Do you wake up in the morning dreading the day ahead? Does each day feel like a chore rather than an opportunity to play? Are you craving more excitement and zest in your life?
I can relate. I used to feel this way too.
Many of us wake up, especially on a Monday morning, dreading the start of the day and the week ahead. You would have to agree, that having a sense of dread for each day isn’t an ideal way to live and experience life.
We all want and need to live a life of joy and purpose, so how can we do that when it just seems too hard?
I’d like to share with you something I have been practising for the last three months that’s had a major impact on how I feel about each day of my life.
Every morning I sit down at my table, get out my journal and put pencil to paper and write the following sentence starter:
Today I am excited about…
I then list three to five things that I can be excited about in my day ahead. For example:
Today I am excited about spending time with my daughter after school.
Today I am excited about completing a project at work.
Today I am excited about going for a walk in my lunch break.
Today I am excited about writing a blog post.
Today I am excited about calling a friend and having a chat.
I’ve been doing this every day for three months and I’ve noticed a remarkable difference in how I feel about the day ahead and how I show up throughout the day too.
It’s really that simple!
Think about it. By shifting the focus of your mind onto things you are looking forward to, you stop focusing on the things that are getting you down. It’s all about mental real estate. If you focus your attention on the unpleasant things, you don’t have the space left for the positive. When you make your focus the positive, the result is that there is less space available for the negative things to hang around.
This is a really powerful realisation and that is why I am sharing it with you.
It’s as simple as pondering one sentence every morning. When you do this, your mind will shift and the result is that you will notice a big improvement about how you feel about each day of your life.
Let’s play a game.
Think of three things that you can be excited about today.
Now get out a journal or notebook and write them down. Maybe you can come up with more but three is enough for that shift to happen.
Once you’ve written them down, read them over.
Now read them out loud so you hear the words and it will become a part of who you are and you will start to feel it. You will feel the excitement. You’ll notice a mind shift and there’s a lot of power in that.
Repeat this daily for a week and notice what happens.
Keep up this daily practise and eventually you will even be able to find excitement in the things you used to dread.
Successful living comes from positive daily habits. I hope this one serves you well.
Feel free to share your thoughts on this in the comments below.
