Choose to Take the Journey

With the exception of life crises, most bad events are short-lived and do nothing more than ruin an otherwise good day. But do they have to do even that? When misfortune knocks at your door uninvited, many people are quick to label it as “just another bad day.” Chalk up another one to the devil’s own luck and wait to see what tomorrow has in store, am I right? I sometimes tell myself that because something bad happened, I deserve to just relax and recuperate until the next day.

But hang on a second. Is the day over already? If your day is abysmal so far, can’t you do something to make it at least acceptable? And if your day is already good, isn’t there something you could do to make it groovy?

I’m not saying we can’t chill every now and again, but ask yourself: Am I really giving myself time to recuperate? Or am I just finding excuses to put off doing something that I really don’t want to do?

Depending on where you are in your day, here’s what you can do to turn your day around.

AM: Get out of bed!

Your day will never start unless you roll out of bed first. “But that’s exactly why I want to stay in bed!” you protest. You’re right… this warm bed right here really is more comfortable than that cold floor over there where that tedious errand awaits. But just stand up. If you’re anything like me, this one simple move will get your day started. Your mental state will match your body’s posture. So if you’re lying down, you’ll want to stay that way. And if you get up, you’ll want to keep moving…

So why not exercise? Nothing will give you more vitality than a good workout in the morning. Sometimes I’ll have a bad night, wake up at 1:00pm the next day, and start my “morning” workout then! Don’t put it off. First thing when you wake up is best to get your heart pumping, blood flowing, and mood crowing. Exercise is a natural anti-depressant. Better than Prozac or Paxil. A mere 15 minutes will elevate your mood for the rest of the day!

PM: Tell yourself, “The day isn’t over yet!”

If you still haven’t worked out yet, go now. If the gym is closed, go jogging. And then start whatever it is you need to do. Don’t worry about how you’ll possibly finish. Just start it today and finish it tomorrow. Most of the time, you’ll end up finishing anyway because most errands are much worse in our imaginations than in reality.

GN8: Pencil it in.

If it’s already late and you need to get up early tomorrow morning, do one thing before you go to bed tonight. Visualize a rough mental map of where you want to be tomorrow, including what you will have accomplished before lunch, and before dinner. Having an idea of where you’ll be going tomorrow will give you a reason to get out of bed the next morning.