Two Minute Morning
This morning, I found myself staring at a book on my fireplace mantel. It had been there for quite a while. In fact, I believe I put it there to see it everyday and use it. But like many of us, I find myself caught up in patterns, routines, or habits that kept me from picking up this book and using it.
It’s called “Two Minute Mornings”, a journal to win your day everyday, by Neil Pasricha. Get yours here.
As I thumb through the pages of this book are all the same after a brief introduction on how to use it and why it works. This is a journal. Each page offers an opportunity to answer these 3 things.
I will let go of . . . . . .
I am grateful for . . . . .
I will focus on . . . . .
Take a look at how you begin your day. Is it focused on you and getting your mind organized, or do you reach for your phone and get on social media, look at email or check the weather. It is said, that when we grab our phones first thing in the morning, we are “scrambling our fresh minds” with someone else’s words, emotions, and intentions. We are inviting just about anybody into our fresh minds to do whatever they want. What if we reached for a journal instead?
Over the years I have altered my morning practice, which ranged from meditation, ACIM, to a brisk walk, yoga, posting positive affirmations to a group FB page, “Awaken to the Spirit Within”, and others, but never have I committed to a practice of journalling for more than 30 days.
Flash forward to my busy work day, often I have so many browser windows open, I can’t even read what the tab represents. I often jump from email, to phone calls, to a look up or research, and back to what I should be doing. My days are full, with a wish list of things to accomplish, yet only a small portion seem to get done each day. Leaving me overwhelmed and often struggling to keep up with the demands of what’s next. The most gnawing outcome is feeling that I was not in control of my day and my day seemed to be controlling me.
What would it feel like to win my day? This was my thought as I held this little book in the palm of my hands. As I began to ponder what it would feel like to win my day, I felt empowered, organized, productive, and focused. I felt accomplished and I hadn’t even lifted a finger yet.
We know the value and importance of being in the right frame of mind. Tony Robbins taught us to create “STATE” before jumping into your next project.
This Two Minute Morning, done first thing, claims to be both immediate and incredible.
It will help you win the morning and create momentum to win the day.
It will get you going in the right direction, and in the right frame of mind.
Research shows that a positive mindset results in 31% greater productivity, 37% higher sales, and 5 times more creativity.
Let’s look at WHY IT WORKS.
On Letting Go – Science magazine reported in 2012, in an article titled “Don’t Look Back in Anger”, that minimizing our regrets as we age creates greater contentment and happiness. The research showed that holding on to regrets causes us to engage in more aggressive and risky behaviors. The healthiest and happiest people notice mistakes in their lives and then choose to let them go. By engaging in a written exercise you crystalize that effect and allow the errors in judgment to pass though your mind instead of letting them grate on your mind all day. By letting go of something stressful you will be helping yourself avoid mentally revisiting that worry throughout the day.
On Gratitude – The Emmons and McCullough study in 2003, found that if you write down 5 gratitudes a week, you’re measurably happier over a ten-week period. Research shows the more specific you are, the better. Simply being generic in your gratitude with family, job, food, doesn’t have the same happiness quotient. So allow yourself to get specific and detailed in your gratitude and observe the positive effects it will have.
On Creating a Daily Focus – The goal of the daily focus is to strip away the endless list of things you “could do”, into a bite-size list of things you “will do”. WHY? Because if you don’t, you will mentally revisit your could-do list all day, and this causes over-whelm, fatigue and decision-making problems. We waste energy, especially decision-making energy when we are unfocused. The ability to focus is a tremendous asset because it enables you to leverage your efforts for greater returns. By deciding what to focus on you’ll be aligning with your goals and investing in yourself.
So get out a journal, or a piece of paper and begin to give yourself a Two Minute Morning practice that may just prove to be the best two minutes of your entire day.
Today,
I will let go of . . . . . .
Today I will let go of judging how my day is going and simply appreciate my day.
I am grateful for . . . . .
Today I am grateful for the garden I planted and the new sprouts of radishes, lettuce, kale, and my favorite herbs.
I will focus on . . . . .
Today I will focus on feeling good, creating a new blog post, and working on the paperwork side of my business.
And as a side note, if you struggle to focus, don’t try to push yourself to achieving results you are not capable of. Training your brain to focus is like training your muscles in the gym, start with small focus projects. The best resource to strengthen your focus is meditation. As little as, 5 minutes each day will help you attain better focus.
What’s your morning practice? Share your results or other practices that work for you.
Donalee Gastreich
Speaker – Trainer – Coach
Founder and CEO, Complete Solutions