Listen to the MP3 recording below or feel free to just read the text. It’s the same so please use this as a reference. Also if you would like to save this to your phone, I have created a .txt file below that you can download and copy over to your notes in your phone for convenience. Enjoy!
I want to give you one tool that will change your life if you let it. It is probably the hardest one to implement, but it’s also one of the most life changing. Why? because it actually does change your life, because it’s a routine.
Routines are like the bricks of the walls of the buildings that make up the cities that we build across our lifetime. Each morning is like a brick we lay. Everytime we make a decision to not make a decision about something we do every single morning, that changes the rest of our life.
With that said, I’m going to give you some options of potential routine changes you can make during your morning routine. Every single one of these has been shown to boost positive emotion or be correlated to higher levels of positive emotion. You don’t have to do all of them to make your day more positive. And if you actually want to integrate any of these into a routine that you have built over the course of your entire life, I wouldn’t recommend trying to adopt all of them at once.
If you are at a point in your life where a major transition is underway, I would highly recommend trying to adopt as many of these as you can. The more you adopt, the more positivity you’ll experience. The more you have positive mornings, the better your days will go. The more days you have that are filled with positivity, the higher your life satisfaction will be.
So let’s jump right in.
Make your bed
If you live alone (or if not and you’re the last one out of bed), this can boost your serotonin levels to start the day right. If you’re the first one out of bed and you don’t want to wake your partner, don’t worry about adopting this one. Just move on.
Hydrate – give your body and brain the water it needs in the morning.
- Hydration can affect your mood greatly. Our brain is made up of 75% water so water is very important not only for our body to function properly, but for our brain to think clearly as well. Positivity isn’t always about feeling happy as much as it is about clarity and calm so if we stay hydrated, it helps create the clarity we need. Drinking water first thing in the morning is one of the best things you can do for both your physical and mental health.
Get moving and appreciate your body.
- Exercising boosts serotonin and dopamine, but you don’t have to do it for an hour. Even just 10 minutes of yoga, brisk walking or rebounding can change your brain chemistry for the better. 30 minutes is even better.
- Cold showers are also positive-emotion-boosting and can increase serotonin levels as well as improve vagal tone.
- One of my favorite ways to get my body moving is by having a mini morning dance party. Turn on some music that gets you moving and dance like nobody’s watching (maybe you can actually do it in a room where nobody is watching so you can just bust out all your moves).
Meditate for at least 5 minutes – 10 – 20 is even better.
- There are quite a few apps that will send you reminders to make this even easier to adopt into your routine. One that I just started trying is called Insight Timer and it has thousands of free meditations you can use.
Write for 5-10 minutes
- It is very good to get clear each day and the following writing prompts make it easy to do that. So find a piece of scratch paper, a notebook or a journal and write.
- Today would be great if: (write and then visualize what feels like success)
- I’m looking forward to this today (if nothing pops up, stick with the “today would be great if” – don’t try and force yourself to look forward to something if you aren’t)
- I commit to doing this today: (write just one thing that you will do) – this increases serotonin levels if you truly commit and do it.
- This unresolved item (you don’t have to resolve it, even just acknowledging its existence by writing it down can help clear your mind for a better day).
- Where will I leave a positive mark today?
- Think of where you might stop and plant some roses today. Who might you be able to lift? What small act of kindness could you do today? What small (or big) step might be accomplished by you toward a bigger-picture goal that contributes to a better world or a happier humanity? What might you do today toward a life-long personal bucket list item?
- One thing I’ll do today that makes me feel happier: (just write down, and plan it into your schedule – seriously, set a reminder in your phone! – one thing that truly makes you smile or feel happier – keeping this in the back of your mind can literally boost your positive emotion all day before and after the positive event).
- One thing I’ll let go.
- There is so much to do and so many things that might feel like success. You most likely won’t be able to do it all. If you let go of one thing, it will free your mind to be even more efficient on other things you really want and even give room to do the thing that makes you experience more positive emotion.
I find that when I really take a few minutes to write these things down, I keep that piece of paper with me all day. I take this as a good sign.
Savor something beautiful or excellent
- If you live in a beautiful area with mountains, look at the mountains and appreciate them, if you live near the ocean, savor it, if you live in the city, appreciate the amazing architecture and the inspiration it must have taken to create this city. If your coffee is brewed perfectly, savor it. Taking a picture often helps, especially if you have a great camera on your phone. And if you take a picture with your smartphone, edit the photo. Doing this allows you to savor it even more. And even though smartphones and devices are great, I think savoring your food is a good one to do in the morning. If you can get outside and into nature, it’s even better!
Get inspired – connect to your highest self and get in touch with your spiritual self
- Whether people are religious or not, most people identify as being spiritual.
- If you are a spiritual person, practice your spiritual rituals that lead you closer to transcendence.
- If you believe in God, pray to that God and express deep gratitude for the abundance in your life.
- Regardless of spirituality, read or listen to the words of people who inspire you.
- Watch or listen to an inspiring TED talk
- Listen to music that fills your soul
- Whatever it is that inspires you, start your day with a piece of it and you’ll be glad.
Feed your body and brain
Your brain needs nutrients. The happiest people keep their brains fed well. Our brains require a surprising amount of resources to work optimally. And though your brain only consists of about 2% of your body’s weight (which is about 3 pounds), it requires up to 20% of our nutrients! If your brain is not fueled properly, how do you think that will affect your mood? Feed your body with the nutrients you need and you’ll be happier.
So these are just a few things that if you integrate them into your daily morning routine, you’ll be thriving instead of just surviving. They are all ways to boost positive emotion in the morning so that the rest of the day can go even better.
If you liked these suggestions for the morning, I have other tips backed by research for an evening routine that boosts positive emotion as well. You can find this in my new course on boosting positivity, backed by science.
Check out the course trailer below and CLICK HERE to get 50% off the regular price of this course!
You obviously are interested in boosting positive emotions and increasing your habits that lead to a more happy life. Why not give it to yourself to just make one more positive change in your life. I promise you, what I teach in this course will change your life and teach you science-backed tools that will boost happiness in real ways.
I’ll see you over there!
Remember, just CLICK HERE or use coupon code HAPPYMORNING to get 50% off the regular price!