You’re driven. You’re either already successful or well on your way.

You want to start the day running on fire! But unfortunately, if you start your day in a rushed panic, it leaves you feeling depleted. You won’t have enough sustained energy to get through the day.

Each day that we arise, we only have a set amount of energy for that day. Not yesterday, or the next day, but that same day. Some days we have more energy than others.

But when we wake up, no matter how we feel, we only have a certain amount of mental, physical, and emotional energy that needs to sustain us all day long. That energy needs to sustain us from our morning commute to the time we put our kids to bed at night. We want and need to feel good all day long.

Many highly functioning people know this, which is why they always wear the same style of clothes. It takes brain power and energy to pick out our clothes for the day. For example, Mark Zuckerberg wears a hoodie often to save some of his brain power during the day to make other important decisions.

Not all of us can get away with wearing a hoodie every day. Nor are we billionaires, yet.

But we can start our day on the right foot as we nurture and preserve some of our daily power with positive emotions and powerful thoughts. Instead of waking up and shooting ourselves out of a cannon, we can take a more relaxed, centered, and mindful approach to our morning routine with these 7 steps to starting your day with self care.

Step 1: Gratitude

Think of 3 things that you are grateful for every morning, to remind yourself of the enormous number of blessings that you have.

You will never regret beginning your day with gratitude.

To express gratitude is a practice that reminds us of just how blessed we are.

If we wake up in a warm bed, with a roof over our heads, and with people we love, we are blessed. Everyone has something they can be grateful for.

Did you reach over to turn off your alarm? Then you have hands and arms and are blessed. Did you open your eyes to read your alarm? Then you have eyes and can read and are blessed.

Do you have a significant other in bed with you or children sleeping peacefully at home? Then you have people to love and are blessed.

If you and your family are healthy and safe, then you are blessed.

You can always find something to be grateful for, and this place of gratitude starts our day off on the right foot. You can even record your thoughts in a gratitude journal next to your bed.

Step 2: Manifest

To manifest is to speak what you want to see in your life. After being grateful, manifest what you want for yourself and your day. You can say something as simple as “something good is going to happen to me today.”

You may not always think it, but whatever you say and believe comes true.

No one wants to start the day thinking about all the things they must do, the projects, the presentations, the carpool, the madness. But if you say something good is going to happen to me today, you will be manifesting or creating energy that will bring something good to you.

The words you say to yourself or out loud create your reality, so be mindful about saying something positive about yourself and wishing the best for your health and success.

Step 3: Self love meditation

Take one more minute to focus on your breath and when you inhale, think “I am worthy,” and on each exhale, “I am enough.”

In all honesty, mediation can be hard.

But the more we practice it, the easier it becomes and the more benefits we start to see in our lives.

Meditation is the only practice I know that truly calms my mind. It’s a wonderful way to relax and reconnect with yourself.

When you practice a self love meditation, you can be lying down or sitting, or even still in bed. You can close your eyes or not. The most important thing in meditation is not to focus on your to-do list, workday, or anything else, but only on your breath and your words and let the rest go.

Step 4: Social media

Do not look at social media sites first thing in the morning.

I’ve done it. We’ve all done it. We all do it.

But waking up to see people at the party you were not invited to, or the people who upset you last week now going to Paris having the time of their life does not help us or give us the encouragement we need first thing in the morning.

Social media has its good points. It’s a great distributor of information, especially since most local newspapers are a thing of the past. But social media also sometimes brings out comparison, judgment, and criticism of ourselves and others. We are human, and we all have these feelings sometimes.

Be sure to log in or check your socials after you’ve already created a hedge of positive protection around your mind, protecting your mental health from any negative energy comparing yourself to others, and from any serious FOMO.

Step 5: Morning self care routine

Wash your face, apply that moisturizer and sunscreen, then apply your makeup (if you want) and say good morning, you good-looking person!

That’s right. Compliment yourself since you probably look amazing after your self care routine.

At night when we sleep on our pillow, saliva inevitably leaks out of our mouths onto our cheeks and our pillows. Yuck! Also, we produce a buildup of oil on our face overnight so it’s important to wash all of that off in the morning.

I use my Splashpad bathroom sink splash guard mat every morning, so I don’t have to wipe my counters, clothes, cabinets, or floors when I’m done washing my face. It’s so nice and it’s such a time saver. Plus, my toiletries stay nice and dry and don’t slide around the counter.

Afterward, you can apply your moisturizer, and don’t forget your sunscreen! Apply your makeup if you like, then you are good to go! The Splashpad mat helps prevent makeup smudges on your counter, too.

Don’t forget to give yourself that compliment in the mirror after all your hard work. :)

Step 6: Drink a big glass of water

Before your cup of joe, be sure to drink one entire glass of water.

Yes, that’s right. Before your coffee, and I know it may be tough.

But think about it.

You’ve slept for hopefully at least 7 to 9 hours the night before. You haven’t had much to any water during that time. When you wake up, your body is already naturally dehydrated. Why would you drink coffee to dehydrate your body even more?

(Spoiler alert, yes coffee is dehydrating. Sorry java lovers.)

But I love coffee, too. Can’t live without it in the morning. But I always drink one giant glass of water before I get my first cup of coffee.

Water flushes out your gut and your pores. It’s like a shower for the inside of your body.

Step 7: Have a smoothie or something good to eat.

Grab something healthy, like a smoothie, fruit, or a piece of toast. Something to put nourishment into your body.

I get it. Some people are just not breakfast people.

My husband rarely eats anything for breakfast. But if you are like me, I must have something for breakfast with my coffee or else I’ll be hangry, and my tummy will be upset from the coffee.

I usually have a piece of toast with some almond butter and fruit, or egg whites scrambled with spinach and brown rice. Some of my friends make smoothies in the morning. And if you have the time, I say go for it! I hope to have time for that someday, but I’m usually running out of the door to get my kids to school.

The main point is to start the day with a healthy choice. If you can start the day eating healthy, it’s usually easier to maintain those healthy choices throughout the day. But if you start the day with a greasy breakfast taco, you’ll end up feeling guilty, and think why in the heck did I eat that?

And you may keep eating junk because you’re already off the wagon. So, say goodbye to the guilt and make an easy but healthy choice.

Conclusion

Now that you have these 7 steps to a better start to your day, you're going to have more sustained energy, more enjoyment of your day, and be taking better care of yourself, which all leads to greater success.

I’d love to hear from you if you put them into practice as I do. And if so, what your experience was like implementing them? Did they make your day better? Which steps were easier than the others?

Please comment on the blog or feel free to email me at info@splashpadshop.com to let me know.

Stay healthy my friends. You got this!

Best wishes,

Heather