One Thing You Should Stop Doing After Waking Up

Many people has their own morning routine: Wake up, make a cup of coffee, check the news and social media, exercise, take a shower, do breakfast and go to work. Some people might live in automatic mode for many weeks, months or even years and some others live their lives in manual mode (in control of their lives).

What are the big differences between these types of people ?

I think the key difference lies in how these types of people are being influenced during their first morning activities. I’m a firm believer that if you start your day in a meaningful way, you can carry that mindset during your day in your different activities you have later on (sharing time with your family and friends, at the office, developing your ideas, etc).

How do you think a person will perform during their day if the first thing it does in the morning is to turn on their phone and start checking their social media or checking the news ( I don’t know, but I really feel there are not too many positive news to start your day by reading media outlets). Unless this person has Gandhi as his only friend in Instagram and checks some good and positive news media outlet, I believe we have a little problem.

Of course many people start their day like that, we always want to know the latest about our friends, family, our community and the world. But let me ask you a question:

Why don’t start your day with yourself ?

When you wake up, you really don’t need to do anything. You don’t need to start working for other people first thing in the morning( unless you woke up very late and need to start making calls to your boss about the awful traffic in your city while you start getting dressed). Also you don’t need to start your day by checking every Instagram story about your friends partying all night long. Lastly, you don’t need to start your day by checking your email right away after you wake up.

Starting your day this way is allowing outside factors to influence your day. How can checking your phone first thing in the morning can negatively influence your mindset ?

When we sleep, it is proven that our brain has a deep cleanse and this helps us to let go our worries and overthinking while we sleep so that we can wake up feeling like new. If we start our day checking social media or news, we are feeding our mind with external feedback that might not be very positive start to your day. For example, if there are news about a higher rate of crime in your city, you could start setting your mindset in a negative way for the day. Or also checking Instagram to see how everyone is having more fun than you and having their time of their lives while you might be in struggle with your current job.

Returning to my original question, I think we owe us meaningful time with ourselves. How much time do we use to check on other’s peoples lives or news, and how much time do we use for our self-realization ? This might be a life-changing question because we might have our priorities wrong. I’m not trying to tell you to become a monk or to stop using social media. Use social media! Right now I’m writing this entry in a social media platform to share with you my knowledge in this area and I know for sure social media has help us in many extraordinary ways. I know many are journalists and they need to be updated on the latest news to do a great job in their areas. But the point is simple here:

Start your Day with Control of Yourself

Each time you wake up, don’t be pressured to use your phone. Once you open your eyes be thankful for the day ahead. Some people didn’t have the chance to wake up today and I think that’s powerful enough to start your day with gratitude about our lives. I know there are a lot of gratitude practices, like a gratitude journal in which you list 5 things you are grateful for. For me it works out to get up from bed and sit in the floor with a pillow. In these 10 minutes I gift to myself, I think about all the things I’m grateful for and my day can start with a positive mindset.

Try yourself just for one week to start your day with purpose and meaning. Stop being controlled by your impulse to know everything. You don’t need all the information that is hanging around us, you just need time with yourself. Know yourself and appreciate yourself so that you can be in control of your life.