AMY HANSEN

Setting yourself up for a successful day means starting the day off right to begin with.  Having a healthy morning routine will ensure that you get your day started on the right foot.  Increase your focus, productivity, and happiness by having a solid morning routine.  Use these three areas to help you create your successful morning routine.

Move

In the morning, start with a full glass of water to get hydrated.  Then wake up your body with some daily exercise.  Get your heart pumping and sweat.  You don’t have to do crazy cardio.  Even a nice brisk walk or yoga and stretching can energize your body after a full nights sleep.  Exercise not only gives you energy in the morning but it’s also a great way to reduce stress and make you feel good about your body.  Focus on your breathing while you work out.  Breathe deeply and increase the oxygen flow to your body.  Start your morning off by moving to get your...

Your perfectly planned day doesn’t have to be difficult.  Your morning and evening routines are the end caps to your perfectly planned day.  Then, you can start filling in the rest of your day based off your energy levels.  Here is how to create your perfectly planned day.

Morning Routine

Have a morning routine to wake yourself up and get you in the right headspace for the day ahead.  Drink a full glass of water to hydrate yourself after a long nights sleep.  Exercise to get your blood pumping and stretch out your muscles.  Fuel your body with healthy food like a green smoothie.  Listen to something inspirational to feel positive.  Avoid scrolling through social media first thing in the morning that may trigger comparison or negative thoughts.  Also, check your email later in the day so you don’t get sidetracked with other people’s agendas.  Set yourself up for success with a solid morning routine.

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In a world that feels so uncertain, it’s important to give yourself some certainty by creating structure in your day.  Having structure in your day may seem mundane and boring.  However, having your day planned out allows you to choose how your day is going to look.  Plus, you’ll know exactly what you need to get accomplished.  Begin to create a sense of certainty with a structured day.

Freedom

You may believe that by having a structured day, you don’t have any schedule freedom.  You prefer the idea of having the freedom to do what you want, when you want, rather than being tied to a structured schedule.  Yet, there is still freedom in a structured day.  You have the power to choose what you decide to put on your schedule.  You are in control of planning your day.  Yes, there will be things that happen that are out of your control.  But, for the most part, you get to decide what you’re going to...

Habits are created to give you a sense of predictable structure in your life.  Some of your habits may be great and other habits may need some improvement.  Perhaps you’ve been trying to break a bad habit and you haven’t had much luck.  Often times you quit a bad habit cold turkey, only to return to it a few days later.  Bad habits can be hard to break.  However, there are a few things you can do that will help you break a bad habit.

Your Why

The first place to start in breaking a bad habit is to acknowledge why you want to break this particular bad habit.  Think of the reason why you want to stop this bad habit.  The simple answer may be because you know it’s not good for you.  But, go a little bit deeper and think of what it will mean to you when you’ve quit this bad habit.  Maybe you’ll finally feel healthier or won’t be embarrassed because you’ve finally broken this habit.  Get in...

You have many habits.  Habits of eating your favorite foods, taking certain roads to the store, to self care habits.  Some may be healthy habits and some may be not so healthy habits.  Either way, habits are part of your daily life.  If you’re wanting to create a new habit then use these four steps to create a new habit in your life.

Trigger

The first thing you need in order to create a new habit is to have a trigger.  This is what will trigger you to take the action of the new habit you want to create.  The easiest way to pick a trigger is to choose a habit that you already do on a daily basis.  Such as, brushing your teeth, having your morning coffee, etc.  Choose an already existing habit that you have and use this as your trigger.  For example, if you want to make exercising your daily habit then place your running shoes in on your bathroom sink so that you’ll put them on before you brush your teeth. ...

Life feels good when you’re happy.  In order to create happiness in your day, it’s important to set aside specific time dedicated to doing things that will promote positivity and happiness in your life.  This means scheduling and planning out activities that make you happy throughout the day.  Your day should have a few elements carved into your schedule that focus on positivity and happiness.  Here are three elements you should include to create happiness in your day.

Down Time

First, schedule in some down time for yourself.  You need your own space to get away, escape, and relax.  This helps you reduce stress and gives you essential time to recharge.  This is time you’ve designated for a mental reset so that you can get your mind back into a positive state.  Use this time to let go of anything bothering you, stressing you out, or causing negative thoughts.  This time is meant for pure relaxation.  Sit in...

Your comfort zone is what you’re used to.  It’s the normal day to day activities where you know exactly what to expect.  There is little uncertainty in your life when you’re in your comfort zone.  However, the security of your comfort zone is preventing you from living your dream life.  You remain stuck in your mundane daily routine with little change or growth.  The days go by and soon a year has passed and nothing has changed.  Learn to step outside the security of your comfort zone so that you can finally live life to the fullest.

Security Blanket

As a child you may have had a security blanket.  A nice warm blanket that would keep you safe from the boogey man and any other childhood fears.  As adults, you create your own security blanket with invisible lines that you draw in your mind of what is safe and what’s not.  This is your comfort zone.  Your ego knows not to let you step outside the security...

You want to live your best life.  But, something may be feeling a bit off for you.  The following four questions will help you figure out what you need to address so that you can live your best life.  Get out a pen and a piece of paper to write down your responses to these four questions.  You may also find it easier to use a word document on your computer or the notes app on your phone.  Choose which ever method works best for you.  Just know that seeing your answers written down will give you so much more clarity than simply answering these questions quickly in your head.  Set aside the time to answer these four questions to help you live a better life.

What do you feel like is missing?

Take a look at your life and contemplate what is missing.  Think about what you believe is not there, but if it were, you’d feel happier about life.  This could be something in your environment.  Such as physical things, like a house,...

You often have this idea of a life path.  You go through school, graduate, get a great job, get married, buy a house, start a family, and eventually retire.  Retirement is almost like the light at the end of the tunnel.  It’s what you work so hard to achieve.  Because you believe that when you get there, that is when you can actually start living.  You can finally take action on the dreams you’ve had.  Over the years you’ve kept your head down, worked hard, and did what you’re supposed to do.  Now it’s your turn to enjoy life and do things on your terms in retirement.  However, if you’re waiting for retirement to do the things you’ve always wanted to do, it may just be too late.  The life path has lied to you because the best advice is to start living your dreams now rather than waiting for retirement.  Otherwise, your dreams will simply remain dreams and end up collecting dust.

The...

There are three main areas in your life that are holding you back from taking action and going after your dreams.  You may have this inkling of an idea but push it down because of three little excuses that get in the way.  Your ideas and dreams never see the light of day because you can’t overcome these three excuses.  It’s time to bust through those excuses and start living your dream life.  Here are the three excuses holding you back from achieving your goals.

Amount Of Time

The first excuse is time.  You believe you just don’t have enough time to get done what you need to.  You think that your goals will require too much time right now and you just don’t have the time to make it happen.  However, if this goal is important enough to you, you will make the time.  Think about those times in your life when you had a crucial deadline to get something done.  But, you wanted to go out and do something fun. ...