Instead of thinking about all the things I had to do today, I brought I had the greatest day all from simple little things that don't seem like.
“Success in life is founded upon attention to the small things rather than to the large things.” – Booker T. Washington
Our lives are a large collection of single days one right after the other. The sun rises, the sun sets, and it rises again. And in the end, the lives we chose to live will be determined by how we choose to spend each day.
Unfortunately, for most of my life, I embraced little intentionality in my days. I survived each new day, but made little effort to make the most of it. Instead, they simply just came and went… and many were wasted.
But over the past few years, my views have changed. I have begun to view each day as an important gift. I have sought to embrace each one individually and discover the potential that it holds. After all, some may get more days than others, but each of us have been given this one. And we ought to be making the most of it.
Here are 10 simple steps I have personally found helpful to make the most of every day:
1. Rise early. It was this article about becoming an early riser that motivated me to make this significant change in my sleeping habits. And I’ve never looked back. Early mornings are quiet, peaceful, productive, energizing… and my favorite part of the day.
2. Eat right. The food we put into our bodies becomes the fuel on which it runs. We are wise to make sure it is the right kind of fuel at every meal. Just be sure to include some protein in your breakfast, your mind will be sharper and clearer because of it.
3. Exercise. According to recent studies, people who exercise regularly report to be happier, calmer, and better equipped to handle whatever the day decides to throw at them. Interestingly enough, the study seemed to indicate these benefits were experienced on a day-to-day basis, which means you can begin to experience them today by choosing to exercise just 20 minutes.
4. Accomplish one big task. We all have projects, work, and requirements for our time – things that we need to accomplish. Likely, your to-do list is longer than you can accomplish in one day. But to make the most of this day, choose one big thing on your list and do it first. If you finish, move on to the next.
5. Do one thing that you love. Apart from the day-to-day requirements of living life, you have dreams, goals, and hopes. You have hobbies that you love and activities that breathe life into who you are. Embrace these life-giving opportunities. And do one thing every day that you love.
6. Rest effectively. Rest is as essential to our bodies as food and water and air. Our bodies need to be refreshed on a daily basis and a weekly basis. Don’t neglect to schedule rest. And don’t feel guilty about it when you do.
7. Be present with others. Put away distractions. Engage in conversation. Ask questions. Give time for answers. And look people in the eye when you do. Their eyes reveal far more than their words.
8. Give to someone else. Your fullest joy in life will not be found living it selfishly for yourself. Rather, the periods of greatest joy and fulfillment are found in the moments and motivations when we are choosing to give to others. Invest your life in someone else everyday. Mentor a child. Help a co-worker. Fund a local charity. Or just make that phone call to a friend who needs to hear from you.
9 Nurture your soul. Our lives are more than flesh and blood. They are also mind and heart and soul. Find time each day to feed your soul by embracing gratitude, laughter, hope, and faith.
10. Reset. Tomorrow is another day with great potential and opportunity. You’ll want to begin it with a clear slate and a fresh start. Take 10 minutes each evening to clear the clutter and refresh your home for the next day. Tomorrow’s self will thank you for it.
Today is among the greatest gifts we have ever been given. Let’s use it wisely and refuse to waste a single one.
Image: LowJumpingFrog
But to make the most of this day, choose one big thing on your list and do it first. If you finish, move Invest your life in someone else everyday. Mentor a child.
Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Every day, as soon as we wake, we have the opportunity to create something magical. No matter what transpires with outward forces, the only thing that really matters is your attitude toward your own world. You have the power to create or extinguish your own happiness.
It starts with a positive thought that steadily grows to a natural disposition. It will further flourish and breed happiness in others because positivity is highly contagious. Simplychoose to be happy, starting today. Here are 13 ways to accomplish this:
When your eyes open to the light of a new day, take a moment to set an intention. What do you want from the day? What do you want to feel?
Better yet, offer your intention to someone else who needs it. There’s no need to stop dreaming just because you woke up.
Today, let menial matters bounce off of you like water does oil. Traffic? Revel in the view. Someone cut you off? Understand that you don’t know what is happening in the other person’s life.
