1.The importance of “me” time
I always wanted to read more, spend time learning things that mattered to me, and simply have time where no one can tell me what to do and I can just focus on getting lost improving myself. It’s important to set a specific time for yourself. Whether you want to do yoga, stretch, read, paint, write, anything. You must block time where you have little to no distractions and can spend time on yourself guilt-free. My decision was clear when I started writing my first book. My day would become so busy that I wouldn’t have the time nor the energy to sit down and write. I decided to wake up one hour earlier and write. Nothing more, nothing less. Some days I would write two sentences, other days I would easily get to 1,000 words. For the last two years I have dedicated three hours, from 5 am to 8 am to “me” time and I have grown enormously.
Tomas Laurinavicius, lifestyle entrepreneur
Action: Decide when and what you will do in your “me” time. Make it exciting.
2.Prepare the night before
Thomas A. Edison
A successful morning starts the night before. Throughout the years I experimented with many things including reading before bed, drinking tea, taking a walk, showering, writing, meditating, and fasting. What I found out is it doesn’t matter what you are doing the night before as long as you set clear intentions for the next day, acknowledge the present day, and express gratitude for what happened. Reflect on your day by remembering what went well and what went wrong.
Action: Decide on your sleep schedule and commit. You may need to inform your family or partner about your new sleeping patterns.
3.Consistency beats ability
Showing up daily and performing consistently might not be sexy and won’t bring overnight results but it will definitely make you better. Here’s an article by James Clear on marginal gains that proves that improving just 1% every day will have a significant impact on your life in 365 days. Whether it’s fitness, finances, creativity or relationships, show up daily and improve just 1% to grow.
Action: Decide on what you want to improve this year and write it down. Every morning spends time practicing.
4.Develop your grand life vision
As I mentioned at the very beginning of this article, most people don’t know what they want from life. Vague goals like building a house, buying a car, marrying, and having a good job are not really goals. It’s the way people live, these are more like needs. I was focused on needs as well until I started thinking about what is really important to me.
To help you develop your grand life vision, ask yourself the following questions.
- What do I want to be remembered for?
- What gives me enormous satisfaction?
- How can I leave this world a better place?
For some people it’s music, for others it’s art. For me, it’s about mastering myself, learning new things, and experimenting in life.
Tomas Laurinavicius, lifestyle entrepreneur
Action: Come up with a grand vision for your life. Remind yourself every morning why you woke up and why it matters. Visualize yourself getting closer to your goal.
5.Block distractions
“Find or design a place where there are as few potential distractions as possible.”
Tomas Laurinavicius, lifestyle entrepreneur
In the morning your focus and energy are at their best. It’s when your mind is sharpest and capable of tackling hard tasks. But no matter how focused or trained you are, ignoring distractions takes its toll, and eventually you will lose and give in. I’m talking about TV, notifications, messages, and the Internet.
Find a place or better design a place where there are a few potential distractions as possible. Leave your laptop, smartphone, and the TV remote in another room. Close the doors and windows so no sounds can distract you. What I noticed is that the Internet can be a huge distraction for me, especially checking social media first thing in the morning. Now, I have my morning alarm on my wrist and I don’t need my phone near my bed. When I get up, I can’t just open my iPhone and start checking everything that happened in the world because it’s hard to reach. The list prepared the day before keeps me focused and I dive right into my morning routine.
Action: Think about what distracts you the most in the morning and come up with ways to eliminate these distractions. This will not be easy and will take a week or two to figure out how you can beat the distractions.
https://www.gameplan-a.com/2017/08/simple-daily-routine-keep-mental-physical-health-top-shape/
