BY SHANA LYNN YAO

You’ve been feeling a little “off” lately, and you just can’t seem to shake it. Could it maybe be your morning routine (or lack of an intentional one) that could supercharge you from just ok to AMAZING?

Here’s the things about mornings… they happen everyday. And if you’re starting everyday letting how you feel, your social media (other people’s lives), or your giant to do list drive your day, chances are you may be left feeling anxious, pulled in every direction, and, well, a little “off”.

There’s a reason everybody is talking about the importance of having a good morning routine… but doing the things everyone is recommending is NOT the answer. You’re a unique snowflake :) - but seriously - we’re all born with different bodies, different neurochemistry, and having different lives. So whether you wake up to a house full of kids that need your attention, or you’re not a morning person, there are a few simple hacks everyone can implement and get amazing results from. It just requires a little discipline (more on this later) and a good reason WHY you want to do it.

LIFE IS SHORT

Let’s just cut to the chase. Life is short. No matter if you’re 20 or 60, life ends for all of us.

We treat our lives like we have forever to live. Spend an hour on social media, and you’ve just spent an hour of your life bank account.

It sounds dramatic, but if you knew you only had $100 to spend all month, you would spend every penny differently, wouldn’t you?

Life is short so let’s not waste it regretting our time wasting past, and jump into a morning made for having your best day ever - everyday.

THE HABIT OF AMAZING

Could having an amazing day be as simple as creating the habit?

In fact, YES IT CAN! Here’s why - we have 60,000-80,000 thoughts a day, 95% of them are unconscious and 80% are negative. That’s a lot of thought and a lot of repetitive thoughts that we don’t even know we are thinking.

As Dr. Joe Dispenza says, if you want a new outcome, you will have to break the habit of being yourself, and reinvent a new self. That pesky subconscious mind - the one where the 95% of unconscious thoughts live, is where you store your bad habits, negative thinking patterns, and past trauma. And if you don’t fix that pattern, you will never change your life.

Sure, you may accomplish things, and you can still have a “good life”, but to have a really great life of no regrets, it starts with conscious awareness and progressive change of the conversation inside of you head.

What does this have to do with your morning routine?

Everyday when we wake up and go to sleep, our brains are in a state of theta - a programmable and malleable state. At those points - when many people are programming their minds with television or social media - our subconscious mind is able to take conscious thoughts and visions, and place it deep into our minds.

This means, when you wake up, those first few critical moments and even a few hours after, can impact the rest of your day, break old patterned thinking, and create new neuropathways towards your highest and best self. This is where ideas and connections to your conscious vision of your best life, your vision of the future, can be manifested.

DISCIPLINE EQUALS FREEDOM

It’s hard until one day, it’s not.

The problem with creating a successful routine is lack of discipline and consistency. I know. Alarms when you don’t need to set one are not pleasant. Knowing your kids will be waiting for you when you get up can be stressful. And all of the things you need to do…

I remember when I told my mentor how difficult my life was because of the health condition I wth as struggling with. It took so much time and energy. I just couldn’t find it in myself to do anything different.

And he told me, that was an excuse.

WHAT?!?! But I DO have a health condition. I DO have kids that need me. I DO have so much to do.

If you’re trying to change anything, go from a “good life” to a greater one, and actually challenge your potential, it’s going to hard…until it’s not. Those things that are seemingly real blocks and distractions, are real, but since they are not going to go away, supercharging your life is going to have to involve doing things despite them.

It’s creating the habit of AMAZING. To be clear, this is NOT never having a “bad day”, or things never going wrong. But this is about being the type of person that doesn’t let it get the best of you. Empowering your mindset to a more permanently positive state, and manifesting good things you didn’t even know were possible into your life.

It’s not woo woo, it’s WOOHOO! Powerful morning routines have the potential to seriously upgrade your life - wherever you are in your life journey.

MORNING HACKS TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE

CLAIM YOUR DAY

When we wake up, our cortisol levels rise (to get us up) are are peaking 30–45 minutes after awakening. If you’ve ever woken up in a panic, what has happened in the blink of an eye, is, with elevated cortisol levels combined with a rush of stressful thoughts you may have consciously (or unconsciously) been thinking, sends you into a panic.

Instead of letting your mind run loose, you need to claim your day. To do this, create one sentence of what you want your day to be. Something like “Today is going to be amazing!” or “Good things are coming my way today!” and actually putting intention and emotion behind it, may sound stupid, but your subconscious mind doesn’t judge.

You may feel like a fraud the first few times, but after a few days, it will feel natural, and you actually will notice how different your day is.

2. AN ABUNDANCE OF GRATITUDE

We have 3 brains, the fear brain, emotional brain, and what I call your stupid thinking brain (the smart one). Unfortunately, they go in that order. When you wake up, your brain is trained to spot things it fears, to protect you. So whatever story ruminating in your subconscious mind can trigger you into an avalanche of panic and anxiety.

Gratitude (and this is why everybody says to say it) sets our focus on abundance instead of lack. It puts our fear brain at ease, and allows you (for the rest of the day) to be less triggered, more open to spotting opportunities, and (I have to say it) manifesting your best life.

3. WATER IS LIFE

When we sleep, our body gets dehydrated. Add in the sharp rise in cortisol when you awaken, and your body is in a state of shock. Drinking at least 8 oz of a good quality water, fuels your body and your brain.

Our brains are 73% water. Hydration is crucial to refueling your brain, improving your overall mood, and boosting alertness. It also balances your lymphatic system, so you boost your own immune system.

