By Shana Lynn Yao

Your morning routine - you've heard you should have one, have read a million articles about "What successful people do everyday" - but the kids are screaming, you have to get to work, and "I'll do that when things slow down" are the excuses you tell yourself for NOT living your best life now.

The truth is, being healthy is not just something you need to "put on the list" of things to get to. You life is literally passing before your eyes. And when you really are truthful with yourself - when has it ever slowed down? Chances are you get busier and suddenly your once healthy goals become a tedious thing at the bottom of your to do list.

But in fact, what you do or don't do everyday can have a long term impact on both your health and your happiness. And it's just not necessary. At the bare minimum, if you just do these 3 things everyday, you could prevent long term health conditions, weight gain, and stress and anxiety.

How Your Daily Routine Impacts Your Health & Happiness

“The things you do everyday become the days in your life. Your life only gets better when you do.”

What you do everyday actually matters more than you know. Research shows that 95% of all human thought is unconscious and repetitive. That means that if you aren't actively focusing on doing things that make you happy and healthy, you're literally living your own groundhog day over and over again.

So if you are in a negative cycle, it won't change unless you do. Additionally, the cells in your body and mind regenerate every 24-48 hours - but at a certain point, if you aren't taking care of yourself, your systems age, slow down, and long term, health conditions develop, your weight creeps up, and depression can set in.

I could go on and on but if you're ready to end that downward spiral with 3 SIMPLE steps - let's get started.

3 Things You Must Do Everyday

1. DRINK WATER WHEN YOU WAKE UP

Hydrate. You know you should but you don't want to have to go to the bathroom all of the time. In actuality, going to the bathroom often is GOOD for you. It's one of the ways your body gets rid of toxins. And drinking water first thing in the morning is not only important but can eliminate the panic many people feel when they wake up.

During your sleep, your body is in a resting metabolism. It's ASLEEP. So when your alarm goes off - and especially if you are busy - your body wakes up and produces coritsol. Cortisol in healthy amounts and at the right times, gives you energy. And when you wake up, if you ever wake up in a panic, it's because your body is producing cortisol to literally wake up your body and because overnight you become dehydrated, if not controlled, cortisol can cause you to go into a state of panic (if you ever felt rushed and stressed in the morning, some of it is be cause your body is dehydrated).

TO DO: Upon rising, drink at least 8 oz of water (preferably fresh spring water not from the tap). Many people also add a tsp of pink himalayan salt to speed hydration.

2. GET MOVING

Exercising everyday is not just something you do when you go to the gym and it's not to be ignored or put off. Movement is important for circulating your energy so your your lymphatic system, your nervous system, and your brain can work in concert to keep you healthy and heal. It helps your body assimilate nutrients you eat and clears your lymphatic system of toxins that build up.

Additionally, research shows that moving your body between the hours of 6am - 8am can affect your melatonin levels and help you sleep better.

To make moving everyday both productive and doable, I recommend what I call Active Focus Meditation. It's not a sitting meditation - which is great if you do it -but this can be done instead of or in addition to that. Research shows that moving your body while engaging your thoughts about your success goals and combined with your auditory factors creates new neuropathways in your brain around your IDENTITY.

Doubt it? If the research didn't change your mind, did you know that Tony Robbins says he doesn't meditate? He does a version of Active Focus Meditation.

TO DO: Within an hour of waking up, go outside, walk or run for 10-20 minutes, listen to your favorite theme song or playlist that gives you an emotional response, and focus on your highest self, your success goals (NOT your to do list but what you want for your life as a whole). I go running with my dog everyday (see? You can multitask) ;)

3. SLEEP

During sleep your body heals itself. According to Shawn Stevenson, best selling author of SLEEP SMARTER and the #1 health podcast The Model Health Show says sleep deprivation can cause immune system failure, diabetes, cancer, obesity, depression, and memory loss just to name a few.

Just one night of sleep deprivation can make you as insulin resistant as a type-2 diabetic. This translates directly to aging faster and weight gain from stored fat.

Research shows that it's not so much the quantity (although that does matter too) but the QUALITY of sleep. Having a night time routine is necessary to relax and set yourself up for a restful sleep.

Just remember, it doesn't matter how busy you are - not sleeping will take a toll on your body. Not just with the bags and circles under your eyes, or the extra weight you gain around your waist - but it's what you don't see that hurts you. Your cells can't reproduce. Your tissues can't rebuild. And slowly, your body and cells won't regenerate.

I don't mean to scare you, but I know this for personal reasons. After only sleeping an hour a night for 3 years after my mom died, my connective tissue disorder developed. Today I sit with 2 deformed hands, and my bones are popping out from my loose ligaments. While I am taking radical measures to stop the degeneration of my body, I have to share because I want you to know what can happen if you don't start taking care of yourself.

Overall, there are so many more things you can and should do to be happy and healthy - and I will try to cover them in THE DAILY as time passes. But time is passing. And if you don't make time to take care of yourself, no one is going to do it for you.

So I want to ask you, what are the 3 things you're going to start doing TODAY? Tell me below in the comments and let's make this world a healthier and happier place, starting with YOU.

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