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Some days are just brutal. Some days we find it easier to have faith in negative things because we’re so focused on everything that’s wrong in our life. It’s easier to affirm our faith in sickness, troubles, upsets, disappointments, failures and loneliness than to heal our thoughts.
Stop allowing the reality of what is get in the way of your possibilities. Be willing to turn everything upside down and see the world from a brand new perspective.
With the start of each fresh day you’re offered a new beginning. Take it. Work on something worth having. Your mind is receptive to new influences when you first get up.
Remembering that every decision you make sets a course that leads you to some future destination, start your day with a decision to inspire and encourage yourself.
Here’s some morning rituals that work for me, and they might help set the stage for your awesome, inspiring day which could become your amazingly awesome life.
1. Keep your dreams alive…work on them when you first wake up
You’ve a greater chance of living your dreams if you first take the time to imagine living the life you desire. Allow your dreams, desires and passions to be what motivates you.
Deep within you is your creative self. Setting aside time each morning to visualize your best life brings this silent, powerful partner to work on your behalf to express your true desires in your world.
Honour your creative self. You’ll find it a powerful, liberating practice.
2. Imagine your future and allow the invisible to become visible
There’s a power in creative visualization. Tap into it. Whatever your mind is capable of imagining, it has the ability to create.
Imagine that you are living the life that you have always wanted to. Get the whole picture of what that looks like. What if instead of working so hard, you allowed your inner creative power to do its job?
What kind of house do you live in? How often do you travel…and where do you love to go?
How do you spend your day? Where do you work? What do you do? What’s your favourite recreation?
Do you volunteer more because you can?
Imagine it all. Make it as real as possible in your mind. And most important of all, how does it feel to be living the life of your dreams? Maybe, just maybe, you could let go of needing to make things happen and try a little allowing.
3. The smallest decisions can change your life for ever
Decide how your day turns out before it even starts.
Write out your goals for the day from the point of view that you accomplished them. What major experience did you achieve today? Write it down. How did it feel to get it done, relief, joy? Write it down.
Imagine any meetings you have going well; the exam you were taking being a piece of cake; the ride to work or school being easy and fun. Imagine hearing people saying yes to your requests. Enjoy the feeling of respect and value as you sail through this awesome day. You can create positive change through the smallest things in life.
4. It’s never too late to value and cherish yourself
Years ago I visited Russia and the Ukraine, and I was struck by the similarities of us all, much more than the differences. Everyone wants the same things out of life; to be happy and loved and connected.
Yet how often do you have that voice in your head telling you what you’re doing wrong, or how you’re not good enough. It never matters how much you’ve accomplished there’s always something that voice will disapprove of.
Begin your awesome day by cherishing yourself. Silence that voice. Don’t wait for applause from outside yourself to warm your heart. Applaud yourself for your strength to push on through fear, for not quitting when things got tough and for risking going further than you ever thought you could. Give yourself credit for facing up to something that terrifies you and doing it anyway. It’s pretty impressive.
5. Improve the one corner of the universe you have control over
The stillness of the early morning is a great time to invest in studying, empowering writing, or self development programmes.
Invest your time in improving the one corner of the universe you have complete control over. Yourself.
Study those who have done well. Gather new ideas and the knowledge that success requires.
All the books that you’ll ever need to guide you towards a richer, happier, successful life have already been written. Be inspired, be instructed, become excited. The energy you get from doing this will carry you through the rest of your awesome day.
6. Walking meditation/contemplation/affirmations
Some of the most famous philosophers walked daily, and it was on these walks that they were able to bring their most profound thoughts to the surface. It’s a chance to listen to yourself, to dream lofty dreams, to resolve a problem…all in the quiet stillness of the day.
You can have great thoughts. Follow in the footsteps of powerful minds and visit nature.
My own personal favourite is walking affirmations. I time them – 4 minutes each. I speak them out loud, it gives them more power. And I always begin them with I’m so happy and grateful now…and add the affirmation for ideal health, for personal and financial success, for love or joy for the world…whatever I’ve chosen to put my attention on.
7. Your future begins every morning – you are so worth a fresh start
Maybe simple mindfulness would work for you. Here’s a little secret. If you’ve been struggling with something, or trying to convince yourself of the importance of an obligation or goal, this is an ideal time to listen to your spirit. It usually knows best. Sitting in the silence opens a huge space for your brilliant, incredibly significant ideas.
