The Reality

All too often we are looking outside of ourselves to feel like we are MORE in life. We think that once we have more, somehow we will feel more. In reality, it is quite the opposite. If we can be more and do more we will feel more and this will result in us having more!

How we start our morning sets the stage for the entire day! To get started on your journey to MORE let’s start with 5 Simple Steps you can do each day.

Step 1: Drink Water

As soon as you roll out of bed in the morning, the best thing you can do for your body is to drink 15 – 20 ounces of plain, clean water or if you prefer you can add fresh lemon to it. Our body has been on a mission overnight to clean up our insides as much as possible because it does not have to worry about other tasks like digestion that use its energy. After all of this detoxification, you need this water to rehydrate you and flush the toxins out of your body.

Once you consume this water, you want to wait for a minimum of 15 – 30 minutes to consume anything else. Let your body absorb the clean, fresh water and do it’s work with that before you flood it with other substances, such as coffee, tea or food. (On a side note, you should have 12 hours between your last meal at night and your first meal in the morning, to allow proper detoxification to occur during the night).

 

Step 2: 5-Minute Mindset Meditation

One of the most important things we can do for stress reduction is to quiet the mind. Every single one of us has more on our to-do list than we can ever accomplish, so need to find a better way to prioritize so that we are not feeling overwhelmed. The most effective tool is to sit or lay quietly for 5 minutes immediately after you wake up and drink your water, with your palms facing upward and push all the rushing thoughts out of your mind. Your focus should be on asking to be shown your priorities for the day to accomplish your goals.

There will be thoughts that come in very clearly leading you to specific tasks. Those are your priorities for that day and you put everything else aside and ask for it to be taken care of. Often times, many of the other tasks, will become unnecessary or you will discover new ways to get them handled or delegate them that take it off of your to-do list.

This time can also be used for affirmations if you choose to do so. In this case, you pick one or two affirmations that apply to you and repeat them in your head for the 5 minutes, pushing all other thoughts aside. Some of my favorites are:

  • I believe in myself and others.
  • My life is a perfect example of synchronicity and flow.
  • Things are always working out for me.
  • I am healthy and strong in mind and body.
  • I accomplish everything I need to do in my day.
  • I am constantly being shown the direction that will lead me to my goals.

You can also repeat this entire process anytime throughout your day that you feel overwhelmed, frustrated or stressed out.

Step 3: Get Moving

Maximum productivity starts right here! You must find a type of movement that you enjoy that you will do for 15-20 minutes minimum every day after your 5-minute mindset work. It is critical to move your body in the morning to get the blood flowing to our muscles and to our brain.

Movement is the most powerful way to amplify your energy, boost focus, reduce stress, and improve your mood. When you do this, you can begin working productively right away each day. Without this, it takes time to get energized and focused and often we are sleepwalking through our day until mid-morning. This adds up to HUGE losses in productivity. If you are performing at reduced productivity levels for losing 2 – 3 hours each day as you try and wake up in the morning, that has detrimental effects over time on your business and your personal life.

You can use movement throughout the rest of the day as well. Anytime you are feeling sluggish, get up, walk around, do some stretches and get outside if you can for fresh air. This will be a much greater, more effective energy boost than artificial stimulation through caffeine or sugar.

The bonus to moving in the morning is that since you haven’t eaten in 12 hours, your body has not produced insulin. That means that instead of using the glucose from the food you ate for fuel if you workout intensely for these 15-20 minutes you will use the stored fat in your body for fuel helping you reach and maintain ideal body weight.

 

Step 4: Drink Your Breakfast

There is a good reason that smoothies, juices, and shakes have become so popular in the morning. Liquid breakfast requires significantly less energy for our body to digest than solid food. We have to be cautious about what liquid breakfast we choose.

The best option is a vegan protein shake made with unsweetened nut or seed milk, with greens added to it for additional nutrition. This combination will give your body all the fuel that it needs without creating an inflammatory response, using more energy. It is best to stay away from whey, which is very inflammatory, as well as fruit juices and added sugars. Sugar, from fruit or not, is very inflammatory in our body and should be minimized! I could go on and on here about sugar, but for the purposes of this blog, just know that all sugar is damaging to our body and should be minimized.

If you choose to have fruit for breakfast, you should have it by itself and consume it 15 – 30 minutes before other food, allowing it to leave the stomach before you add other foods.

 

Step 5: Compartmentalize

Starting from the moment you wake you should compartmentalize in your mind with every task. This will allow you to be fully present, engaged and focused on each specific action and will maximize your productivity and results. Think of your mind as a filing cabinet. You have a drawer for your business, kids, spouse, self, friends, family, etc.

Only one drawer on the cabinet can be open at any given time. This means when you are working, you are solely focused on work and when other thoughts pop into your mind, you push them back into their drawer and shut it. After work, you put those files away in your mind, shut the drawer and pull out the next drawer that you are going to attend to.

One of the challenges that many people face is that they don’t feel fulfilled in life. Part of this is that they are never fully present in anything they are doing. In business they think about family, during family time, they think about what needs to be done in business. When they are enjoying time with their partner, they are talking about the business or the kids. You can see how this can spiral out of control and you never fully engage in any activity to feel fulfilled by it.

Think about this, how can you rejuvenate your mind and body on vacation if you are thinking about what needs to be done for work the whole time? You can’t! You will come home more stressed out than before you left because you didn’t relax and now you have more to do in less time. This vicious cycle is often part of every day and we must focus on changing this patter to make every day more productive and fulfilling.         

 Conclusion

In order to BE MORE, DO MORE and HAVE MORE, it all starts with the systems that we have in our life that respect our body and mind. When you have the right steps in place you will amplify your energy, reduce your stress and maximize your productivity.

At Craig and Jenny D, we strive to make that simple for our clients. We have created a one-stop shop where you can get your 5-minute meditation with daily affirmations, 15 – 20-minute movement routines that can be done anywhere, and additional nutrition and mindset training to fuel your sustainable systems of wellness.

Get more information and sign up for your first 30 days FREE at The Mind-Body Transformation System.

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