Add a pinch of pink himalayan salt for bonus points, as the sodium chloride will help detoxify your body and help it rehydrate faster

4. BRAIN FUEL

Our cells are mostly made of fat. This means, feeding them a high quality source of MCTs, or medium-chain triglycerides, can help fuel your brain and body. Due to their shorter chain length, MCTs travel more quickly from the gut to the liver and do not require bile to break down like longer-chain fats do, so your body can immediately use it as energy.

A high quality MCT oil - like Bulletproof Brain Octane Oil - enables your body make ketones, an energy source for your brain AND a fat burner. You gain mental clarity (try it - it works!) and have a boost of energy from your own body (not from the addition of food) so your body functions optimally.

Plus, you stay full longer (if you are intermittent fasting), and the energy lasts all day.

5. ACTIVE FOCUS MEDITATION

Who has time to meditate when you have kids waiting for you, things to do, places to go?

Meditation is not about sitting on a pillow in an incense filled room and chanting to the powers that be. It’s not even about stopping all thought. It’s about actually being aware that you ARE thinking, and understanding the different between the voices in your head and what is just patterned negative thinking.

There is an easy (and better!) way to reach your conscious mind - I call it Active Focus Meditation. It involves going outside within an hour of waking, playing your favorite theme song or playlist, and walking or running for at least 20 minutes.

Active Focus Meditation is backed by science, to shut down your stupid thinking brain - the cognitive brain that also judges you, and creates the negative stories in your head that become our limited selves. Combined with fast breathing from continuous, forward movement, and music that is methodical, it can shift any state you are in, break any thinking patterns, and allow your emotional brain (the smart one that produces the heartfelt emotions and gut, intuitive responses) come alive.

Additionally, getting outside in daylight (even if it is a cloudy day) first thing in the morning helps your body generate stem cells, endorphins, and resets your circadian rhythm so you have better sleep at night.

Still don’t have time? Get up 20 minutes earlier. Take your kids. Take your dog. When your reason is strong enough, it’s amazing what you can do, including creating time.

ADDING & SUBTRACTING

There are a few more things I could recommend - celery juice, an amazing liquid collagen to rebuild your body, grow hair and pad your joints, and a few more hacks, but the few essentials are enough to empower you with the energy and focus to have an amazing day.

Now, here are a few things you may want to subtract. As Steve Jobs said, “I'm actually as proud of the things we haven't done as the things I have done.”

Here are a few things to keep in mind.

START SAYING NO TO AVERAGE

Have you ever ended a busy day - one of those days when you didn’t have time to breathe - and yet when you lay down in bed, you wonder what you did all day?

This may be hard to hear but that’s an indication that you may be doing a lot of AVERAGE things or may not have taken time in the morning to get centered and find clarity in your OWN VISION. You may have said “yes” to a lot of average things, hence leaving you with a feeling out being out of control or having life run you instead of the opposite way around.

If that’s you, it’s time to start subtracting. Take a look at the items on your calendar and to-do list. Which ones energize you or restore you? Which ones drain you and leave you feeling depleted? If your list is overwhelming, just pick one and see if you can either remove it from your life or delegate this responsibility to someone else, allowing less time for it, etc.

Once you take control of your days and start filling it with a lot of UN-AVERAGE things, it will start adding up in ways you can’t even imagine right now. You’ll have more energy, and more mental and physical space to ALLOW things you want in.

SUBTRACT NEGATIVE SELF TALK

Have you ever listened to the voices in your head? As we discussed earlier, we have 60-80,000 thoughts a day, 95% of them are unconscious, and 80% are negative. WOW - that’s a lot of thought going on and if you aren’t careful, you could be depleting your own happiness and success with the “background noise” in your brain.

One way to start noticing what that voice is telling you is to be present when something triggers you. Something like comparing yourself to people on Instagram. Come on - we’ve ALL done it - and if you can keep yourself in neutral and listen carefully, chances are you’ll hear that little “why is that person getting all these likes? Why do they look so happy, beautiful, insert what your voice is saying…

While you may never be able to completely remove those voices, being aware of the THOUGHT AFTER THE THOUGHT will allow you to hear the negative, judgmental and self-defeating voices you tell yourself. This is one area where adding in something new—a positive and affirming message to yourself, and asking yourself powerful questions like “Is this true? Is it really really true?”

SUBTRACT AN UNCONSCIOUS HABIT HOLDING YOU BACK

Sometimes unproductive habits creep into your life and you don’t really even notice it - it’s just what you call “life”. That is until you really start to notice the consequences of these habits.

For example, maybe every time you want to do something for yourself that is a little challenging - like working out or writing, or looking at your budget - and because it requires extra work you find yourself looking at your social media, or CREATING a “to do” that wasn’t on your list today but you do “need” to do it some time. At first, it’s not a big deal. But over time, you start to feel more and more nervous and stressed about the thing you’re NOT doing and avoiding. You suddenly realize you have no money to pay your bills, or your health slowly declines.

If you’re noticing consequences that you don’t like, take a step back and look at what’s behind these consequences. Is there an unproductive habit at play? If so, what would it take to remove that habit?

It’s hard to do new things - a new morning routine, and it’s hard to let go of old patterns. But life is about choice and change, and as noted earlier, mornings and days happen EVERY day.

What morning hacks can you add in, and what old patterns can you subtract today to make your life begin adding up in a new and exciting ways? The more positive CHOICES you make towards CREATING your best life, the more your life will start to open up and ALLOW more space for the positive and more time to enjoy the other things in your life.