These 2 habits will change your life

What are you doing every day to feed your passion; to center you; to refocus your attention and create a laser beam lock on your goals and dreams? As human beings, our natural state will tend to drive us toward comfort, stasis, and mediocrity.  It does not take work to live a life of mediocrity.  On the other hand, success, happiness, and fulfillment do not happen by chance or by accident.  They come from an intense work ethic and a constant and never-ending drive to grow and become a little better every single day. After years of voraciously reading and studying successful people and their habits, I have found two traits common in all of them: they become a master of their mornings and they are always looking for ways to grow.  They become almost like an addict to uncomfortable and scary situations because they know that is where they have the opportunity for the biggest growth.

I decided to make a commitment to knock both of those out in one shot.  You see, I never would have considered myself a morning person.  I am the type that liked to wake up as late as humanly possible, rush to get ready, and storm out of the house to arrive to work just in time.  It worked for me for a while.  I convinced myself that it was just the way I was, nothing would change that, and I would need to accept that about myself.  The truth is that I was never going to accept that about myself because I knew I could do better.  I wasn't satisfied because I was a victim to my vices.  For me, that was sleeping in late.  Of course I had control over it, but I was trying to convince myself I didn't so I would feel better about myself.  How many of you do that in some area of your life, whether it is telling yourself you have a sweet tooth you have no control over or exercise is just not your thing? I hated that I didn't have control over that area of my life.  I had this internal battle for a while until my coach, Stephen Franson, called me out and brought to my attention that my excuses were bullshit and I could change if I really wanted to.  That was exactly the push I needed.  I committed to waking up earlier and developing a set routine to master my morning so could become a master of my day.  Was this new commitment scary for me? Hell yea it was.  What if I failed at it? What if I couldn't actually pull myself out of bed? These may seem like small things to you but to me, not sticking to this plan represented failure in my eyes and I do not like to fail at anything.  Instead of using this fear to paralyze me into inaction, I chose to commit to this powerful step in my growth. Have I woken up late on occasion or hit the snooze button more than I would have liked to? Absolutely.  But everyday is a new day that I recommit to myself and I learn from my failed mornings to create successful mornings the next day.  And you know what? Each time I fail and I learn from it, I grow and become better at it the next time. Life is not about perfection.  It is about progress.  It is about taking small steps everyday to live your life better than the day before.  What are you afraid of? What challenge have you been putting off?  Take charge of it and it will change your life.  I guarantee it.

                        Love,
                        Matt

My "Hour of Power"  morning routine for your reference:

1) Read something spiritual/personal development to kick start my morning.
2) 10 minutes of silent meditation.
3) What am I grateful for?
4) What am I committed to for the day? In my life?
5) 30 minutes of yoga while listening to something professional/motivational/inspirational.