A good morning, and thus a good day, aren’t just experiences
that magically happen — they are created consciously.
Adopted and adapted from an article written by Marc
Chernoff
https://www.marcandangel.com/2024/01/08/3-little-things-you-should-do-every-day-before-noon/
Most of us are distracted from the get-go every morning.
Trivial activities like checking our phones, social media, various web sites,
watching TV, and worrying about things we can’t control often set the tone of
the day. And that means we waste our most well-rested time on things that don’t
matter, while gradually losing touch with the significant, controllable parts
of our lives that actually do matter.
The morning hours are enormously important — they form the
foundation from which the day is built. Your morning rituals gradually make a
big difference. If you are already practicing some healthy ones, consider
refreshing or adding to them. If you aren’t already doing any, start with just
one, then add the second in a couple weeks, and then the third around March 1…
Here are a few examples to get started:
1. Wash your dishes
You are eating the most important meal of the day, right?
Good. Now you can leverage your breakfast to strengthen your self-discipline.
And self-discipline is a vital skill to be honed. It is the ability to overcome
distractions and get the important things done. It involves acting according to
what you know is right, instead of how you feel in the moment (perhaps tired or
lazy or distracted by something else), which typically requires sacrificing
immediate ease for what’s foundationally important.
A lack of self-discipline for most of us is often the result
of a lack of focus. In other words, we tell ourselves we are going to do
something, but then we don’t. One of the easiest and most effective ways to
build and maintain daily self-discipline? Start small every morning. Very
small…
Simply wash your dishes after breakfast. It doesn’t matter
if you do it by hand or put them in the dishwasher. Just do it. Don’t leave any
dirty dishes in the sink or on the counter for later.
Once you do this consistently for a few weeks, you can start
making sure the sink has been wiped clean too. Then the counter. Then make your
bed. Pack yourself a healthy lunch. Start doing a few sit-ups. Meditate for a
few minutes. And so forth. You’ll start to build a healthy ritual of
self-discipline that reinforces a foundation that you are capable of doing what
must be done, and finishing what you start.
But again, for the next few weeks, just wash your dishes
after breakfast. Mindfully, with a smile.
2. Use exercise to train your body and mind (for 15 minutes
or less)
Exercise is the simplest and fastest way to change your
life, not only because it strengthens your body, but because it also
strengthens your mind. It’s a self-initiated activity that imposes a necessary
level of mental and physical effort to fuel growth. And it almost
instantaneously instills a positive sense into your subconscious, even when
other circumstances in your life seem chaotic. In a world that is often well
beyond your control, exercise becomes a personal space where you are able to
control. Only you can move your body. Only you can put one foot in front of the
other. Only you get to decide how far you will push yourself.
Furthermore, a consistent daily exercise ritual literally
changes the physical inner-workings of your brain. Science reveals that aerobic
activity has a dramatic effect on adaptation, regulating systems that might be
out of balance and optimizing those that are not — It’s an indispensable tool
for anyone who wants to reach her or his full potential. In addition to
physical benefits, exercise drastically reduces mild and moderate depression,
lowers anxiety, and counterbalances the negative effects of being overstressed.
As with any other healthy ritual, start small. 15 minutes or
less but do it every day (Or for exercise, at least 5 days a week), in
the morning. If 15 minutes is too much, then do 10 or even 5. But do it at
least 5 days a week and stick to it for at least a full month before increasing
the duration or activity until you reach a point you are comfortable repeating.
3. Establish presence through meditation (for 15 minutes or
less)
The same principle of starting small applies here as well.
During the first several attempts at meditation, most novice meditators tend to
find it nearly impossible to quiet their mind for that long. Many of us try
meditation once or twice and do not see or feel the value in it or as quickly,
as we felt with exercise for example. But with practice and patience meditation
can be far more powerful.
While it may not as easily instill the level of control that
exercise does, meditation provides a deeper level of control which ultimately
brings out of us what has been stuck inside — it connects us with our truest
selves by allowing us to access all the areas of our mind and body that we are
usually distracted and disconnected from. The most basic and practical benefits
of meditation are that it lowers mental stress and increases mental presence
(awareness). And when we bring a more relaxed presence into our morning hours —
into the foundation of our day — it makes everything that happens from there
much easier to deal with.
Here's a simple start to meditation (There are many more
techniques and we’ll talk about a few more at a future meeting): Sit
upright in a chair with your feet on the ground and your hands resting
comfortably on your lap, close your eyes, and focus on your breathing. Set a
timer, so you are not constantly looking at the clock or your phone. Start with
just 5 minutes. The goal is to spend the entire time focused only on the sound
of your breath and the feeling of your abdomen inhaling and exhaling.
This sounds simple, but again, it’s challenging to do for more than a couple
minutes when you’re just starting out. It’s perfectly fine if random thoughts
sidetrack you. Just bring your focus back to your breathing. As with the
others, work your way up in duration but make them a part of your daily
routine.
The three morning rituals we just talked about mean nothing
if they are not acted upon consistently. Only a few mornings of cleaning your
dishes, exercising, and meditation won’t cut it. It is the compound effect of
simple, seemingly mundane actions over time that leads to life-altering,
positive results. For those of you that were here last week: Remember us
talking about how you can’t lift a thousand pounds all at once, yet you can
easily lift one pound a thousand times? Small repeated efforts will get you
where you want to be and repeated morning rituals set the foundation to build
on.
- Choose
to clean your dishes when it would be easier to leave them in the sink.
- Choose
to exercise when it would be easier to sleep in.
- Choose
to meditate when it would be easier to distract yourself with something
else.
- To see
past articles and other CoDA information: https://kc-coda.blogspot.com/
- For
daily reflections related to recovery: https://dailyponderables.com/
Success isn’t overnight. It’s when everyday you get a
little better than the day before. It all adds up.
-Dwane Johnson
Subscribe to free daily emails:
https://www.aalovingfellowship.org/daily-ponderable