In the past, I woke up each morning and immediately thought about all of the things I needed to do that day or mindlessly scrolled through social media. In other words, I fed my brain overwhelming amounts of information before I even checked in with myself or expressed gratitude for a new day.
Many of us feel irritated when someone barges in our room and bombards us with information first thing in the morning, though.
So why do we do this to ourselves?
Instead of saying “good morning” to our brain and body, most of us bombard our mind with information as soon as we open our eyes. And instead of gently stretching and allowing our body to slowly wake up, we jump out of bed and force ourselves into action because we have places to be.
When we engage in these behaviors, though, we wander through our entire day mindlessly, without any sort of intention. When we flood ourselves with information instead of slowing down enough to listen to our bodies, we feel like we don’t control our own lives.
I realized that I needed to take a vital step before I glance at my phone notifications or climb out of bed. (And, no, it’s not making a cup of coffee.) I check in with myself.
When I first wake up, I ask myself these three questions:
- “How do you want to feel today?”
- “What do you want to give today?”
- “Who do you want to be today?”
These questions help me feel like I’m in control of my life, and they guide every decision I make throughout the day. When I ask myself these questions each morning, I feel empowered to stay in touch with my innermost desires. I don’t default to the easiest, most convenient response anymore. Instead, I make decisions that directly connect to how I answer the questions I ask myself and how I want to live my life day to day.
I’m not saying that answering these three questions will cure all of your stress or help you keep your composure in every difficult situation. However, setting intentions every single day will give you the power to respond to the events in your life in the way you want to instead of in a way that seems automatic or out of your control.
How do you want to feel? Who do you want to be?
If you don’t know the answer to these questions, consider taking the first moments of your morning to check in with yourself and answer these simple questions. You never know what the answers may reveal and what you’ll achieve when you start this new habit!
Featured Photo by Mike Von on Unsplash.
