Morning Routine

Have you ever waken up in the morning and think that everything is wrong? You trip by the side of your bed. The bristles on your toothbrush seem harder than usual and is hurting you. You find out that you are out of bread. Everyone seems to drive super slowly when there is no car in front of them. The patients are having more health concerns than usual. The whole day is just not going well. You feel frustrated and annoyed.

You may think that you are having one of those bad days. Nothing is going your way, and wonder when this day, which seems like an eternity, will be over.

We all have one of those days sometimes, when things do not go smoothly. However, you do not have to feel frustrated, annoyed, stressed, overwhelmed or any of the negative emotions.

You are probably wondering how that is possible.

Recently, I started a morning routine. When I wake up in the morning, I direct my thought to focus on gratitude – I am thankful to be alive. I am thankful to wake up to my alarm.  I am thankful to learn and grow another day. I say this sentence to myself, “Today is going to be a good day.” Then I do my usual wash up, get dressed, and drive to work.

When I arrive at work, which is usually about 40 minutes before my first scheduled patient, I review lab results and messages. When my nurse and medical assistant are ready, we do our morning huddle. I start off with the chant, “Today is going to be a good day no matter what life throws at us, and we are going to finish on time.” Sometimes I will add, even if the power is out, or some freak accident, or any unexpected surprises, it will be a good day no matter what.

As I focus on having a good day, I feel hopeful, excited and lighthearted. It is easier for me to focus on patient care when I am not spinning in my head on how every single event of the day is evidence that today is a bad day.

The core team of my nurse and medical assistant of the day are going along with our huddle chant. Since I have started the morning routine of our daily huddle, I hear less complaints, I see more smiles, and there is more communication within the team.

As you put sentences in your head, consciously or subconsciously, they become your beliefs. Your beliefs affect how you feel about a particular situation. When you start the day with thinking that it will be a good day, you will likely feel happy, motivated, thankful, or other similar positive emotions. Then you will likely do things better with increased concentration and less distraction. You will less likely to be phased by the unexpected surprises (the usually considered to be unpleasant surprises). You will end up having a pretty good day.

We human beings live in societies. We are designed to live with other people, not in isolation.  Our human connection affects one another. When you are in a positive mood, your positive energy is radiating and touching others around you. The same is true if you are in a negative mood. The negative energy is piercing into other people’s bodies, and they too are probably easier to anger, to feel pressured, anxious, or other negative emotions.

What you say to yourself, what your belief is, determines how you day goes. How your day feels to you is not determined by the different events of the day. If you decide ahead of time how you want to think about your day, then the events of the day will not be the deciding factors of how you feel. You are in control of that.

What is your morning routine going to be?