Recharging & Energizing Your Life

Almost all of the most widely known, well-respected people who have written self-improvement books speak of the importance of taking time out for yourself each and every day to recharge and energize yourself. Not that my input matters much but I agree with them whole-heartedly!

Stephen Covey calls it "sharpening the saw," Anthony Robbins calls it your "hour of power," and many others talk about how important it is to take time (usually recommending an hour) at the beginning of your day to do things that will help you improve yourself. During this hour, you should exercise, read, set goals and plan how to you can achieve them, pray, meditate, reflect on your life and determine things you may want to change, visualize the things you want whether they be physical things or things like performing well in a sporting event, speech, work, etc. The consensus seems to be that it doesn't matter so much what you do during this time, as long as it is something that energizes you, and makes you feel happier, healthier, and just better overall.

When you do this as the first thing you do in the morning, it changes your whole day! You feel awake, energized, and happy instead of tired, lethargic, and not particularly happy as most people start their day. You won't need to drink a pot of coffee before work to "get yourself going." You will treat people better, you'll be more productive, and you'll be improving your own life by improving your body (physical health) and mind (mental and spiritual health). It's a win/win!

It may be difficult to get up early at first in order to do this. But if you make it important enough to yourself you can do it. To make it a little easier, start with just 15 minutes. Then as you notice how you feel better each day as a result of the time you spend during those 15 minutes each morning, you will want to make it 30 minutes, then 45 minutes, and then an hour. Eventually you'll look forward to getting up in the morning so you can spend that hour on yourself! I know...I'm not a morning person either, but believe me, just getting yourself to start doing this is the hardest part - after that it gets easier and easier until it's something you don't even have to try to do anymore because you can't wait to do it each morning and as soon as the alarm goes off you'll pop up and hop out of bed so you can get started! It's a great feeling, and it has unbelievably wide-reaching benefits that stretch into all areas of your life. Don't be surprised when people notice the difference in you and comment on it. It will improve every aspect of your life. If you don't believe me, try it for a month and then if you can honestly tell me it's not benefiting you I'll believe you...maybe..