idea is called “Habit Stacking”.
Here is an example: After showering in the morning, immediately practice mindfulness. This way your brain is associating mindfulness with showering, if you don’t forget to shower you will most likely not forget to practice mindfulness.
If you want to accomplish something you have never done before or upgrade your lifestyle you need to understand that there is no one size fits all. Find what works for you. You need to be realistic with the progress you can do one day at a time given your current lifestyle and decisions.
The process discussed are general habit practices that will make the first part of your day very simple so you can save your mental energy and use it how you wish throughout the day.
I’d like to hear about your morning routine if you have one. What does the first hour of your day look like?
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Austin Roesler is the founder of InvestmentU, an early stage startup company focusing on creating a community of like-minded people focused on creating new moments and new experiences to do something they have never done, starting first with investing in themselves.
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Video: Youtube
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