Today we’re sharing a guest post by Stefan Pylarinos from ProjectLifeMastery.com! Thank you Stefan!
As a business owner, you know the importance of time management and productivity.
It can be a very challenging transition to go from ?working for someone? to ?being your own boss?. I know I struggled with this for a long time.
All of a sudden you have to set your own hours, be disciplined and accountable to yourself.
That?s why a morning ritual is critical while being self-employed.
What is a morning ritual?
It?s a daily set of activities that you perform each morning that helps you turn yourself on; to be optimized and perform at your highest level.
I learned from one of my business mentors, Eben Pagan, ?How you start the day is how you end the day.? This is absolutely true.
Most people are REACTIVE first thing in the morning. They wake up, then immediately scramble and feel stressed about everything they need to do. Often times, checking their e-mail is the first activity that they get sucked into.
As a result, you?re reacting throughout the day to the demands of your business and others around you. This prevents you from really designing what you really want to create and proactively achieving the goals in your business.
A morning ritual is an opportunity to be proactive each day, setting the day up and creating the results that you want in your business.
In this article, I?ll give you 5 morning rituals that will help you be more proactive, productive and energized.
1. Take Care Of Your Health
Your health has to be one of your most important priorities each day.
Without physical vitality, you?re useless. There?s no way that you can perform the tasks necessary to grow your business.
Not only that, but by engaging your body each day, it ?turns on? your brain and gives you more energy.
What can you do to take care of your health each morning?
First, drink water. Make sure that you?re hydrated, as your body is craving water after being laid out for 8 hours.
Next, any activity that will carry more oxygen to the brain.
This could be through deep breathing, meditation or exercise.
Finally, make sure you?re eating a healthy, nutritious meal.
That means to stay away from anything that will make you crash later in the day, such as doughnuts or coffee.
2. Get Into A Peak State
Your emotions, or how you feel, will determine your behaviours.
Making sure you take time each morning to put yourself in a positive, motivated, productive state is critical to performing at your best each day.
If you?re feeling stressed, tired, lazy, or unmotivated – then the chances are you?re not going to get much done.
One of my favourite ways to get into a peak state is through exercising, which was mentioned earlier in regards to your health.
When you get the blood pumping, it?s amazing how great you can feel afterwards and how that will supercharge your day.
In fact, I remember Richard Branson was asked once in an interview, ?How can someone be more productive?? Richard Branson thought about it for a minute, and replied with ?Exercise.?
Very simple advice, but powerful.
Another way that I use to get into a peak state is by directing my mind by asking myself empowering questions, such as:
?What is great about today??
?What am I looking forward to??
?What is my outcome or goal??
?How can I make today great??
?What am I passionate about today??
?What am I committed to??
Even thinking about things that you?re grateful for or happy about is a fantastic way to put yourself into a great state. Remember, by putting yourself in a peak state, it will increase your performance!
3. Feed Your Mind
I?ve found it extremely useful to take time each morning to feed your mind with positivity.
This is often done through reading something that can contribute to my life or business in some way.
As the saying goes, ?The more you learn, the more you earn.?
If you just read 10 pages a day of book, then that?d be roughly 300 pages per month. That?s roughly a book a month, which is 12 books a year.
Imagine how much wisdom and inspiration you?d be able to consume, and the impact that will have?
Jim Rohn says, ?Miss a meal, but never miss your reading.?
Constant, never-ending improvement is something that all successful people have in common.
4. Plan Your Day
Now that you?re in a peak state, feeling energized and optimized, it?s time to plan the day.
Planning gives you direction and purpose for your day.
It allows you to be proactive, as you?ve consciously decided what you want to create in your life and your business.
If you catch yourself getting distracted or being reactive, you can just quickly focus back to your plan and stick to it.
I?ve found creating a simple ?to do list? to be effective.
However, you also want to ask yourself, ?What?s the most important, highest leverage activities on this list that will produce the biggest rewards??
You want to apply the 80/20 principle and make sure you?re taking the right actions.
5. Take Massive Action!
The last tip I have is to take massive action.
Right away, perform the highest leverage activity on your list.
Don?t delay, waste time, or check e-mail. E-mail can always wait.
Instead, turn off all distractions and make sure you get the most important thing done.
This is setting your day up as a ?success?. You can now feel great about the rest of the day, knowing that you?ve completed the highest leverage thing for you to do.
As someone that runs multiple online businesses, a morning ritual has done wonders for my life.
Matt, Jason and other successful entrepreneurs I know all have a similar morning ritual and understand the importance of one.
As a member of the Amazing Selling Machine myself, as well as someone that has promoted the program for the last few years, I?ve been around many new entrepreneurs.
I see them all struggle with productivity and time management, because they?ve never had to be their own boss before. Many people that join the Amazing community have never run their own business before, so it?s all new to them.
It?s important to understand, that in business, you don?t get paid for the hours that you put in. Instead, you only get paid for the RESULTS you create.
That?s why peak performance is critical. A morning ritual allows you to perform at your best, which means you?ll create the results necessary in your business.
So, what?s your morning ritual?
If you want to learn more about motivation, productivity and time management, visit ProjectLifeMastery.com.