I clearly remember my last few years. How I was getting every morning and rarely smiled. I imagined I am a warrior and I was going to fight any obstacle I face this day. I imagined I was getting what I want this day with fight and hustle. I was too serious. I was visualizing how I was hustling through my days and achieving my goals with great effort. Probably subconsciously I was inspired by movies like "Pursuit of Happiness". And should I say that I got what I asked for? Nothing ever came easy to me.
To top it off I was just plain worn out. I was tired. I had a Lifetime argument with myself and I realized: That nothing good comes from pushing back and trying to fight the obstacles.
In fact, it led me to a quote I would read over and over from Nietzsche. He wrote: "He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby becomes a monster."
I would use this statement as a form of inspiration, and first told to me from the people in my life at the time. I now consider these people to have been leaders for my spiritual journey I had yet to take, but that would soon begin when I understood that I wasn't happy with my life.
My thoughts were soon consumed with a single burning question: How do I have a great life?
I spent years of my life believing that having money, or getting more money than someone else would be the key to unending happiness. But the reality isn't as complex as all of what it takes to fill up bank accounts. There's a formula for a better life and it says that the more good days you add in, the greater your life will end up being.
My mind soon became fixated on the steps that it would take to make each day a good day, so that in the end I could deem my life to have been great. And it's very important to make clear that I focused on the process not on the end goal. The important part of this process was to never lose sight of the importance of feeling good. It was in this point of self-reflection that I could identify the things in my life that I was consistently doing wrong.
Buddha would say that every morning we are born again anew. Today, and what you do with it, matter much more than the days that you have behind you.
Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most." "• Gautama Buddha
I decided that every single morning I would get up and I would spend 30 minutes working towards building momentum. This would be instrumental in my attitude in facing the everyday challenges of living life. Over the next several minutes I plan to divulge my morning ritual to you.
Practice feeling good
It almost is going to seem silly, but you should take a few of these minutes and practice feeling good about yourself. It should be your primary goal to always feel great, and that begins with the right thoughts. Once you have a happy thought, it needs to stay fresh in your mind for 17 seconds.
So what's so important about 17 seconds? Basically after that span of time your brain has reached a system need for new information. Now you're building the momentum we are talking about. You can either add in another idea or thought, which when combined for an additional 17 seconds becomes even more powerful than the first. But allowing yourself to focus for several cycles and upwards of over a minute one specific topic is incredibly powerful because when you cross 68 seconds you have a combustion big enough to affect physical manifestation and to make your thought a reality.
*Here's A Small Tip: Don't feel like smiling or don't want to? Do it anyway. You will find that with a broad smile, you are impossible to worry and stress about the things that are bringing you down. You cannot hold unhappy thoughts and smile at the same time.
Gratitude Is Great
Everyone can likely think of a handful (or two) reasons to be truly grateful. Even being grateful for something like being alive and breathing air. While everyone's names and items are going to be difficult in the end, the basis of gratitude can be the same.
Practicing Love For Yourself
Loving yourself is one of the hardest things that you can be asked to do. This of course is meant as more of a physical/mental approach. Some quick tips of things that you can do is to give yourself a foot massage or kiss your hands. It feels great and gives you a chance to really dive into relieving your own stresses.
Promise To Yourself
The promise that you are going to make is that you will feel good about today. The second part of this feel good promise is to be diligent about the improved attitude that you will have. No one can bring you down anymore as you are the only guardian of your well-being and self-worth. The last part of the promise is to be aware, be aware if you do not feel good and do not push against the feeling but accept it and let it go.
Conclusion
You might be a little skeptical if these mini-rituals I've listed above actually work or not. Well as much as I can tell you that it is working for me, I can't be certain that it will in fact work for you. I dare you to give it a try and see for yourself. Starting out every morning by boosting your momentum is letting out your inner tiger, and a tiger can be ferocious just like you.