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.

SUCCESS AND THE OLD ROUTINE OF SETTING NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS

“The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written. We can help write that story by setting goals.” —Melody Beattie

I am not a fortune teller. But I can see clearly that every action carries within it two possible outcomes: success or failure. It’s that simple. People prefer success. I don’t think I have met anyone whose goal is to fail. But failure happens. It is our response to failure that determines whether we become successful or not. It is strange to write “success” and “failure” in the same sentence. But, Winston Churchill did when he wrote, “Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”

When successful people fail, they learn from the experience and then move on—the wiser—to try again. They don’t look at the failure as final; they see it as a learning experience. Malcolm Forbes wisely wrote, “Failure is success if we learn from it.”

Today, I want to suggest eleven ideas for obtaining success in the New Year.

• Determine where you want to be at the end of 2016. If you know your goal, you can then work backward setting the small, specific, and well-planned actions to achieve the goal. Know why—the specific purpose—you want to accomplish your goal and move toward the goal with each action step. The pull of your vision will keep you moving in the right direction.

• Establish accountability. You have to say, “I got this one.” Accept responsibility and accountability for your actions. While others may help you, the buck stops with you. The key is to have a proactive rather than a reactive mindset. Staying focused on the goal helps ensure what is supposed to happen, happens.

• Expect and prepare for the unexpected. Peter’s Law states, “The unexpected always happens.” Before finalizing your 2016 goal, conduct a “What if” exercise If this happens, I will do this. When “stuff” happens, you won’t be caught off guard.

• Manage your time. The odds say you’re going to have 24 hours, so make all 1,440 minutes count every day. Successful people stay focused on their goals, but they also don’t spend all their time on work. Strive for balance. If you complete your goal and still empty, you invested too much time in the wrong project.

• Develop a can-do attitude. Without this, there is no success. A positive attitude generates genuine enthusiasm and is the critical ingredient in success. Without a positive attitude, it is almost impossible to develop an inner drive toward achievement and success.

• Have an innovative spirit. Always look for ways to innovate and improve every single activity you engage in.

• Keep your knowledge current and your skills marketable. Engage in continuous self-improvement. There is no substitute for knowledge and ability. The person who continues to improve both his/her knowledge and occupation skills will be ready when an opportunity presents itself. Reading for personal growth is a part of the successful person’s life.

• Be a problem solver. Evaluate the facts to discover the camouflaged solution hidden within the problem. Discover new and innovative ways to remove obstacles and accomplish your tasks. Don’t be known as a problem conveyor; be recognized as a solutions ambassador.

• Never lose sight of the goal. Engage in activities that advance you to your goal and avoid activities that detract you from your goal.

• Focus on results, not on being busy. Develop the ability to get things done; to achieve goals. Never confuse activity with results. Spend time on the activities that matter most to you.

• Celebrate and have fun. Make sure you balance a strong work ethic with a timely victory celebration. Your goal should be to celebrate the results, not the activities. An old sports maximum challenges athletes to run through the tape and then celebrate. But not before.

Over the years, big changes have occurred in the way we conduct business, and it occurs to me that even with all the changes, there remain two success truisms. First, no matter the economic climate, organizations make room for people who help them grow the top line and maximize the bottom line. Second, individuals are responsible for their success.

I don’t know whether you make New Year’s Resolutions or not. If you do, you can save time and include several of these success ideas in your 2016 goals list.