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How to Wake up Every Morning on Top of The World

“You get peace of mind not by thinking about it or imagining it, but by quietening and relaxing the restless mind.” ~Remez Sasson

What’s the first thought that goes through your head when you wake up in the morning? Is it deliberate, or is it the default “Oh shi#$, it’s 6:00!”?

If that’s how you start your day, then it’s likely your day will be filled with anxiety and stress. It’s not exactly the most productive mechanism for getting things done.

Questions are quite powerful if used in the right way.

How to Use Morning Power Questions

When you wake up in the morning, you are always asking yourself questions, whether you realize it or not. As you brush your teeth, drink your coffee, or eat your breakfast, thoughts are running through your head. You might be thinking, “Why am I so I tired? Why didn’t I sleep earlier? What am I going to eat?”

These things generally don’t serve any useful purpose, and in some cases, as you can see, are even hurting you. The idea behind using questions is to take conscious control of the direction of your day. So, let me give you a few examples of things that you could ask yourself first thing in the morning:

  • What do I have to look forward to today?
  • What’s absolutely perfect about my life?
  • How can I make today awesome?
  • What’s the best thing that could happen today?

By asking yourself these kinds of questions, you start to shift the focus of your mind toward all of the things you want to have happen.

One interesting thing to note is that your questions don’t need to have any basis in reality because your brain will answer anything you ask it quite literally. So, if you’re going to be delusional, you might as well make your delusions extremely empowering.

The key to using this effectively, however, is to do it for thirty days in a row. What happens when you do this is that your brain will create a link, known as a neuro-association, between the empowering states you create with your questions and being awake in the morning.

One Question to Ask Yourself Every Morning

For about two weeks now, I’ve been asking myself one question from the moment I wake up: “What am I grateful for?” You’ve heard before that you should start every single day with an attitude of gratitude. This is probably the simplest way to actually do that.

If you ask yourself that question enough days in a row, you will wake up feeling on top of the world every single day. As you start to view your life and the world around you as full of things to be grateful for, you’re going to bring more and more of that into your life.

We all have lots to be grateful for but we often get caught up in all the things that are wrong with our lives. Hopefully this will enable you shift your focus.

Ways to Change Your Morning Routine

I want you to give some consideration to changing up how you start your day. In addition to power questions I encourage you to start your day in a more peaceful, quiet way then you have in the past. I think you’ll find that the impact this will have on you both physically and mentally will quite powerful.

Don’t turn on the computer or TV.

As a blogger, for the last year or so the first thing I would do every single morning is turn on the computer. Even if you are not a blogger you may have a tendency to turn on the computer right when you wake up. Starting your brain off with so much information overload right when you wake up can’t possibly be healthy.

I encourage you to just enjoy your coffee or breakfast for about twenty minutes. Turning on the TV is one of the most insidious things you can do. The news can have such a negative impact on you that you might not even realize it. The news is generally about everything that’s wrong in the world and this is the first thing you become exposed to in the morning.

One thing that we know from years of self-help is that our minds tend to be extremely receptive in the morning. That’s why I encourage you not to turn on the TV if you’ve been doing it.

Listen to music/something uplifting.

I love listening to music and when possible I even use an alarm that actually plays music. I try to find uplifting songs or ones that have peaceful melodies. One of the best times to listen to a self-help tape or program is right when you wake up. Think about how the effect this will have on you if you do this for about thirty days.

If you listen to inspirational/uplifting material right when you wake up, then you will eventually condition that message into your mind and connect it with waking up in the morning.

Meditate.

I think one of the most challenging things about meditating is to free yourself from thought. As somebody with a mind that moves at what feels like a million miles a minute, this isn’t something I’m great at myself. Early in the morning your mind is in a fairly quiet state and even five to ten minutes of deep-centered relaxation/meditation can make a huge difference in your day.

How do you start your morning routine? Is there anything else you’d add to this list?

About Srinivas Rao

Srinivas Rao is an avid surfer and personal development blogger at the Skool of Life. He's the editor in Chief of the Flightster Travel Blog and host/co-founder of BlogcastFM, a podcast to help bloggers take their blog to the next level.

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Marileen

A song that really fits this blog: India Arie – A Beautiful Day

Kathleen Jaffe

Srini, these are terrific ideas! Too many days, I start out thinking about all the stuff I have to deal with, and consequently manage to put myself in a bad mood before I've done a thing. I'm definitely going to try these suggestions.

