There are 3 posts tagged meditation ().
Inspiration and motivation are hard to maintain.
Entrepreneurs are well known to be super happy on the one day and be depressed and think nothing is going their way the second. I think everybody feels that rollercoaster actually.
The secret is knowing how to overcome it and not surrender to being sad, demotivated and basically give up.
The Morning is the most important part of your day.
Starting your day with a good or bad mood can change the way you’ll perceive your day’s events.
Most of us start our morning by rushing out to work, taking your kid to school, panically answering emails from the day before or even with a wake up call from your boss that started their day 2 hours before you and is now stressing you out.
If you start your day stressed, you’re going to have a shitty day. Guaranteed.
If you’ll start your day in peace and in a positive state – your days, decisions and perception of reality will improve and be more optimistic. Leading you to have better days, make better decisions and better enjoy your life. Everyday.
If you could choose between having a good day and a bad day, what would you choose?
Checking emails first thing in the morning is one of the worst thing you can do to yourself.
Do you know what’s waiting for you in your inbox? Work. You are basically setting the tone for your day to be stressful.
When you check your email first thing in the morning you are automatically putting yourself in a reactive mode, meaning you lose control over your day right at the start.
Gain control over you day just by not checking your inbox for the first 60 minutes.
Get up, focus on yourself or your family, and only then check your email. The fact that your phone is right next to your bed, doesn’t mean you have to enslave yourself to it.
Meditation is one of the best things you can do for yourself. It’s a great way to balance your thoughts, clear your mind, prioritise what really matters and just be present in the moment.
At the beginning of the meditation session you will be overwhelmed with thoughts, worries and assignments you need to take care of in the day. As you progress all that stressful noise will become a still, calm water. In you will gain clarity and perspective, giving you more control over how you start your day.
Don’t start your day in panic and feeling of being overwhelmed. Meditate and clear your mind. Get yourself ready for the day, don’t just drown in it.
Another good practice to set your day to be positive and controlling your morning mood, is to get inspired as early as you can.
Getting inspired will fill you with energy to tackle the different challenge throughout the day.
You can get inspire by watching TED talks, listening to a podcast you like (Gary Vaynerchuck is a really good listen in the mornings), or just listen to upbeat music.
Give your brain something to work with and you will see how you become more positive within seconds.
Writing is also a great way to start your morning. You can just scribble some stuff in your journal, pouring thoughts out just to clear your mind (I use Day One for that).
You can also use something like ‘The 5 minute journal’, which will take only 5 minutes of your morning routine and will set you up for a positive mood.
The logic behind it is very simple – you have a structured format of questions that you need to answer on, that are all positive and will help you focus on the good things you have going on in life.
Starting your day by being reminded of all the good things you have to cherish will boost your energy for sure.
When you wake up from sleep, your body is dehydrated. It’s a fact. And it doesn’t matter how much water you drank in the previous night.
While most people do the mistake of drinking coffee to wake up, water is actually the better solution.
By drinking 2-3 cups of water as soon as you wake up, you will ditch that sleepy feeling right away and bring energy to your body.
No one can promises your day will be filled with only good news and all your problems will go away, but follow this 5 simple tricks and I can promise your quality of life and amount of good days a year, will increase already on day one.
As an entrepreneur, finding extra time in your day to do nothing but think is a must.
Honestly, I think it’s necessary for anyone’s happiness, but for entrepreneurs, it’s a matter of life or death.
That extra head space is where you plan ahead, it’s where you get inspired, deal with issues in your business, your relationships and more.
Having no extra headspace or time to think distraction free will leave you in a reactive mode. Meaning survival mode
You know what survival mode is. You’ve been,
You wake up every morning, you face the routine, answer the emails, put down fires in your business, growing slowly (or actually even staying in the same place), stuff don’t work but you don’t really fix them just kind of handle them. You’re never really happy. might not be depressed, but you’re not happy.
Things happen to you and you react mostly.
Active mode on the other hand is when you usually feel as if you’re in control of the situation. I wouldn’t say you’re stress free, but you are in control, you feel like you can plan ahead, make smart decisions, really work towards your goals.
Going from one mode to another can require no more than 30-60 mins a day.
A lot of people believe that to get that “time to plan” you have to take a special vacation, or save time over the weekend.
While sometime it’s better if you can get away for a couple of days (like when planning your yearly goals) it’s basically about securing up to 60 minutes of your day. You can also do pretty well with 30-60 mins.
You need to secure some time in the day when you’re not going to sit next to your computer answering emails, not playing / watching over your kid, not answering your employees answers.
It’s all about you.
It’s about clearing your head enough to deal with you need to deal with and reach a level where you can actually see the bigger picture.
I used to have a morning routine where I would wake up, drink water, do some stretches and then do a short workout and a 30 min session meditation.
If you don’t have a lot of time, I think meditating is the best way to spend the time you have.
If you are new to meditation you can try using an app like Headspace or any kind of guided meditation app.
I actually use Tara Brach guided meditation podcast and meditate using her episodes on the show.
The reason I’d suggest spending most of that time meditating and not just writing endlessly, is because I believe meditation can take you from a crowded mind to empty clear sky within 30 minutes or so. So if you have 45 minutes and 60 minutes overall, that remaining time will be put to good use and not just you fighting to clear your thoughts.
Admittedly, since Emily (my 7 months old daughter) was born, I wasn’t able to hold my morning routing and lost that quiet time.
7 months later, and I feel the need for it badly.
That’s how I learn to appreciate that time so much and find harming impact of not having.
As part of my 2016 goals is to set up a new routing that can cope with the new family status.
The way it seems right now – I will either use the nighttime or dedicate a room in our office for it.
Are you setting time apart for your self to think daily? When do you do it on your day?