Don’t add any morning ritual to your already incredibly long ‘must do’ list. They’re simply a way to enhance your life. A way to cultivate a deeper awareness and support you in creating a more awesome day. You’ll be blown away by the difference that adding one morning ritual can make.
Choose something that you think will work and try it out. If it isn’t for you, you’ll soon know. Try something else. Anything. All you need is one ritual, consistently practiced, to set up your day with a sense of wonder and contentment. You are most definitely worth it.
My challenge to you this week is to discover one morning ritual that awakens you to the endless possibilities available to you for achieving and living your dreams. You can do it.
In the comments below I’d love to hear about the one morning ritual that already has made a difference in your life, or one that you’re willing to start right now!
Thank you so very much for reading and sharing . I’m always amazed at both your brilliance and your encouragement.
Let’s do this.
Encourage one another.
Love Elle
P.S If you know someone who’d really benefit from this article, please share. Each share, like or tweet allows us to reach more people who might need that little extra encouragement in their life. ღ
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28 Comments
I think listening to some motivational / inspirational videos in the morning is a great way to start the day. 🙂
I’m with you on that one Jeremy. Immersing ourselves in something lovely truly sets us up for a lovely day. 🙂
This was such a good article! And I especially liked number seven. Too me, at least, it is so easy to get caught in ths mode of needing to do lots of stuff in order to feel good. More routines only creates more stress, but to me it’s more about finding those golden nuggets which actually works, get my juices flowing, sets me in the mood and also playing with it. Changing my routine/s from time to time.
With that said, I currently find it really enjoyable to combine creative visualization with running 🙂
That’s a great tip Frida…running and visualizing at the same time. Appreciate you stopping by to share. And yes the golden nuggets are worth their weight in gold…so to speak! 🙂
Dear Elle,
I think there’s an underlying shift you are proposing in your article. That’s to invest time in ourselves first and foremost each morning. Usually, we just rush into our “work,” whatever that might be, or jump online. It takes determination to change that pattern and these methods are a wonderful place to start.
I always begin my day with meditation practice.
You’re so right Sandra…as one who used to jump online as soon as my eyes were opened I can attest to the determination to shift into something that sets me up for a wonderful day ahead. Do you ever miss your early morning meditation? And if you do how do you feel for the rest of the day? I’m curious to know if you’re aware of differences. But you probably don’t miss a day, do you? 🙂
I loved this list. I definitely believe strongly in number 5. I get my most focused work done in the morning usually.
Number three made me think of the butterfly effect. We never know how a small decision we make in the current moment will affect our future. All of the small decisions we make each day may lead to an awesome result eventually.
Oooh great reminder of the butterfly effect Sebastian. And thanks for sharing your, as always insightful thoughts. You are much appreciated my friend. 🙂
I can attest to the power of #2. A year or two before purchasing the home we live in, I did this exercise, writing about where I wanted to live and how. I tucked it away, forgetting about it. I discovered the writing a few years after we moved in. I got goose bumps reading the level of detail in which I described the home I lived in – only I had written it a couple years before ever seeing the place.
I practice #5 on my long commutes to and from work by listening to books and podcasts. I’ve learned so many things and gained new insights from what I’ve learned. While some may see 3-4 hours each day in the car as a grind, I can’t wait to pick up where I left off and absorb new knowledge – or just laugh. I’ve also made some interesting connections by reaching out to podcasters and letting them know that they’ve positively affected me in some way.
And where would I be without my morning meditation to calmly start the day? Not nearly as calm.
Elle, this is a wonderful list! I’m forwarding the link to one of my readers who needs to hear this message today. You always have perfect timing. Thank you and hugs!!
Hi Paige. Why am I not surprised at your practices? Your loving energy always bounces off all your writings. And that’s a cool story about your house…it gave me goosebumps. I wonder if the challenge for many of us to connect the dots lies in the fact that sometimes the fulfillment of the desire can be a while after the desire was chosen. Writing it down (assuming you keep the writing) is a great way to keep check on our progress. You are amazing! 🙂
Wonderful suggestions, Elle. My favorite is the walking. I don’t know how many times, ideas have flowed through when I’m walking the hound dog. I need to remember to bring paper and a pencil, but somehow that seems to defeat the purpose of getting away. Thank you for another lovely post!
Hi Cathy, walking happens to be my favourite too. I just love listening to the birds and the wind in the trees whilst affirming wonderful things in my world. I have my phone with me turned off, so I won’t be disturbed – you can always speak your thoughts into the phone. 🙂 Mind you that might be more challenging walking the dog.
