Good Morning!

You want to know what I think are the most important moments of the day? When you first wake up in the morning. I think those moments set the tone for your entire day. It's so important that this post is entirely about those first moments, before you even get out of bed. These moments are your best opportunity to clear your mind, control your thoughts and set the tempo for the day ahead of you.

In the first few minutes of your day, your mind is not yet absorbed with activity and observations of the world around you. Negative thoughts have not yet had the opportunity to take hold and it is so much easier for you to control your thoughts. If you shape these moments into positive ones, your entire day will be transformed. It's like building muscle through exercise, as your muscle builds, you burn more calories throughout the day. Well, as your positive thoughts build, your entire day is more positive. And the first few minutes of your day are the most influential.

So, here are some tricks I use to make the most out of those moments... First of all, be prepared. Have a mental "box of happy thoughts" you can call upon. Don't waste those moments struggling to find "feel good" thoughts...have them ready. Not just one thought, either, because what makes you feel good one day, may not another day. Second, I found that sleeping is like suspended animation for your Feelings. Most of the time, the dominant tone of your feelings when you fell asleep is the first to show up when you wake. So make sure your thoughts (and therefore feelings) are positive when you lay your head down to sleep. Do whatever it takes to bring your thoughts around from negative to positive when you go to bed at night...meditation, listen to feel good music, pay attention to what you are watching on the TV (news? Probably negative)...whatever it takes to fall asleep on a positive note. Your tomorrow depends on it!

Sweet dreams!