THE FIRST ACTIVITY OF THE DAY

“The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to say where you are.” —Chauncey Depew

The first dedicated time of the morning is the most important time of the day. What we engage in first, determines how our day will end. The best thing about this outcome is that we determine it.

After brushing my teeth, I have breakfast: one sweet roll, a slice of cranberry-walnut bread covered with peanut butter and black coffee. Same breakfast, most mornings, for three years, same results I feel good. I embrace the smell, taste, and touch of the roll, the toast, and coffee. I don’t get distracted by checking emails, reading a newspaper, listening to the radio or viewing the TV. I concentrate on the roll, the bread, and the coffee. This triple delight ignites all of my taste buds. I live in the moment. The hot coffee awakens me; the sweet role stimulates me, and the peanut butter toast provides a “filling” or rounding out role.

The outside world is still outside because I have not allowed it to invade my inside moment.  Yes, intrusions will happen but not just now. I live in the moment and the present moment doesn’t include external communication noise.

You may start the day with a shower—hot or cold—to invigorate you. The sound and feel of the water “raining” on your body, and the isolation of the shower maybe your FIRST ACTIVITY OF THE DAY.

Some people’s FIRST ACTIVITY OF THE DAY includes a devotional time of Bible study and prayer. They meditate on the things they are thankful for and lift up other people through intercessory prayer.

For some of the most productivity people, THE FIRST ACTIVITY OF THE DAY is some form of exercise, including jogging or walking. These events can lead to optimizing and maximizing the remainder of the day. The isolation of running or walking provide a sense of being one with nature. We are a small part of the world, but an important part. Once we exit the exercise activity, we are better prepared to engage the opportunities of the day.

You can name many other activities that make up THE FIRST ACTIVITY OF THE DAY. Everyone has a FIRST ACTIVITY OF THE DAY. The important thing is not that we all start our day with some activity, but that the event sets the stage for a happy and prosperous day. 

THE FIRST ACTIVITY OF THE DAY is not a preparation step; it is a state of enjoyment and happiness. In this first exercise, you simply enjoy your activity of the moment. Your singular focus is to relax, filter out fear, and ignore worry, anxiety. You own the moment and this moment has no parameters—you aren’t searching for a Eureka or an aha moment. You aren’t searching for anything. You have found it in the simple enjoyment of the moment.

Ritual, In the Moment, Enjoy and Anticipate, Positive Activity. These are the main elements of the FIRST ACTIVITY OF THE DAY—the principles that can help us create a successful day.

1.    It’s a ritual. You do it every morning at the same time. If we empty ourselves first, plan second, and execute. Third, we develop a habit of success and happiness.

2.    Live at the moment. Isolate your thinking to the present moment. Don’t focus on yesterday or tomorrow—just enjoy the now. You can’t change yesterday, and you can’t create tomorrow but, you can change and create your today.

3.    Enjoy and anticipate. Look forward to and enjoy the coffee, the jog, the meditation, the shower or, whatever you define as your FIRST ACTIVITY OF THE DAY. You're in your “zone”, own it.

4.    It’s a positive activity that increases the sense of personal responsibility. In these first few minutes of the day, you set the stage for the remainder of your day. As you live in the moment—free of distractions, negativity, and anxiety— you create energy and enthusiasm for the next eight to ten hours.

Only after you have completed THE FIRST ACTIVITY OF THE DAY do you consider how you want the day to end—what will success look like? Then, from that success point, look back to the present and determine what you must do to achieve your goal.

In our lifetime, we will have good mornings and some bad mornings. The trouble with leaving the mornings to chance is we may get more bad mornings than we want, or deserve. This simple plan is designed to provide you with more good mornings and days.

The possibilities are unlimited when you start the day your way!  I know a cup of black coffee, a sweet roll, and a slice of cranberry-walnut bread topped with peanut butter provide me with more good mornings and productive days than I deserve.