What's the most important meal of the day for your body? Breakfast, of course.
Why? It establishes your metabolism and gives your brain fuel to operate well. Just the same, if not moreso, breakfast is the most important meal for your mind too. One braniac refers to the most important hour of your day: Hour One. What you put into your mind during Hour One is critical.
So what do you feed it? When you check your email, you graze on the random. Yet, many of my friends start out EVERY day by doing just that. Think about the message that your Inbox (with 100 or more emails waiting to be answered) sends to your subconcious: "We are behind, overwhelmed, hurry!"
Sure, it seems prudent to check email out of the gate when you wake up, but honestly, I think you are just being childish - and I don't mean that in a bad way, either. Children cannot delay gratification. They get up super early on Christmas just to open their presents. Give them a pile of candy and they'll eat it all or get sick trying. We are the same with email - can't wait to see if something interesting came in!
By the way, same goes for our social media rounds where we check on our Facebook, Twitter, etc. Again, when you do this, you cede control over Hour One to the outside world. Your breakfast is tantamount to drinking coffee out of a firehose and eating bagels as they fly out of a wood chipper.
DO THIS INSTEAD: For the first 30-45 minutes of your days, read a book that helps you get better or more prepared for your career or purpose. You read from books at a fraction of the speed you graze online - so think of it as a slow-and-easy way to start the day. This will give your subconscious a different start-message: "We are growing, learning and getting better."
This side benefit is that if you do this five days a week, you'll easily finish a book every month or better. Fifteen well chosen reads in a year can change your life via confidence, insight and innovative thinking. For some, you may need to get up a little earlier (skip TV the night before) to accomplish this feat.
It's going to be hard, I will not kid you. Delaying the Inbox check requires strength, like quitting any bad habit such as smoking. But you can do it, I have. And starting out the day with a highly nutricious mental breakfast is the #1 lifestyle hack I use to stay confident and positive.
For fuel, check out my book recommendations.
Hi Tim,
This is a great suggestion! I began employing it last week.
I was having trouble finding time to fit in daily reading as my schedule is so busy and other things tend to take priority. But both you and John Spence have really made it clear that daily reading is essential, and I see the truth in it.
I never would have thought about first thing in the morning, as that is when I usually practice cultivating kindness and compassion sitting in mindfulness. However, it has been working great! It's a gentle way to wake the mind up with something valuable!
Thanks Tim!!
matthew
Posted by: matthew | November 01, 2011 at 06:35 AM
I love your analogy of drinking coffee out of a firehose. I think that you make a good point in saying that we can get into a much better mindset by being more selective as to what we take in, in the first hour of our days.
Posted by: Steve Lillybeck | October 24, 2011 at 02:14 PM
Tim, I love your advice. I've made a commitment to this for many years now, and love how reading for 30 minutes every morning before checking emails, etc. gets my brain charged for the day. I've encouraged so many others to do this as well...it gives you things to discuss in conversations that day, thoughts to share on your social media outlets, etc. etc. Thanks for the great guidance as always!
PS - See you in Palm Desert for Sales Mastery 2011. I still remember watching you speak there in 2004.
Posted by: Trevor Hammond | September 24, 2011 at 02:02 PM
Whew...don't know if I can do that - but it definitely is a good goal to strive for. Thanks for sharing the post as a reminder of prioritizing and taking time for ourselves!
Posted by: Melissa P | September 23, 2011 at 09:28 AM
Great advice, Tim! Mental preparation is a great way to handle the stresses of the day.
Posted by: Andy Himes | September 22, 2011 at 02:22 PM
Another great post, Tim. Thank you!
Posted by: C. A. Hurst | September 21, 2011 at 01:02 PM