Over the past few years, more and more research has emerged related to the simple act of making decisions and how it affects our daily energy levels.

 

 

Ever feel spent, finished, drained, or burned out at the end of your day even when you haven’t exerted yourself physically?

 

Scientists have discovered that every time you make a decision your energy is slowly being depleted leading to lack of willpower.

 

Now—if you only had a few decisions to make every day this wouldn’t really seem like a big deal, but most resources report that we make ~35,000 decisions every day.

 

All successful and productive people use rituals. They are the tiny, invisible routines and collections of habits that these people do every single day to make sure that they get things done, that they don’t get interrupted, and that they can sustainably move towards their goals, one day at a time.

Let’s get right into what the 2-3 Rituals to start your day are;

One of the key traits of modern-day successful people is that they are morning owls. They wake up early – sometimes it’s as the sun comes up at 6am. Sometimes, it’s even earlier… as early as 4am in some cases.

There have been endless arguments about whether people who wake up early or people who are night owls are more productive or successful, and there are always exceptions to the rule. While we definitely lean towards the “wake up early” camp, the best way to find out for yourself is to test it – try a month of early starts, and a month of late starts, and see which yields you the best results.

To get you started, here’s how these highly successful people wake up so early every single day:

1.  They set up the night before correctly.

2.   They optimise their sleeping conditions.

3.   They implement a Morning Habit 

When you do these 3 things, getting up at 4am, 5am or 6am is no challenge at all. And as a result, you have more time in the morning to exercise, to do other key rituals, to spend with your family, or even to get to work early. In fact, a key benefit that we commonly hear from readers and customers who have implemented this ritual is that they can “get everything [they] need to get done before noon”.

The reason for this is simple: in the morning, others are usually not awake – so there are no phone calls, emails or interruptions to sidetrack you from getting your key things done.

This allows you to start your days extremely STRONG, and the momentum will carry you through almost any challenge that comes up.

You see, while the collective consciousness of late-starters are still dragging themselves out of bed and towards the door, you’re already out in the fresh air and sprinting ahead.

Which would you prefer – struggling to get in to work by 9am, not really waking up until 10am and then feeling lethargic after lunch? Or getting 2-3 power hours in before 9am, continuing through to noon and then being able to take it easy in the afternoon?

The Morning Ritual or Morning Routine is another staple of productive people. It describes the default set of actions that you take from the time that you wake up in the morning, to the time that you are ready to start your day.

The benefits of the morning ritual are many. It guarantees that you will go from groggy to awake by the end of it. So even if you wake up still half-asleep with an alarm going off, and you slightly hate the world for having you wake up before the sun is up… by the time you are through the 6 steps of the morning ritual, you’ll be happy, cheerful, feeling productive and that you can take on anything – even that dreaded Most Important Task of your day.

The morning ritual also gives you perfect starts to your day, and this creates a powerful momentum in your life. Don’t underestimate the impact that this can have – when you have consistently productive and successful mornings, you start to have consistently productive and successful days, then weeks, then months, then years… and before you know it, you’ll have become that better version of yourself that you want to be.

The morning ritual lets you start your day with purpose – instead of arriving at your morning coffee with no idea what’s going to happen next.

It also streamlines your morning process and trims away anything unnecessary. This means no more 2-3 hours of fussing with clothes, your phone, your email and everything else… only to find that you’re still late for work.

With a properly structured morning ritual in place, you can be ready to go in 1-1.5 hours every morning… and know that you have the best possible advantage for beginning your days.

Decision fatigue is why sensible people get angry for no reason, spend too much money on stuff they don’t need, and buy junk food at the supermarket checkout.

 

The food industry knows shoppers are depleted of mental energy from all the decisions they just made. When willpower is gone, temptation rears its ugly head and you’re more vulnerable to the quick fix of a sugar high.

 

Not to mention, every time you look at your Smartphone, laptop, or tablet you’re draining your mental energy.

 

The problem is this: we’re not even consciously aware this is happening to us.

 

If you ever find yourself exhausted with no energy to exercise or spend quality time with your family at the end of your day, this podcast will give you a remarkably easy solution.

 

The simple act of planning and scripting your next day ahead of time can dramatically limit the amount of decisions you have to make on a daily basis.

 

When you wake up without having your day planned and scripted, you’ll feel like you’re playing catch-up the whole day leading to feelings of overwhelm, emotional instability, lack of willpower, and lower energy levels.

 

Conversely, when you take 15-30 minutes every night to map out your diet, your exercise routine, and your “to-do” list for the next day you eliminate HALF of the decisions you would normally make in a day.

 

For example, just think about how the simple act of pre-making a protein shake for each morning and eating healthy leftovers every day for lunch can save you from having to make more decisions.

 

Then batch your time. Instead of checking your Smartphone and email dozens of times each day, just block time and do it 2 or 3 per day instead. The world is not going to end if you miss a Facebook comment and don’t answer a phone call or a text message.

 

Trust me, these two simple habits alone will cut your decision-making in half and improve your quality of life in a big way.

 

And when you cut your decisions in half, you’ll dramatically increase your daily energy levels for exercise… and have the willpower to make intelligent eating choices.

 

Not to mention, being there for your family and loved ones to give them your best.

 

 One lucky listener that posts a review on iTunes will win a private confidential consultation and coaching with me on discovering your soul’s purpose. I will lead you on a personal journey to discover your unique mind-body psychosomatic map of your life. You will get a detailed report and a personal 45 minute consultation with me that is worth thousands.

On this podcast I’m going to help you design a life that works. So you are able to say yes to the things that matter and eliminate everything else that slows you down. The more clear you can be about how to organize your daily life to support your bigger vision, the more you’ll step into your true potential, stay on track and accomplish all that you want and deserve. Are you ready to make that happen? 

Feel free to reach out to me to ask your questions at AskDrSun.com.   Your life is a gift. Design it. Do what matters and join me each week as we get closer to designing the life of your dreams.  I am Dr Sun. Join me next week on Your Life by Design.