Sanders Says: Give your mind a good breakfast

The first few minutes of you day sets its tone.

What's the most important meal of the day? Breakfast. Why? Same reason!

Do you jump out of bed, grab the paper, turn on the coffee pot and go onlineIf so, you might have wildly inconsistent early morning moods -- often driven by your inbox or the day's headlines. Don't leave your attitude and mood to chance, they are important! When you are in a great mood, filled with gratitude, your day will be more effective (and enjoyable).

Last year, I put myself on a new wake-up plan that's changed my life. When I first wake up, I lay back down and close my eyes and concentrate on three people I should be grateful for from the previous day.

It could be a helpful co-worker. My wife. A friend who gave me good advice. I think and think until I've come up with three people. I focus on their positive intentions to help me be successful or happy. I say outloud "Grateful for ____." Then, I get up and over coffee, write down one sentence to capture my gratefulness for those three people. In the beginning, I struggled to always find three helpful people from the previous day, especially if I was writing in seclusion. But soon I realized that everyday is filled with people helping us along. Now, I struggle to limit myself to three.

Start tomorrow off with this exercise, and you'll see how deeply it colors your mood. Filled with gratitude for those who intend to help you, your total confidence will swell and you'll feel like you've got a strong tailwind for the day.

Sure beats reading the newspaper or checking out the weird news of the day on Yahoo!

This is one of several pieces of advice to come in my next book, Today We Are Rich! (March 2011). I'm sharing advance excerpts from it as I write, and having a conversation about the concepts in the book on my Facebook Author Page. Go there, like in and join the conversation!

This is a concept that's included in my book, Today We Are Rich. Visit the book page and you can order a copy and receive a free eBook excerpt with an entire principle! You can also visit its facebook page too.