“If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task, and another, and another. And by the end of the day that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed.”

-U.S. Navy Adm. William H. McCraven

When I look at the numerous difficulties we could potentially face on a day to day basis, I think that it becomes even more important to build in little successes for you to stack up during your day. The idea is that success breeds success and if at the end of the day, no matter how terrible it was, you can say you have accomplished at least one thing.

I think it can be difficult to really know your place in the world. People always talk about finding themselves and making a difference which I think this is great, but have you first started to make a difference within yourself? What have you done on a personal level to become the best version of you, today? I think doing deep work on yourself and gaining a better understanding of where you are each day can help guide you moving forward and become even more helpful to others. It’s kind of like when you’re about to take off on an airplane and the flight attendants tell you to first put your oxygen mask on before helping others. It’s hard to love and care for others when you don’t love and care for yourself.

I’ve recently realized just how powerful the act of “action” is. I’m sure we’ve all experienced a time and place when we’ve set a goal or started a project and began taking the necessary steps to complete it. In those moments the actions we take build momentum and propel us forward. Along the way, we make changes through feedback loops and ultimately pivot, twist, turn, all the while continuing to move forward towards our goals. I think we can all agree on this, granted everyone’s situations are different. I think what might be a limiting factor in taking action is not fully setting your mind to the action. We tell ourselves, I’ll give this a try and see what happens versus saying I’m going to DO this and regardless what happens I will make something work. Subtle difference, but powerful in its intent.

Do. Or do not. There is no try. – Yoda

I have been recently playing around with my morning rituals/routine, trying to fine tune it to all me to be the most productive during the day. As of now, I feel like I’m on to something good that primes me for the day.

Wake Up
– Glass of water

Start Morning Routine
General Mobility: neck, shoulders, arms, torso, back, hips, legs
Calisthenics/Core Circuit (M/W/F Routine 1, T/Th/S Routine 2)
Wim Hof Breathing x 5 min
Meditation x 5-10 min
Hot to Cold Shower x 5 min

The mobility work starts off standing and then progresses to the ground for prone and supine work. The main emphasis is to target areas which I have problems with and also address overactive muscles that tend to tighten up from sitting for long periods of time.

The volume of the calisthenics changes each day and accumulates over the weeks. I think my main goal for this would be to do something every day so that if I get too busy and cannot make the gym, I at least feel I have accomplished something.

I have been playing around with Wim Hof’s breathing exercises and plan to build up my time each week and try to deepen the experience

I like to follow the Wim Hof breathing with meditation because I feel that I am in a more grounded state and have primed my body and then can calm and set my mind.

The hot to cold showers are the final touch that brings me out of the calmness of the meditation and primes me for the day. I feel refreshed and energized.

My goal is to consistently carry out this routine with slight modifications for 6 weeks and then assess where I am at and if I want to make any changes.

Think about your own morning routine. What could you add, or even remove, to prime you for your day and everything that comes with it?

Something I’ve been pondering lately…

The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Which road will you take, and more importantly, will you be able to trust your decision and not look back?