Get Excited for the day!

Do you remember those days were you could not sleep at night because you could not wait for the next day to come? This could be a vacation that you were excited to go on, a birthday, or even Christmas. Is there anything outside of these events that gets you excited now? If not how can you get yourself excited to tackle and make the most of the day?

I found as I have gotten older that some things that I once got excited over I now don’t. I had to learn to rewire my brain to create a sense of excitement so that I could utilize this energy to catapult me forward.  The steps I take a small, simple, and repeatable.

Every night before I go to bed I start to lay out my goals and tasks for the next day. It is during this process that I start to visualize myself successfully completing these tasks. I imagine the feelings I have when I have crossed the finish line. I also imagine what other people say and do when they see the accomplishments. This small exercise gets me excited and my mind racing, so much so that I do have a hard time sleeping and cannot wait to tackle these the next day.

Another key point is to have everything laid out for the next day. I am talking about clothes, food, paperwork, and anything else that is needed for the day. Having all this stuff ready for the next day limits and minimizes delays. You will be able to start the day running and ready and not preparing to get ready.

When the alarm goes off, if one is needed. I jump up and start the task tackling activities. It is these events that I got excited about the night before. For me, I usually walk my dog first thing in the morning, how to I make this exciting? I challenge myself to accomplish a specific distance in a certain time, usually trying to beat the previous day’s record. I not only want to beat the distance time goal, I also want to accomplish it by a certain time as well. Why? Because this keeps me going and it encourages me to start right away. Some time ago, I would slowly start my day, read email, and check the news, the weather. Almost anything but move the needle forward. Now, by having a completion by a certain time goal, it forces me to get going on the task.  I will continue through my day with similar activities and task.

I have found that the more of a game and personal challenges that I create the more I stay on task. At the end of the day I want to be able to say and prove that I beat my previous day’s self. In most case I do. I will admit I do not win every day, but every day I do put out an effort to win.

This strategy works for me. Let me know what type of strategy you use to motivate you throughout the day and get you excited in the morning.