You can read a ton of blogs, listen to podcasts, and interview after interview of super-‘successful’ people being asked about their morning routines. Each time I heard an interview or read about someone who was the best at this or that and what they did on a daily basis as their habits, I would go out and give it a try.
Whether it was waking up at 4 am. Doing 2 hours of fasted cardio. Writing my to-do list on an index card before bed so I could put my dreams to work (lol). Not that any of these, or other habits people swear by, are bad. Any habit that makes you feel great is fantastic and all that matters is that it works for you! I’m also grateful to live in the age of sharing, and we can easily find out the habits others ‘of greatness’ have and experiment to see if they may work for us. I’ve tried MANY of them.
An important question that is asked in the book: The One Thing is “What is the one thing you could do that by doing so, would make everything else easier?” At first thought, I think wow, that’s pretty hard to think of one thing. Many important things are done on a daily basis that all work together (i.e. drinking water, taking a shower, exercise, etc.). As I’ve dipped and dabbled over the last 5 years with all sorts of routines and habits.
The one that has the most impact and frankly the biggest Return on Investment is hands down meditation.
Now, I don’t think this is a huge shocker to you. Mediation is part of many people’s routine or habits that they swear by. But, I think the issue with meditation is consistency and moreover, the big question “am I doing it right?”. The true, and not so much mentioned, the beauty of meditation is that there is no right way.
Meditation is the easiest habit you can develop. Like any other new activity you may embark on, you’ll have to allocate time to it. Want to exercise more? Well, that means trading off an hour of Netflix or internet scrolling to get your butt in the gym for an hour.
Despite what some say, meditation doesn’t need to be 20 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour, plus. I meditate for 5 minutes minimum. Sometimes I meditate longer, but that’s just a bonus. The most rewarding part of this daily habit is consistency. No matter what I have going on in my day, I have 5-minutes. Always first thing upon waking up.
3 Best Meditation Apps:
Insight Timer
More than 30,000 guided sessions that tap into every emotion rattling your nerves, it also offers relaxing music tracks, a section for kids, and therapeutic lectures from the likes of Indian yogi Sadhguru and psychotherapist Anthony DeMello.
Cost: Free, with a Member Plus option of $60/month
Calm
Meditation more specific to soothing what you have going on: anxiety, stress, a desire to break bad habits, etc.
Cost: $70 annually with a seven-day free trial
Headspace
“Your gym membership for the mind”. Explore guided exercises, videos, and more to help you get healthier and happier.
Cost: $13 monthly with a seven-day free trial, or $70 annually with a two-week free trial