To win the day you have to own the mornings! You have to create a morning routine that propels you like an unstoppable force. Your morning routine must include all your shoulds because shoulds don't inherently have the same built-in motivational compulsions that your have-to's possess. You automatically do your have-to's because you have to. But your shoulds are different. They are just as important, if not more important, than your have-to's, but there is no immediate dire consequence that forces you to accomplish your shoulds. Things like, I should wake up a little bit earlier; I should workout; I should pray and talk to God about these things that are on my mind; I should read my Bible more; I should make a healthy breakfast and throw together a healthy lunch; I should read a chapter from that one book I've been needing to read. I should take care of a couple of chores so they aren't piled up at the end of the week; I should have a few minutes of solitude each morning to sip my favorite morning drink and enjoy the peace and quiet; I should write that thank you note. We all have a list of shoulds that try to plague and occupy or minds all day long robbing us of the enjoyment of being completely alive in the moment. But there is a way to subdue all those nagging and distracting shoulds that are demanding your attention. You simply have to be aggressive and set up a basic morning routine that you do 4-6 days each week that chips away each day at your shoulds. It doesn't have to be 2 hours long. It just needs to be a little bit of intentional time that assertively takes ownership of your day, which will actually empower you to take ownership of your life. Doing a little each day adds up to a lot each week which adds up to a ton each month which adds up to a life change each year. You will be amazed at how much freedom and enjoyment you will experience for the next 15 hours when you invest 1 hour in the morning to aggressively tackle your shoulds. To help you gain an hour more in the morning you can start by not looking at your phone. Don't check your notifications. Don't go on any social media. Don't check your email. Don't turn on the news. Avoid anything and everything that will derail your new morning routine. You can also go to bed 30 minutes earlier. Trust me, the benefits of creating a morning routine and owning your mornings is literally life changing. I have my first 10 "plays" (like a football game) planned out for 6 days of the week. I start the day with the same 10 plays each morning to aggressively tackle all of my shoulds (those things that I need to do, but if I don't do them in the morning then they likely won't get done as they are pushed aside by the busy-ness of the day). I arranged all my morning shoulds into a strategic order and created an acronym to help me remember each thing and the order that I like to accomplish them. The acronym is: A.R.I.S.E.&.G.R.O.W. Each letter represents a different should and I tackle each one as soon as I wake up. I become an unstoppable force to take on and navigate the immovable objects that litter the day ahead. Developing an effective morning routine is one of the most powerful things you can do to have a successful, abundant, overflowing, and impactful life. And the main ingredient to making all this possible is a little bit of healthy self discipline and self control. It's a game changer! Sometimes you've got to be aggressive about taking a stand for the things in your life that matter. Seize the morning and you SEIZE THE DAY!! Carpe Diem!!
Here's a couple examples of Jesus being assertive and aggressive about things that matter:
"Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out all the people buying and selling animals for sacrifice. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves." - Matthew 21:12
"At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you. He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’" - Luke 13:31-32
STRiVE to THRiVE!
