“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”
– Marcus Aurelius
You’ve probably been told once or twice to “make each day count, ” but have you ever actually counted how many days you get?
The answer: about 26,000.
I didn’t pull that number of thin air either. Here’s the math: the World Health Organization estimates the average life expectancy for the world is around 71.4 years. A quick Google search (carry the 2) will tell you that 71.4 years equals 26,061 days.
So to save myself from having to write 26,061 over and over again in this post, I’m going to round down to 26,000. (Sorry, my laziness is costing you around 2 months.)
26,000.
26,000 days to make this one life of your’s count for something.
26,000 mornings where you get to open your eyes and enjoy the day.
Now, that may seem like a lot, but I assume you’ve already used up some of your’s. I’ve already used up 11,000 of my own! That means I have an estimated 15,000 mornings left. (Man, did you expect there to be so much math?)
Of course, this isn’t an exact science, but seeing these numbers does put things into perspective, doesn’t it? Every time I do it, it really gives me a sense of urgency to get my act together.
Now, how many mornings have you used up already? (Go ahead, do the math. Or Google it.)
Whatever that number is, write it down. (Or at least really think about it.)
Whatever your number of mornings is…ask yourself: “How many of those mornings did I waste?”
How many of your 26,000 mornings have slipped through your fingers?
Or better yet – how many MORE mornings can you afford to waste?
Time for better, happier mornings
But…mornings suck, right? I mean, just look at the graph below. It shows that, generally, most people are happiest around 6-7:00pm because they’re either home from work or school. BUT they’re least happy in the morning.
The average morning mood is something like “f*ck, is it 8 already?!” when it should be, “f*ck yeah, 8 am is awesome!”
As a self-proclaimed “night owl,” I used to DESPISE mornings – we didn’t get along at all. And just to show my hatred of mornings, I’d hit my snooze button time after time to avoid it. (Take that morning!)
I truly believed that some people were born to be morning people and I never was, nor ever would be, a morning person. But then I started to really think about how many mornings I had left, and it dawned (pun intended) on me that the morning wasn’t the problem – I was.
And I wanted to have mornings that didn’t suck.
I wanted mornings that didn’t slip by.
I wanted mornings that allowed me to grow into the person I wanted to be every single day.
And ever since I decided to focus on my personal development, my morning routine has become a focal point of my journey of self-improvement.
I feel that waking up early sets the tone of “making a choice” for my day. If I leave it to fate as to when I roll out of bed, then I feel like that’s the outlook I’m taking in general. On the other hand, if I choose to get up early and do amazing things in those quiet hours, that’s when I feel like I’m grabbing hold of my life and controlling where I go.
That’s the choice I want to make.
Here are 3 strategies that I’ve found to be most effective for getting the most out of my 26,000 mornings.
Get an Energy Boost with Tea
Give yourself a morning boost while reaping health benefits by drinking green tea to rev up your morning engines.
This may be a hard strategy to carry out (especially if you’re a coffee lover like me). But after awhile of doing it, you’ll enjoy not relying on coffee or energy drinks to get you going in the morning.
I also felt that there’s something meditative and relaxing about making tea in the morning – from heating the water, to pouring the water, to drinking the tea.
I think of it as a tea meditation.
“I drink this tea like there’s no tomorrow. Nothing is more important in this world than drinking this tea right now.”
Try it out and you’ll start your morning with a caffeine boost, some health upgrades, and a relaxed mind.
Wanting to get into the tea game? I highly recommend this one.
Turn Off Distractions
Like most people, you probably immediately reach for your phone or iPad to check your email, Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
If you do, then you need to stop. Seriously.
Think of it this way, there are plenty of other hours in the day to get distracted by email or social, so save your morning for something more precious. Why waste a beautiful morning with meeting requests or looking at your Facebook newsfeed?
Your morning is “me time” NOT “their time”.
And it’s almost impossible to focus on “me” when you’re constantly distracted. Here are some ways to get out of the bad habit:
- Set your phone to Airplane mode
- Check your email and social media apps only 2–3 times a day (around lunchtime, later in the afternoon, and evening).
- Avoid browsing the Internet or reading the daily news
Habit Stacking
To help upgrade your morning routine, you’ll want to stack habits.
Habit Stacking is basically stacking a new habit on top of something you’re currently doing. For example, substitute green tea for coffee or your 5-hour energy shot.
Because the current habit is already part of your routine, you can use it as a trigger to add your new habit. This will make creating a new morning habit faster and more efficient.
Think of it as building a new road – it’s a lot easier to repave a road than it is to create a brand new one.
Where to Go From Here
For the majority of my life, I hated waking up the morning. I’d get up as late as possible, skip breakfast, rush to work, and would constantly feel like I was trying to catch up with something elusive the rest of the day.
Not anymore.
Morning time is special to me now. Especially knowing that each passing morning is one less morning I’ll be able to enjoy.
We can’t always choose everything that’ll happen in our days, we do have the power to determine how our morning goes. At the end of the day, the number of days you have are limited.
And it’s the choices that you make every morning that determine the life you’ll live, the health you’ll enjoy, and the success you’ll create.
I hope knowing you have X number of days left will give you a little more motivation to do more with each morning. Cherish each morning as a new opportunity to fulfill your potential and purpose. Don’t take them for granted like I used to.
It’s time to create a better morning routine for yourself.
If you’re looking at that number and you’re beat yourself up for not having your crap together, don’t. It takes times to weed out all the time killers that fill your mornings. Apply the 3 strategies above to help create a better morning routine for yourself – your ideal routine that you can use for your remaining 26,000 mornings.
The main idea here isn’t the number 26,000 – it’s what we do with our mornings that counts, no matter the number.
So, how will you make the MOST of your 26,000 mornings?
Thanks for Reading!
Help others get motivated to not let their 26,000 days slip by – share this with your friends!
Would love to Hear from You
What does your morning look like? Are you happy with your morning routine? Feel free to share your morning schedule here in the comments.