Late? Make the most of the time that's left. Lost something? Appreciate what you have. If you worry about trifling matters, then you’re only losing time during which great things can happen.
Share your happiness with others and pass your smile around. You never know how your smile might affect someone else’s day or how much another person might need it. In the end, if you’ve spent your day smiling, what could possibly be wrong with that?
Enjoy the toasted smell of your coffee in the morning. Relish in your morning shower. Take pleasure in choosing your outfit and applying your makeup. Interact in friendly conversation. Appreciate the moments that pass by and all of the moments before it.
Revel in the simple fact that you’re alive and the whole world is at your fingertips, if you choose to reach for it.
Gift yourself with something. It can be anything from a piece of candy to taking the lunch break you generally skip. It can be anything as small as letting yourself eat breakfast at the table instead of the car or buying yourself the shoes you’ve been stalking online.
Simply offer yourself something you normally don’t for the sheer indulgence of it.
As I mentioned, happiness is contagious. If you surround yourself with happy people, you won’t have a choice but to join in with the positive vibes. Enjoy the moments together and share in the joy that is life.
Appreciate those around you. Thank your mom for always asking if you’re eating. Even if it always annoys you, you know it’s simply because she cares. Thank your friends for always being willing to take on any adventure. Thank the toll operator. Thank your boss. Thank the security guard.
Gratitude will only strengthen your heart and possibly make someone else’s day.
Don’t merely appreciate others, but also express gratitude toward yourself. Recognize your recent accomplishments and believe in the fact that you have many more to come. Stand tall with confidence, knowing that you are the best version of yourself.
Checking things off of a list has proven to increase endorphins. So, get something done today that you’ve been putting off for too long. Surely, starting the venture will require a little push, but the relief that you’ll feel once it’s off of your list will be worth the glass of wine you drink to celebrate.
We know that everyone appreciates compliments. Share your good nature with a coworker, friend or stranger. Offer some saccharine words and smile at the thought of gifting someone else with one.
It’s been suggested that you should do something that scares you every day — or at least try something new. Try a new routine or new radio station. Take a new route to work or try that crazy thing on the menu you swore you’d never order. Eventually, attack your bucket list with full force.
Exercise is the best way to relieve stress, release endorphins and improve your appearance. Exercise should be part of your daily routine, as the positives are never-ending.
Try a hot yoga class and allow yourself to be amazed by the positive energy you feel afterward, as well as the physical and mental changes you will feel in time.
Now that you’ve had this happy and wonderful day, don’t let it go to waste. Before your REM cycle whisks you off into the imaginary, make a mental list of the things that made you happy today. It doesn’t matter how big or small, the mere existence of these things is what really matters.
Doing just a handful of the above could push your attitude toward genuine bliss. The happier of a person you are, the harder it will be for negativity to shake you. The happier you are, the stronger you shall become. When you are happy, you will inspire others to be happy, as well.
Who doesn’t want to live in a happy world?
It was only a sunny smile, and little it cost in the giving, but like morning light it scattered the night and made the day worth living. — F. Scott Fitzgerald
Photo Courtesy: Tumblr
55 Good Day QuotesBe inspired and encouraged by these good day quotes. May they remind you to live each day and may they give you thoughts on how to do this in a positive way.
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Are you ready to learn how to have a great day, every day?! Two things have been entering my mind lately: 1. I'm really happy at this point in.
Realize that every day is the best day of your life and your whole life starts to change.
So many people go around saying that they want to change their lives and that they want to live more meaningful and happier lives but because they perceive change as something that’s out there in the future, far away from where they are, they start feeling overwhelmed and eventually give up.
Well, since our life is made up of days and since we can change the quality of our lives by changing the quality of our days, today’s post is meant to help you change your life without feeling overwhelmed. By taking one step at a time, one day at a time…
“You don’t start out saying you’re going to build a wall. You don’t start off saying “I’m going to build the biggest, baddest, greatest wall ever.” You start with a brick. You say “I’m going to lay this brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid.” Do that every single day and soon you’ll have a PERFECT wall.” ~ Will Smith
“Count your good deeds every morning and fill your mind with positive thoughts. That is secret to being happy and inspired all day long.” ~ Voile Corine
If you’re serious about changing your life, spending 5 – 10 minutes in silence, jogging, walking, stretching, preparing and drinking your tea peacefully and undisturbed will do wonders for you.
