Wouldn’t it be nice to have a great day every now and then? What if there was a way to almost certainly guarantee an amazing day? How you start your day is incredibly important. If you wake up and spend the first hour of your day stressed out, that’s how your day is going to go. However, if you take the time to get organized and focus on getting yourself in the right mindset, you’ll find that the rest of your day goes much more smoothly. In this post, we will discuss 11 steps that will help you start your day off right.
Photo by Jill Wellington from Pexels
11 Steps for a Great Day
1. Preparation.
One of the best ways to start your day off right is by planning ahead. If you take some time to plan out what you’re going to do the next day, you’ll be less likely to feel stressed or overwhelmed when morning comes.
The night before, you could do the following:
- Picking out your clothes for tomorrow and packing your bag for work or school
- Planning out your breakfast and lunch for the next day
- Making a list of things you need to get done tomorrow
- Putting any dishes in the dishwasher that need to be washed
- Tidying up your bedroom or living room
Planning ahead will help reduce stress and make mornings less hectic (especially if you slept in).
2. Retrospection.
Take a few minutes to reflect on your day before you go to bed. How did it go? Did anything happen that you’d like not to repeat tomorrow? How can you make things better for yourself in the near future? Taking time at night and reflecting on how your day went will help set yourself up for success tomorrow.
3. Creation.
Having reflected and clarified your day, your mind is primed to create the ideal day. The third step is to let your subconscious consolidate everything you’ve given it so it can map out the path for the following day. The brain does its own work while we sleep like cleaning, organizing, learning, and growing. Making sure we get the required amount of quality sleep is essential for the coming day.
4. Meditation.
Meditating right when you get up is an excellent way to begin your day. Meditation has been found to improve sleep quality, increase mood and attention levels during the day, as well as reduce stress-related symptoms such as anxiety and depression. You can use an app like Headspace (which has guided meditations), or Calm (this one also offers relaxation exercises if you’re feeling stressed out). If you find yourself falling asleep by doing meditation in the morning, you can try doing it before bed. It’s a great way to reflect on the day.
5. Reignition.
Start the day off by reigniting your body. Exercise and some cold shower therapy could be just what you need to get your day started. The exercise will make sure your body is limbered up and ready to go while the cold shower therapy boosts your metabolism to help all your organs get a jump start. It’s also useful for treating depression and anxiety.
6. Contemplation.
Once you’ve completed your morning routine, it’s time to start contemplation. This is where you’ll be asking yourself some important questions that will help set the tone for the rest of your day. Questions like “What are my priorities today?”, “How can I best serve others?” and “What would make me happy?”. These questions should help you make the best decisions possible throughout the day. To help boost your questions, why not phrase them as afformations to make them more powerful.
7. Execution.
After contemplation, it’s time to start executing. This is where you’ll be putting your plans into action and making things happen. It’s important to stay focused and not get sidetracked during this phase. Keep moving forward and don’t be disheartened if things don’t work out perfectly.
8. Relaxation.
After a day full of work, it’s important to relax and unwind from all the things you’ve done. You can do whatever you enjoy in this step as a reward for the success you had throughout the day. If you’re not sure what to do, try a new hobby or learn a new self-improvement practice.
9. Motivation.
After you’ve seen how much you’ve accomplished during the day, you should feel motivated to repeat your success tomorrow. Don’t let any negative thoughts get in the way of how great it feels when things go well for once. You are well on your way to succeeding every day.
10. Appreciation.
End your day by appreciating all the good things that happened. No matter how small they may seem, every victory is worth celebrating. Take a few minutes to write down what you’re grateful for and why it made your day great. This will help keep your mind positive before going to bed and give you something to look forward to tomorrow.
11. Clarification.
Now that you’ve gone through your day, you know what works, where you went wrong, and what you should do tomorrow. Make sure to think of anything you’ve learned and any alterations to the system to make it uniquely yours. It’s time to note them down and go back to step 1 and start the process again tomorrow. Good job.
FAQs
How can I make sure that I have a great day?
There is no surefire way to make sure that you have a great day every day, but there are definitely some things that you can do to increase your chances. The above 11 steps will help you get started.
How do I set the tone for the day?
How you start your day is incredibly important. How you spend the first hour of your day will set the tone for the rest of your day. If you wake up and spend that time stressed out, that’s how your day is going to go. However, if you take the time to get organized and focus on getting yourself in a good mindset, you’ll find that the rest of your day goes much more smoothly.
How can I avoid stress in the morning?
Get your sleep.
Remember that at night, cortisol levels are high which helps you fall asleep while melatonin levels are low to make sure your body doesn’t doze off while driving. When you wake up in the morning, cortisol levels should still be high enough while melatonin starts to surge up until hitting its crescendo in the evening hours. This creates a boost of energy when natural light is around but makes it harder for many people to fight physiological fatigue in the mornings.
How do you help someone have a good day?
It’s a question of perspective. Our positive mindset can have a huge impact on the quality of our day, and that often comes from being open to new ideas, to other people’s points of view, to change. Your routines matter too. How you spend your day-not just what you do but how intensely-matters as much as what time you wake up or if you ignore your responsibilities because you’re having fun.
Conclusion
Even if you only do the first tip of preparing the night before, you’ll find that your day will be significantly better. Try introducing each step gradually and see how they work for you. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but these tips should give you a great place to start.
