I'm not sure about you but from time to time I have days or periods when I should be working towards my dreams but instead I spend my time distracting myself or simply not taking action when I need to be.
I know what I should be doing but my emotions get the best of me and before you know it the day is wasted on things that kill my time rather than help my progress.
This is a common problem for everyone whether they are a racing driver or entrepreneur, an author or a team manager.
So far so good
Well over the past year or so I have managed to virtually put this demon to bed and have used a daily routine that has increased my productivity and progression tenfold.
My days are now filled with tasks that I easily pull off and I have no problems in motivating myself to act the way I should be in order to get what I want.
So in this week's blog post I want to share this with you so you can be the person you need to be on a daily basis.
Step 1 – Be aware of the ‘Day’
First off you MUST realise how important a single day is.
It is easy for us to sweep a day under the carpet but in reality your days are the building blocks that will build your dream, so if you miss some blocks out or use poor quality ones then you are never going to build the future that you have in mind.
Each day is like a step in the right direction if done correctly, it's like a step of a marathon, again if you do not step forward today then you won't complete that marathon. It's actually like taking a step back because now you have one less day to achieve your dream. In missing a day you are making the whole task harder.
I’m at an age now where I can look back and clearly see how my past work rate has affected my life today (good and bad). I know for sure that if I had the mentality I have now when I was younger then things would be much different now.
This isn’t to focus on the negative, this instead is to wake me up to the fact that in another 20 years’ time I want to look back on now in a proud way, I want to know that I did do all I could and thank god for how hard I worked back then.
This drives me because I know that time is on its way, it is coming. I don’t want to regret things and let myself and my loved ones down.
Well this is the first step for you, in order to get yourself to take better action every day you must get upset with how you are currently acting, inject some consequence to being a lazy so and so because this will give you the emotional fuel to change your behaviour. Without this fuel you will never change the way you are.
Add pain to the way you are being if you are underachieving and get to the state of mind where you feel as though you must change. Once there we move on to step 2.
Step 2 - It's all about your mornings
One of the most important parts of the 100m sprint race is the start (the timing and the launch), this is no different to your days.
If you want to have a productive day then we must focus on the start, the first few minutes when you wake up.
Usually I see drivers start their days like this:
They open their eyes as they awaken
Then they roll over and start scrolling on their phone (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Autosport, emails, etc.)
They then have breakfast or shower (or both)
More scrolling or internet surfing
Then their daily activities / jobs begin
Already by No.2 above they have made the fatal error and have screwed their day up. As soon as you let your mind wonder into distraction mode you have set your day up for failure.
The way you boot up your mind in the first moments of being awake is often how it will act for the rest of that day, you are literally setting up its default for how to behave.
This may sound farfetched but believe me I have proved this over the past year by using many different wake up routines and have analysed their effects on me throughout the day.
After my own research I have learned that to be at your best on a given day you must…..
Control the moments when you are waking up
Not look at emails or phone at all apart from switching alarm off
Exercise the body
Breathe correctly
Show the brain what must be done today
Kick in the creative side of the brain
This all sounds a lot but at the moment I can have all this done in the first 10 minutes of waking up and never have an unproductive day.
I swear this is true and it will change your life if you do it.
Step 3 – Build Your Routine
So let’s build the morning routine that you can give a try for just 3 straight days. In just 3 days of doing this I promise you will feel better and achieve more.
To build your morning routine you can take a look at mine, I do this when working from home:
Open eyes.
The first thing I see are my main or short term goals / dreams. I either have them on the wall, on my bedside table or I write them down there and then. This kicks the mind into action and focuses it on things that excite me.
I go to the toilet (avoiding the mirror if possible).
I change into my gym gear and walk straight to the beach.
Whilst walking I do deep breathing excercises and listen to chillout music.
I then spend a few minutes being grateful for everything and everyone I have in my life. Even grateful for my health.
Then for the remainder of my time outside I will slowly jog listening to more upbeat music as I visualize how I want today to go and see myself at the end of the day when all done.
So the first half of my routine is gently waking the mind and body up, getting it to feel good and then the second half is light exercise whilst visualizing and pumping myself up for the day. Even talking to myself out loud sometimes.
This is all done within 10 - 30 mins depending how energetic I feel and how much time I have.
By the time I get back home I feel fully charged and ready to take on anything.
Sometimes I have to cut this short because I have an idea that pops into my mind and I feel like I just need to get back and take action on it right away. I seem to have my best thoughts when exercising, so couple this with doing it in the morning when the brain is fresh from sleep and it is my perfect set up time.
Compare this to my old way, I used to wake up, have breakfast then get straight on to the computer to start work. I’d give myself 30 mins before I found the need for some kind of distraction or had a wondering mind.
Even throwing yourself straight into work and answering emails doesn’t do it for us, in doing this we just end up operating like a drone and are not as resourceful as we could be.
But if you give it that needed stimulation upfront, you kick off with it and focus in directly at how you want to live your day then you will operate at a much higher level and will have huge momentum.
This is a magic trick for anyone who wants to be more motivated daily and wants to achieve more.
Mix it up, do different things and get your own routine down, you will not regret it.
Please send me your ideas because I am always adding and changing mine to suit.
