Mmm…Morning Routine, Meditation, and Mindset = Tasty Day!

A few blog posts back I mentioned I was bit out of it. I was less happy, productive, fun, healthy and authentic than normal. In an effort to move past this slight slump, I started tracking my habits with the idea that if I followed what I new I had to do and tracked it, I would do better. This process started Friday, November 5, and was a complete failure, until last Friday, November 19. Apparently it takes 2 weeks for me to get pissed off enough to do what I want to do right.

To summarize, the days I tracked, I wasn’t disciplined and only did some of the things I know I have to do to achieve my optimal performance (wake up on time, do my morning routine, eat right, exercise, meditate, etc)…and the days weren’t so great. I also only tracked 7/14 days…nice, Ryan.

Then last Fri comes along; I have a horrible day at work dealing with cranky customers and co-workers, I’m frustrated because I’m well below my sales target for the month, and I have to work Sat, Sun, and Mon. Fan-didily-tastic…I felt like quitting.

Saturday morning comes along, and I am NOT impressed with my current state of affairs, so I decided to do what I do whenever I get low, meditate. This was the definitive turning point, and I am literally shocked to report my results since then!!! (I started tracking again Saturday as well) Here’s the brief rundown of the results I achieved based on my tasty diet, Mmm…Morning Routine, Meditation, and Mindset:

Most Quantitative/Tangible Results

Work (Month of November prior to Sat, Nov 20 = 4 sales)

• Saturday, Nov 20 = 2 sales
• Sunday, Nov 21 = 2 sales (I start to get excited, and set a goal to do the same Monday)
• Monday, Nov 22 = 2 sales

• I receive 2 compliments at work from customers on my helpfulness and pleasantness…cool!

Strange???  I think so. 6 sales in 3 days, 4 all of month prior…not bad.

Qualitative/Subjective Results

• Nothing bothers me, whenever something most would perceive as negative occurs; I roll with it, take it as a challenge, and see how I can benefit.
• I’m more attentive in class, ask questions, and laugh when I bomb my Finance test (worst professor ever, I would have done far better taking it online with only the textbook…Ill pass the course, don’t worry folks)
• Work is fun; I joke around with customers and co-workers, and try to facilitate more teamwork in the workplace
• I get 3 points in our 4-3 loss in hockey on the weekend, and have a grand time even though we lose in a shootout
• I get a date for this week with a pretty girl
• I feel great, I’m present significantly more than before, I enjoy the snow and cold (and it’s very cold, with lots of snow), I am even more grateful for my life, happier, more productive, more authentic, and healthier! (I rate these on a scale of 1-7 daily, and they’re around 6-7 the past 5 days,  previously 4-6)

All in all, it’s been a pretty awesome 5 days, and I’m definitely going to keep it going! I’ve read a ton about the power of meditation, a solid morning routine, and mindset, but I obviously didn’t believe it enough to take it as seriously as I should have in the past. Thanks to my little tracking system, I now have definitive quantitative and qualitative proof that these 3 things are the real deal, not just “fluff”!

Since I now fully believe that these 3 areas are CRITICAL to sustainable success and happiness, I’ve decided to dedicate an entire blog post to each of Morning Routine, Meditation, and Mindset. Look for them in the coming week to get the inside scoop and see if there’s anything that you want to take for yourself!

Food For Thought/Foreshadow:

“I call myself a peaceful warrior, because the battles we fight are on the inside” – Socrates (Peaceful Warrior – movie)