Jessica

Oooh, Marileen! I love that song!! Just a great post – great site. You guys are my daily dose of bliss. Thank you.

saraistwilightized

Music…? but I'm Deaf, any suggestion for alternatives?

srinirao

Kathleen,

I've found that starting my morning this way just makes a huge difference in the quality of my day. I think how you start the day can really determine how the rest of it goes.

srinirao

One alternative to music might be to spend some time in nature (near an ocean, a walk in the woods) if those are accessible options where you live. Hope that helps.

Michelle

LOVE this post! I think I will start leaving little notes for myself to find in the morning to remind myself 🙂

srinirao

Good idea. I should just put a post it on my computer screen with my morning questions :). Thanks for the suggestion.

Ashna

Thank you for this post. I have a bad habit of turning my laptop on in the morning and i will start tomorrow by not doing so…! Will go on a walk in the beautiful Davis Arboretum instead, contemplating the questions suggested 🙂

Linwood Mooring

That is excellent and true advice. keep giving that good advice and you will help many people. Keep up the great work.

[…] 10, 2010 by TheTrader'sNews Leave a Comment “You get peace of mind not by thinking about it or imagining it, but by quietening and relaxing th… Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Enlightenment ~ …an emotion is the body’s […]

Pdianne

I practice the Lojong training of one at the beginning, one at the end. In the morning I set my intention for the day. So for example, today my intention was to focus on practicing patience. This evening before bed I will review the day and look at the things I have learned and that I will continue to learn.

[…] you are a morning person, try staying up until the midnight hour and notice the difference around you. Or if you enjoy […]

Anita

I love to wake up early and sit in silence with a cup of coffee and my journal and just write anything that comes to mind. Kind of an exercise in hearing my inner voice. Also, like to do it with the thought of “be here now” and overwhelming gratitude. 🙂

[…] was also a relevant and super great article on Tiny Buddha this week about waking up every morning on top of the world. I love their example of when the alarm clock goes off and, true to nature, my knee jerk reaction […]

ricercar

i love this! so true. loved the quote too 🙂

danielwelsch

I've been doing this for a while and it's great how I jump out of bed excited about the day to come!

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Joe LaBarbera

Television is the worst thing for you, even readin the daily newspaper. Most news is very bad, and at times make U very sad. It would not be a bad idea if you Are reading a good book, to read some pages of it.Some fictional books can get your mind to relax a bit as you envision what the author is trying to say.

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[…] How to Wake Up Every Morning on Top of the World — the questions in this article are excellent and should be asked of ourselves every day […]

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[…] I don’t imagine all the things that could go right in my day, as Srinivas Rao suggested in the awesome guest post How to Wake up Every Morning on Top of the World. […]

remi

When I wake up early morning I can see another side of my day,by the way meditation in early morning brings more realize and joyful for me.

Mutheriamflying

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvARxJoLirE&feature=fvw

I found this on the internet. It is India.Arie singing the song with the lyrics visually on the screen.

Anonymous

thank you, that’s thoughtful.

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[…] Do something first thing in the morning that will ensure your day is a success. This is the ace in the hole. It’s easy to roll out of bed and onto the couch for some TV or into email for the rest of a meaningless day. You know this isn’t the best way to wake up on top of the world. […]

Thulemin

I’m stretching for 10 minutes (10 different exercises of 1min). I find it another way of meditating, slowly waking up my body & helps me feel more confident with my body. Longer stretching / yoga would just make me lazy to do it, so I found 10min the perfect balance (as yet) to get benefits from it 🙂

Ariess_tan

when everyday means gift~

[…] a long-time, former night owl converting to a morning person, I’ve made a few discoveries about adopting a new […]

Nikki D

I truly needed a change to my mornings. THANK YOU for your inspiration!
(@nicoledeleasa)

Watty12

This is a great page – really like it and it is so true. I’m a great believer in positive self talk, and this just reinforces my thoughts. It is so true, talk to yourself positively and it makes such a difference to how you start your day.

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C Meghashyam

That’s an interesting option: asking myself what i am grateful for while I brush my teeth. That’s such a nice way to start the day on a bright note and yet i’ve  rarely, if ever done it.

Thanks for the idea. 🙂

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Jaky Astik

My routine starts with meditation, of course. I am energized and fun all day long. 

palomar

You know, I probably shouldn’t start my day with NPR either.  Most of the time my stomach is in a knot by the time I’m in the car.  My life generally feels like a wreck lately but this is seriously something I have in my control to change – the way I start my morning.

Thank you!

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