We’ve all been there. You wake up in the morning and, rather than feeling good, you immediately feel stressed out.

Fear, doubt, and worry all creep in as you think about your problems. Maybe your mind immediately goes to your finances, your relationships (never the good ones), the fifteen pounds you can’t seem to lose, or that kid who wasn’t so nice to you growing up.

Well, what if I told you that the reason why so many of us don’t feel good when we wake up is because we are holding ourselves hostage to the past?

Let me explain.

Think of your mind as a large book of all your memories. It holds all of the stories you have lived, the problems you have faced, the people you’ve met, and every experience—both positive and negative—you have had up until this point. Your mind is the book of your life.

The content of this book is composed of all your past experiences, each tied to different emotions. Each morning when you wake up, you choose which part of that book you will read and which emotions you will feel as a result.

Let’s be honest—some days we wake up and, out of habit, read the not-so-fun parts. We start feeling the unpleasant feelings, the hurts, betrayals, losses, pain, and trauma. These emotions are merely the end product of our past experiences.

If you continuously start your day thinking of and experiencing the past, there is no room for the present or future. How you think and how you feel creates your state of being. If a person’s entire state of being when they start their day lies in the past, it can be pretty uncomfortable when aspects of the past don’t evoke joy.

On average, what do most people do when they wake up? They grab their cell phone to  check social media, emails, texts, and the news. They find anything they can to distract themselves. They try to put the book down and shut their mind off.

I’m convinced this is why social media is so popular. What better way to escape your own thoughts about yourself and the story of your life than mindlessly scrolling through someone else’s? Especially when their lives are perceived to be more exciting or tragic than yours.

These patterns of thought and behaviors that start as soon as we wake up have become so habitual that we think nothing of them. We simply begin to believe it is who we are.

People can want so much more for their lives and desire to change and feel good but don’t realize they are stuck in a cycle and hardwired to think and behave like they always have. If this cycle sounds familiar, what then do you do?

You need to enter the operating system.

It starts with those critical first minutes before your feet even hit the floor.  You don’t even have to get out of bed to implement what I am about to tell you. When I say that it can and will completely change the course of your day, I am not exaggerating. Ten minutes is all it takes.

Gratitude

What if you could wake up and consciously decide to mentally focus on reading the best chapters? What if you sorted and sifted through the stories in your life book and pulled out the stuff that makes you feel good? The stuff that makes you smile? Instead of grabbing your phone, you sit quietly and give yourself permission to think of three things you are grateful for.

Taking this one small step in the morning before starting your day can hardwire your brain for happiness and create emotions that generate positivity and well-being. Make it a priority!

Write a new chapter

Now take it one step further and focus your mind on the new chapters you will write. Have fun with the blank page before you that day and create the present and future you desire. Imagine the reality you want to be living and get excited about it.

Your brain doesn’t know the difference between what you are imagining and what is really happening. You can evoke emotions by thought alone. There’s no need to wait for something to happen outside to change the way you feel inside.

This is your book and your story.

You get to decide what to highlight, what to edit, and what to add to it. Live your life with intention and joy. Train your mind to wake up and immediately focus on what you are grateful for and the exciting future that you are creating.

The ten minutes you spend doing this will be the best gift you can ever give yourself.

Need help putting these principles into action? As a professional mindset coach, I can help you rewire the way you think so that you feel good when you wake up each morning.

Get in touch with me today!