There are two different approaches to mindset. The easiest and most common is the reactive, default approach. The second is the deliberate, intentional, proactive approach. As you probably guessed, the second approach is harder. It takes consistent work. But it yields much better and more profitable results. So how do you implement the intentional approach? The right morning routine helps. But don’t worry. The right morning routine doesn’t have to be long, drawn-out, tedious, or complicated. In today’s episode of the Winning Mindset Mastery Podcast, April gives you some ideas and tells you about some free resources that can help you set up and follow your super-simple and super-effective morning routine!
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Suffering Through Life On Auto Pilot? This Daily, Deliberate Decision Changes Everything
Thank you for joining me. I want to ask you if you feel like you are creating a winning mindset for yourself every day intentionally or by default. What does that even mean? What would it look like if you were creating your mindset by default? I’ll give you one example. Let’s say your alarm goes off in the morning. You hit snooze a couple of times, get up, turn on the news, start checking your emails, grab your coffee, brush your teeth, and go about your day. If you have a family, then you’re interacting with your partner and kids.
Whatever the day throws at you determines the mood that you’re going to be in. It determines the frame that you’re going to look at it through and candidly, the way that you’re going to feel and react. Let’s be honest. Most of us tend to start our day by default unless we’re very intentional about the way that we’re going to do it. When I say being intentional, it’s developing a morning routine.
When I talk about a morning routine, don’t worry. I’m not talking about these hour or two-hour-long routines that some folks have, which can be amazing. If that works for you and you have time, and it doesn’t cause you stress, then that’s the morning routine for you. Go for it. For other folks, it requires a minimal amount of time but that intentional effort will change the way that your day takes shape.
The biggest reason for that is momentum. Whatever we do and how we start our day can create the momentum that’s going to carry us through the entire day. Can our day go off the rails at some other point? Sure, but this is the best way for you to make certain that your day goes the way that you want it to from the beginning. If you’re not familiar with morning routines, there are lots of folks who talk about different ones that work for them. What I would suggest for you is to find one that sounds not only doable but easy and something that you might even look forward to.
Intentionality: Whatever we do and how we start our day can create the momentum that’s going to carry us through the entire day.
I have a free gift for you that includes two things that can easily be part of a very short but productive morning routine. One is the gratitude list that you go through for the first seventeen seconds of your morning and take time to think about the things in your life that you appreciate and how that feels to you. This is before you pick up the phone, get out of bed, and start doing the things that can take you off the rails.
The second thing is that list of wins by listing out either in your head or even better, in writing those three wins of the day that you had from yesterday. You can do this at night and in the morning. Looking toward the things that have gone the way that you wanted them to and getting 30 seconds of that momentum or anytime longer, which is even better, is going to put you on the trajectory to have a better day.
Intentionality: Looking toward the things that have gone the way that you wanted them to and getting 30 seconds of that momentum or anytime longer is going to put you on the trajectory to have a better day.
For those people who think, “This isn’t a big deal,” I want you to think about those days when you jump out of bed running late. You already have this low-level anxiety about not getting to work on time or not getting your kids to school on time, and how you run through that morning and seem to find more things that upset you. That’s what I mean by the momentum.
It’s awful when it’s negative but the great thing is, you can build that momentum in a way that works for you too. It is as simple as having that morning routine. Maybe you don’t want that particular morning routine. There’s no problem. There are so many different ones that work for different people. Some examples would be reading a few pages of your favorite book that you’re working on and learning things from. A lot of people like to start their day in prayer. There are folks who like to spend some time journaling. There are other folks who like to meditate.
Some of these things take longer and shorter periods but what’s most important is something that you can feel good about doing consistently. The reason for that is then you’re creating a mindset that works for you instead of one by default. This happens in businesses too where they think they have a culture because everyone does have a culture but they may be creating it by default instead of creating it intentionally.
Create a mindset that works for you instead of one by default. Share on XWhen we create things by default, someone else or something else is in charge of how we feel because when we do it by default, we’re reacting to what’s happening around us. Taking that little extra time to plan out and then commit to being intentional about your morning, company, and life will make a tremendous difference for you. If you don’t believe me, try it for two weeks and then let me know how it works for you. I bet you will be surprised. Here’s to your success.
Intentionality: Taking that little extra time to plan out and then commit to being intentional about your morning, company, and life will make a tremendous difference for you.
