Three simple things you can do savagely well every day that will make it so!
As someone dedicated to helping my clients perform at their absolute potential, I am acutely aware of the simple things done savagely well that make the biggest differences. Call it low hanging fruit of personal performance.
In today’s ever changing instant communication world, it is becoming harder and harder to get a good nights sleep and to wake up refreshed and ready to take on the world.
But its not!
I have three simple things you can do every day that WILL make a difference.
But, you have to do them every day, and you have to do them intentionally, period!
Number one; fifteen minutes before you intend to close your eyes on your day, take five minutes to think about the one thing you did today that you are happy you accomplished. Celebrate a win! After doing this for a week, you can try adding a few extra wins, but for now, just celebrate one win from the day.
Why? Because celebrating a win will establish a positive state of mind before bed, and a positive state of mind will be less likely to start meandering into negative self-talk that inevitably keeps you awake!
Further, completing the day with a positive thought will help you rise with a positive state of mind in the morning.
Number two; just before you are about to engage in sleep, take 10 deep breaths. Lie flat on your back, close your eyes, focus all your attention on your breath, and breath in through your nose and out through your mouth for 3–5 seconds each way intentionally. Just focus on relaxing, breathing, and listening to your breath. Once completed move to your preferred place of sleep. You will be surprised how much more easily you fall asleep.
Number three; repeat number two when you wake up. However, in this instance shorten the length of the breath and clench and release your hands on each breath cycle. As an added bonus, think of one thing you will do that day that you know will make you smile.
Is it a great workout, hugging a loved one, making a call to a friend, accomplishing a task, or doing something new? It can be anything, but make it something you will do no matter what.
The act of establishing a positive state of mind, followed by the act of intentionally relaxing will establish a “calm” in you that will help you experience quality sleep. In turn, quality sleep will allow you to rise refreshed. When you rise, if you in turn stimulate your body with deep oxygenated breath, and follow it with a positive thought, your day will begin with a positive state of mind.
A positive state of mind sets the tone for your day. Our subconscious mind loves to wander into a negative state. We naturally gravitate to negative thoughts. We more easily remember negative events in our lives, or negative circumstances. Negativity permeates our internal and external conversation on a daily basis. Because negativity tends to be the “default” status of our state of mind, we must intentionally act to switch this default, or counteract it.
There are many more daily practices that we can use to help us establish a better state of mind, however in this instance I’ve given you three very simple things you can do daily that will help you sleep well, in turn rise well, and in turn live well. Do them and see the difference it makes in your life.
Originally published at medium.com