You care about habits because you care for yourself.
Life disintegrates without routines. Many habitual actions seem insignificant. But it’s destructive to ignore daily patterns. Wisdom notices and fuels healthy practices.
Devise morning rituals that enable you to flourish. You already have a pre-programmed morning. Is it serving you? Are you in the habit of grabbing 15 minutes of sleep after the alarm? A well-practiced morning routine prepares you to thrive. But a frantic beginning promotes chaos.
Habits of thought in the morning:
Focus your brain when you begin the day. Marcus Aurelius said, “The things you think about determine the quality of your mind. Your soul takes on the color of your thoughts.”
Your mind – left to itself – wanders into darkness. A pound of bad outweighs a ton of good. Roy Baumiester explains that bad things are about five times more magnetic than good.
You can’t prevent your brain from dragging you toward black holes. Thoughts of an angry boss or frustrating situation bang on the door without an invitation. An overwhelming to-do list stresses your heart. You naturally feel bad about things that didn’t get done.
You can’t prevent black-hole-thinking; you can redirect your thoughts.
Develop the habit of noticing good.
How does the shower feel? Do you have food? What does coffee taste like? Do you have an opportunity to contribute? Search for moments of gratitude. You do good for yourself when you practice noticing good.
Thought habits that serve:
Think about what you have more than what you don’t.
Focus on things you can do, not on things you can’t.
Hi Ken, seeing regulars hang around year after year is deeply gratifying to me. Thank you for hanging around so long. I did some digging and I think your first comment was early in 2011. Happy New Year!
This is a great article to kick off the new year! I have found the best habit one can have is to understand that every situation can be good or bad, depending on how you train your brain.
For example, rain can be a great thing (we desperately need it in San Antonio) or it can be a bad thing (like on your wedding day).
When I teach mindfulness to my team, I use the example of traffic. Most of us deplore traffic and can allow it to ruin our morning or evening. However, what if on your commute home you could take that ride with a loved one who has passed on. For the entire trip you could say the things you never got to say. In that case, I would be hoping that it was the worst traffic day in history so I could thank my dad for everything he did for me and to ask him questions I never asked when he was with us.
Powerful reflection, beknott. Your teaching challenges us to focus on things we can control instead of things we can’t. We have no control over a traffic jam. We have control over a traffic jam. However, we have control over the way we respond and what we do with the time. Love your illustration.
Great article to start 2025. I have a few morning habits that serve me well:
– Wake up early. 4:45 AM
– Grab a cup of coffee
– Exercise
– Have a second cup of coffee
– Do 10 minutes of housework. Empty the dishwasher. Pick up kids’ toys. Run a load of laundry. Tidy up.
– Read for 15-20 minutes.
But, the most important part of my morning routine starts the night before. If these things aren’t in order the night before then the morning is more hectic.
– Make sure the coffee machine has water and coffee. Set my cup out.
– Lay out my exercise clothes.
– Make sure my work clothes are at the front of the closet.
– Read for 20-30 minutes before bed.
You are exactly right. A great morning begins the night before. For me it includes being disciplined about bedtime. I can’t believe I just typed that. I feel like a kid. 🙂
Looking back: In 2023 I swapped out the idea of “big improvements/large projects/big goals” with “do something every day”. Instead of tackling a large, time-consuming, pre-planned, self-improvement task, I discovered that by doing 30 min as part of an every-morning schedule I was able to log over 115 hours of development – just during my workday.
This year I’m focused on 2 changes:
1. As soon as I wake up, set my thoughts on positive things (how will today be a good day, what am I thankful for, etc.)
2. Until now and a planned trip in mid-March, complete an exercise regimen (30 min, 3x /week).
I also found the related 5 Habits… article to be helpful in having communications with my team. Thanks for the look-back on that one!
Congratulations Ryan. The power of small actions done consistently is neglected, I think because it doesn’t feel dramatic. The payoff appears slowly. But as you suggest, it’s better to set a small goal and repeat it than to set a big goal and give up after a few days or weeks.
Your story is encouraging. Thanks for the good word about 5 Habits. Happy New Year and have fun in mid-March!
It’s good to start another year with Leadershipfreak. Thank you Dan, for sharing thoughts that are always insightful, relevant and actionable.
My morning Leadershipfreak is a good habit.
Hi Ken, seeing regulars hang around year after year is deeply gratifying to me. Thank you for hanging around so long. I did some digging and I think your first comment was early in 2011. Happy New Year!
Wow! 2011 — I’ve wondered … I’m to be an early adopter. All the Best in ’25
This is a great article to kick off the new year! I have found the best habit one can have is to understand that every situation can be good or bad, depending on how you train your brain.
For example, rain can be a great thing (we desperately need it in San Antonio) or it can be a bad thing (like on your wedding day).
When I teach mindfulness to my team, I use the example of traffic. Most of us deplore traffic and can allow it to ruin our morning or evening. However, what if on your commute home you could take that ride with a loved one who has passed on. For the entire trip you could say the things you never got to say. In that case, I would be hoping that it was the worst traffic day in history so I could thank my dad for everything he did for me and to ask him questions I never asked when he was with us.
Powerful reflection, beknott. Your teaching challenges us to focus on things we can control instead of things we can’t. We have no control over a traffic jam. We have control over a traffic jam. However, we have control over the way we respond and what we do with the time. Love your illustration.
Great article to start 2025. I have a few morning habits that serve me well:
– Wake up early. 4:45 AM
– Grab a cup of coffee
– Exercise
– Have a second cup of coffee
– Do 10 minutes of housework. Empty the dishwasher. Pick up kids’ toys. Run a load of laundry. Tidy up.
– Read for 15-20 minutes.
But, the most important part of my morning routine starts the night before. If these things aren’t in order the night before then the morning is more hectic.
– Make sure the coffee machine has water and coffee. Set my cup out.
– Lay out my exercise clothes.
– Make sure my work clothes are at the front of the closet.
– Read for 20-30 minutes before bed.
You are exactly right. A great morning begins the night before. For me it includes being disciplined about bedtime. I can’t believe I just typed that. I feel like a kid. 🙂
New years resolutions often don’t last. Dan, I like your idea of establishing new habits–especially one or two to start your day.
I start my day by meditating for 10 minutes.
Happy new year.
Wonderful morning ritual. One of the worst things we do is begin the day without focus. Happy New Year, Paul.
Great tips, Dan.
Looking back: In 2023 I swapped out the idea of “big improvements/large projects/big goals” with “do something every day”. Instead of tackling a large, time-consuming, pre-planned, self-improvement task, I discovered that by doing 30 min as part of an every-morning schedule I was able to log over 115 hours of development – just during my workday.
This year I’m focused on 2 changes:
1. As soon as I wake up, set my thoughts on positive things (how will today be a good day, what am I thankful for, etc.)
2. Until now and a planned trip in mid-March, complete an exercise regimen (30 min, 3x /week).
I also found the related 5 Habits… article to be helpful in having communications with my team. Thanks for the look-back on that one!
Congratulations Ryan. The power of small actions done consistently is neglected, I think because it doesn’t feel dramatic. The payoff appears slowly. But as you suggest, it’s better to set a small goal and repeat it than to set a big goal and give up after a few days or weeks.
Your story is encouraging. Thanks for the good word about 5 Habits. Happy New Year and have fun in mid-March!