Great ideas, Elle. I try to do my Morning Pages every day – helps me to clear my head. Of late, my morning ritual also includes walking our dog!
I must go back and read that again Corinne. I’m curious, do you look back on them and find you had great insights? 🙂
Great article, Elle! I love working with #2 – imagining and visualizing my future. But I don’t stop there – then I throw my whole heart into it. But I love “seeing” it, especially since I’m such a visual person. I can get caught up in the daydream sometimes. 🙂 I love the bite-size chunks of life-changing ideas packed into this post!!
Jess
Hi Jess – how lovely to hear from you…throwing your heart into it is so vital isn’t it? Feeling is totally the secret. Just as you would feel when something happens in the outer world, we need to feel the very same thing when we’re involved in our inner world. That’s part of the drawing power of visualization. I’m sure you’ve had loads of experiences where you’re ‘dreams’ have come true. Would love to hear about them! 🙂
Love the 1st one. Guess every morning, I’ve been too caught up with the busy-ness that I forgot to visualise my dream
Hi Joe – I remember reading a story of a man way back in the 1940’s who owned a small business and every morning he’d sit and imagine his sales people and customers and others happily saying yes to all he had on offer. His business boomed and I don’t recall he took any longer than 5-10 minutes a day. It worked really well for him, don’t see why it wouldn’t work for the rest of us, do you? It’s funny how we get caught up in the doing that we forget the being is the first and foremost bringer of results. 🙂
Hi Elle-
All wonderful and useful ideas but #4 is hitting home for me right now. Spending time in Philadelphia with my 90 years old Dad who is still living independently but going through major changes is a constant reminder that it is never too late to value yourself, have a beginner’s mind, and activate pieces of your soul in ways you never knew possible. Great post Elle. xo-Fran
Hi Fran. I’m so happy for you that you get to spend quality time with your dad. And the phrase ‘activate pieces of your soul in ways you never knew possible’ is a winner. 🙂
Hi Elle,
This is an awsome post because we get a peep into a cross section of our own day.
The beginnings of days make all the difference in our lives.
I like to start my day with a prayer of gratitude to my parents(both passed away),then to my guru,then to God,and then to the Planet Earth for sustaining me.
I like to exercise and sweat out profusely,because that makes me feel very fresh for the whole day.But my best morning ritual is prayer and meditation.
I guess that’s enough for the space here.
Thanks for the sacred space here Elle
Mona
What a wonderful start to your day Mona. You are really one impressive lady and I’m so grateful to be able to share a sacred space with you. 🙂
I’ve just found your site and enjoyed this post. It made me think about my morning rituals which are all too often hurried with “to do.” But one thing I do everyday is to walk my dogs early in the morning and let myself be aware of the air, birds, rain, or whatever. Just being in the moment and having gratitude. And this morning, as I sat on my back porch, I heard my neighbor joyfully singing to his child with his deep voice. What a gift.
Hi Holly and thanks for joining the conversation. What a great morning you had. I totally get the walking, listening to the birds and just being one with everything. It feels great I know. I so appreciate you sharing with the rest of us. -:)
Hi Elle, Thank you for this post!You have provided some wonderful ways to start the day off on the “right foot.” I like to exercise, meditate and do my creative writing in the morning. Like you said, the quiet stillness of the early morning is great for writing. ~Sean P.S. I love the Joseph Campbell quote at the beginning. 🙂
Welcome Sean. You mention your creative writing in the morning. Is this morning pages, contemplative writing? I’d love to know more! 🙂
Hi Elle,
This is any kind of creative writing that I am doing, really. I am a philosophy graduate student and I also write a spiritual healing blog with a focus on forming loving habits. I find that I am more productive in the mornings when I am energized and my thoughts are fresh and clear. I have recently read that successful bloggers should aim for 1,000 words per day. I have not been too concerned with my daily blogging word count up until now.
How about you, Elle?
Best,
Sean 🙂
I don’t pay too much attention to what bloggers should do Sean. I just do my thing, from my space of consciousness. And usually, if I keep the end in mind, the things I do lead me to that outcome.
I usually start my day off with a contemplation exercise (written as well) and set up my assumptions for the day or week which sets my aim for my thinking for the day. I’m not a big fan of aimless thoughts, they tend to lead me down paths that aren’t helpful!
Other than than it’s pretty free flow.
Love the idea of a spiritual healing blog. 🙂