“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” -Lao Tzu
Sometimes life can seem like a race where we are caught up between responsibilities. We can simplify our life by, bringing our attention to the present moment or at least closer to the present. Learning how to master your day is the best way towards building up that future you want. After identifying your goals and break them down into small achievable daily tasks is the best and effective way towards a more structured and full-filling life.
When I started my journey to design a more fulfilling life, the first change was to upgrade my habits. I am still learning and growing yet these habits changed me completely and increased my overall happiness.
Before jumping into these habits, please try to assess where you are now to where you want to be. Identifying and accepting our current situation is crucial for building an effective plan. From this list take out the one or two habits that you think will be most beneficial for you and start implementing. Start small so it will be easier to stay consistent.
These are the habits that helped me to feel a sense of satisfaction and wholeness at the end of the day and also to create more space for things that matter.
1. The day starts the night before –Taking out 10minutes of your nighttime and jotting down your thoughts and agenda for the next day will free up a lot of time and mental space.
2. Starting your day with some quiet moment –Rather than jumping into the phone or social media start the day with a moment of silence. Sit silently for few moments before rushing into anything and give thanks for the wonderful things in your life. By expressing gratitude you are stating the abundance in your life and this paves way for more and more abundance to your life.
3. Did I Live Love and matter -Next is a journaling habit. Thanks to Brendon Burchard the author of high-performance habits, for this brilliant idea to narrow down to the core questions to get the right answer.
What actions you can adopt to live this day more fully?
How can I embody love or be more loving today?
How can I make a difference today?
Starting your day with the right questions and setting up simple tasks which are aligned with these tasks, will help to shape our day in more full-filling ways.
4. Getting the basics correct.
The one thing I always follow, when things are muddy is, I strengthen the basics. What are the basics?
A good and wholesome diet, fun and effective exercise routine, and the right amount of sleep and double-check on the quality of people I surround myself with or the quality of the content I consume.
Getting the basics straightened out will automatically lead to good decisions and will enable you to be more present. Our daily habits must give equal importance to the basics as much as we gave to our bigger goals.
5. Reviewing the day before at work and taking 10 mins to plan based on insights from the last day.
6. The 90/90/1 rule by Robin Sharma (Canadian Author) -Learning to be a creator than a competitor in my work was a life-transforming shift for me. How can you be a creator? Rather than trying to fight against the competition, use your mental faculties on providing more value in the workplace. To provide more value we need to learn and develop our skills. That is where the 90/90/1 rule helps us.
The 90/90/1 rule says for 90 days, the first 90mins of your day has to be set aside for developing and mastering a skill that will help you perform better and serve better.
7. Take time to nourish and recharge-This can be a walk outside or painting, cleaning, or maybe sitting with family. Find out the activities that help you truly relax.( No, I don’t think scrolling down through social media as a way to relax or watching Netflix for that matter).Increase the quality of your actions by making the small shifts.
Good quality sleep is essential to run efficiently. To ensure good quality sleep, make sure you keep aside the mobile at least an hour before sleep. This time can be used for planning the next day or maybe some guided meditations or some simple stretch routines that can help you sleep better.
Thoughts of Freedom 