Morning is the time when you set the tone for your entire day and if you don’t have a healthy, positive and empowering morning routine, it’s time to create one. No matter how old/young you are, no matter if you have 10 kids and 20 nephews, a very demanding partner who’s always hungry and a house full of pets who make strange noises and demand all kind of things from you, before you take care of them, you must take care of yourself!
“The mind is everything. What you think you become.” ~ Buddha
Create your own personal mantra, something that will make your mind realize that you are serious about making every day the best day of your life. Replace your negative and self-defeating self-talk with your personal mantra.
Here’s one example:
Every day is a new life for me.
I choose to make every day the best day of my life.
I choose to make each day a wonderful, loving, meaningful and happy day.
We all know how many crazy thoughts run through our minds on a daily basis and since many of these thoughts are negative and repetitive, creating a personal mantra and repeating it to yourself whenever possible will help clear your mind of many of your negative thoughts, making room for more positive and self-empowering ones.
“If we could look into each other’ s hearts and understand the unique challenges each of us faces, I think we would treat each other much more gently, with more love, patience, tolerance, and care.” ~ Marvin J. Ashton
Every day seek to be kind to those who are kind but also to those who are unkind. Do not allow anger, hate or resentment to poison your heart. Forgive and let go. Do it not because those who might harm you deserve it, but because you do. Let your mind be at peace. Let your heart be filled with love. Do good and you will feel good. Treat everyone with love, kindness, tolerance, care, and compassion.
“For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.” ~ Steve Jobs
Every day is a new life for a wise person and if there are things, people and experiences that hold you back in life, making your days less happy and less meaningful than it should be, see if you can let them go. Don’t burden yourself by carrying their heavy weight on your shoulders. Tie no weights to yourself. Travel light. Let them all go.
Today and every day, get into the habit of loving yourself as if your life depends on it. Speak to yourself in the same way you would speak to someone you really, really, really love. And most importantly, treat yourself as if you were the most precious, most loving and most amazing person on this planet. Because you are 🙂
There’s a great quote from James Dean that goes like this: “Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die today.” and this is exactly what I’ll advise you to do. To dream as if you’ll live forever and live as if you’re going to die today. To infuse passion into your everyday life and to have fun in all that you do. So that when the time comes for you to look back at your life, to have no regrets and to feel proud of the life that you have lived.
“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”~ Steve Jobs
“As you lie in bed preparing for your nightly slumber, remember that the last thought you have in your mind can last up to four hours in your subconscious mind. That’s four hours of programming from just one moment of contemplation prior to going into your unconscious state.” ~ Wayne Dyer
Every night before you go to bed, you must empty your mind of all thoughts, all worries and all things that happened to you during the day and all things that need to happen the next day. Don’t allow yourself to go to bed with a head full of noise. Don’t do that to yourself.
Your mind, just like your body needs to rest and recover and by emptying your mind of all thoughts each night, you will wake up feeling a lot more energized, refreshed and full of life.
“Our life is made up of time; our days are measured in hours, our pay measured by those hours, our knowledge is measured by years. We grab a few quick minutes in our busy day to have a coffee break. We rush back to our desks, we watch the clock, we live by appointments. And yet your time eventually runs out and you wonder in your heart of hearts if those seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years and decades were being spent the best way they possibly could. In other words, if you could change anything, would you?” ~ Cecelia Ahern
And that’s about it. Change doesn’t have to be a scary thing. You start with the small things and through these small things, you will accomplish big things. Through these small things, you will accomplish great changes in your life.
Why do you think so many people are resistant to change? Do you think it’s enough to change your daily rituals in order for you to change your whole life? I really want to know what are your thoughts on this. You can share your comments by joining the conversation in the comment section below 🙂
~love, Luminita💫
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Add to favoritesA few months ago, I reached one of those bottom low points in life where everything seemed to go wrong everyday. Every. Single. Day. I couldn't even remember.
