Every conscious action is a vote for the person you want to be.
Most of us feel like we’re failing in at least one key corner of our lives. We promise ourselves we’re going to CRUSH our plans to launch wholeheartedly into fitness, nutrition, writing, creativity, parenting, career goals… and then?
Staying motivated gets tough, so we fail.
Is this really what happens, though? We are motivated. We do genuinely want a life that is healthier, happier, and more inspired. What we lacked was a concrete plan including a series of habits, launching ourselves instead into the endless failure cycle: Desire > weak strategy > feelings of failure and discouragement.
What if we’re as happy and fulfilled as we choose to be?
And what if we choose our path through habits, not sheer willpower? To create the happiness we desire, we must design a strategy – a map to our North Star – by becoming the kind of person who can achieve what we dream for ourselves. By creating a series of daily habits that eventually become automatic actions, we start to carve a smoother path toward the beautiful life that’s waiting for us. The great news is that everyone can do this.
Rise and decide.
One of the most powerful ways to get started through a morning mindset practice. Creating a habit of choosing what goes into our minds first thing in the morning. This is one of the most profound ways you can change your life, starting tomorrow morning. The good news? You can do this in five minutes.
The Rebel Mindset.
When the COVID 19 lockdown began, I decided to share the strategy for my personal morning practice, every day on Instagram at 7 AM ET. You’re welcome to join me live, Monday to Friday, or to join in afterward by clicking the videos in my IG stories. But what if you “have no time”?
Do you have 5 minutes?
Yes, you do. Trust me. Even if you’re a single-parent entrepreneur running a 24-7 business with a newborn baby, I promise you, you have time for this. These five minutes will actually create more time in your day…by shifting the chemistry and carving new neural pathways in your brain, you will – over time – become the kind of person who focuses on gratitude, opportunity, and kindness. You will become stronger and more resilient . Here’s how even the most busy of humans can launch this life-changing habit.
The fastest way to change your day, every day.
Wake up. Go to the washroom. Don’t check your phone. Sit tall, some place quiet. Roll your shoulders, soften your jaw, close your eyes. Deeply relax your belly. Take three full, mindful breaths, making your exhales just a little longer than your inhales.
Bring into your mind one thing you’re grateful for. Avoid what I call “box-checking” gratitude. Instead of naming off the things we intellectually know we’re supposed to be thankful for (financial stability, a roof over our heads, a good partner, food in the fridge), focus instead on the way this gratitude makes you feel. Notice where you feel the gratitude. Gratitude is not in the mind – it’s not an idea – it’s a feeling. Where do you feel it? Take three breaths into this feeling of gratitude.
Become the kind of person who pauses to feel grateful for blessings in life.
Then, bring into your mind a past challenge. Reflect on how this challenge brought valuable lessons into your life. Take three breaths, reflecting on ways you can be grateful for the growth this hurdle brought into your life.
Become the kind of person who pauses to remember that all challenges are stepping stones toward growth and opportunity.
Then bring into your mind any negativity or resentments you woke up with today. Notice if – through these thoughts – tension is created in the body. Consciously soften where you’ve tightened. Work to choose to let this heaviness and resentment go, just for this moment, so you can travel forward into your day feeling lighter and more free. (No small task, but this is why it’s a daily practice…it gets easier!).
Become the kind of person who chooses not to give your power away to the past or to another person. Choose to become the kind of person who chooses to live inside their own freedom.
Take another three breaths. Send yourself gratitude for taking a few minutes this morning to create positive neural pathways in your brain. Send yourself some loving kindness, then feel that kindness expand outward, landing within the hearts of the people you love, the people you work with, the people in your community, and beyond. If you have the strength today, even send some kindness to the people you find difficult. Visualize your kindness landing within them and radiating outward, creating a positive wave of kindness in the world, without attachment.
Then, reach your arms up on a great big inhale, and on your exhale draw your hands to your heart, filling yourself up with a huge amount of kindness and compassion directed to your own heart.
Become the kind of person who leads with kindness.
Pause for three breaths to notice the change you created in your body, heart and mind.
Now, go crush your day, primed with an unstoppable, resilient Rebel Mind!
Want the full version, featuring all 8 steps of our Rebel Mindset practice? For now, you can join me on Instagram.
You’ve got this Rebels.