Daily, positive affirmations are a great way to build confidence, motivation, a positive outlook, and encourage the law of attraction. We practice affirmations regularly as part of our morning routines and have a few that are absolute favorites. The possibilities for your own daily positive affirmations are limitless, but feel free to start off with some of our favorites.
I recently finished up Beachbody’s 22-Minute Hard Corps program. Although I didn’t have the foresight to write down my thoughts before starting, I did have some insights to share at the halfway mark and finish line that I wanted to share with you. I’m hoping that my 22-Minute Hard Corps review will help you decide if this workout program is right for you.
I was anxious to get to this point as I could already feel the difference in how I felt, and my wife said she could already see a physical difference. I was most excited about the half-way PT test that would measure my improvements in terms of number of reps I could do of various basic exercises (push-ups, pull-ups, etc.).
The PT test was done on Sunday – typically a “rest day” for the 22-Minute Hard Corps program. I’m noticing this a lot with Beachbody programs – Sunday is often a rest day and designated for meal prep. At first I didn’t like this, as I have more time to work out on weekends than I do during the week, so not working out on a Sunday seemed like a waste to me. I’ve adapted, though, and quickly learned to appreciate those Sundays off from jumping out of bed and hitting the exercise mat.
So when Sunday came, and I was like a kid on Christmas. My wife has been helping with the PT tests by running the stopwatch for me, and I think I was dangerously close to driving her nuts. I was anxious to see my progress.
With Thanksgiving right around the corner, a lot of Americans will soon be sitting at a table surrounded by loved ones and thinking of all the things they are thankful for. This year will be a little different in our house as we’ve started making gratitude a part of every dinner. Not just the ones that involve copious amounts of cranberry sauce.
I think that there are a lot of people out there that want to practice gratitude and be more thankful on a daily basis, but don’t know how. We’ve put together a list of 10 things that you can do on a regular basis that will help you be more grateful for what you have.
We started going around the table with our kids and each finding at least one thing from that day that each of us was thankful for. It’s not made into a big event, and we don’t make everybody wait to eat while we do it. We simply use it as a casual conversation starter to talk about the positive things from our day.
Now that you know all about my morning routine, I want to tell you about the steps I take at nighttime that prepare me to easily get up between 4 and 4:30 am. When I was reading The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod, I knew that just getting excited to wake up early every morning wasn’t going to stick for me. The book did a fantastic job of laying out what my mornings should look like. However, it didn’t cover how I could get better sleep so that I could get to that point. I did a little of my own research and came up with a routine that allowed me to make the best use of the sleep I was getting. Following this routine, I gained an extra couple of hours to my day every morning. In exchange, I only had to go to bed about 30-60 minutes earlier.
Goal setting is an important practice that can benefit everyone. Even if you don’t read self-improvement books or engage in any form of personal development, you still probably set goals for yourself in one form or another.
Goal setting can be as simple as dedicating an entire day to just one project so you can get it done before an important meeting. It can also be much more complex — though people who practice complex goal setting usually understand that is what they are employing as they go through the process.
So, there’s a lot of material out there about how to set smart, effective goals. But what do you do if you don’t really know what your goals should be?
Here’s where I can help. I’ve outlined my process for goal setting, including how to identify, organize and prioritize your goals — and how to put your plan in action.
There are a lot of self-improvement audiobooks out there. For those looking to take the plunge and start listening, it may seem overwhelming. A lot of people will go for the names they’ve heard — Jim Rohn, Jack Canfield, Brian Tracy. They’re all great motivational speakers and not a bad place to start. Their style of teaching self-improvement, though, is becoming a little dated.
Many of the core concepts of self-improvement haven’t changed in decades. The way they are taught to the masses, however, definitely has. I’m not sure how many people in their 20s and 30s today will be able to relate to the suit-wearing, white-haired man standing on stage, looking like a televangelist and preaching mystical “secrets of attraction.” People today need new motivational speakers that they can relate to. Luckily for us, there is a whole new generation taking the old core concepts of self-improvement and updating them for the new millennium.
Do you realize how much your morning routine affects the rest of the day?
If you’re anything like me, you probably feel like most days, you’re reactive instead of proactive. You feel like you’re just fumbling around without focus, handling things as they come at you at 900 miles per hour. You probably plop down on your couch each evening, wondering if you got anything accomplished.
Trust me – I feel your pain. My life was exactly as I just described up until about a year and a half ago.
I stumbled across a powerful trick around that time that I used to increase my focus and energy. As such I reduced the general stress and grumpiness that I was feeling.
And I’m going to share it with you, but be warned: it isn’t pretty.