“You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction”.
George Horace Lorimer
How did you feel when you woke up this morning? Were you filled with determination or did you hit the snooze person/ groan at the small child sitting on your feet/ drag yourself up to find the kettle/ pretend that morning hadn’t happened yet?
Being determined means being firm of purpose, not giving up, not quitting. I have to admit, I rarely wake up with determination – I have a mug that reads “I think I’m allergic to mornings”, on a week day I need to remind my sleepy 7 year old that he needs to get out of bed about 20 times in 5 minutes.. he’s allergic to mornings too… I would say that determination is there AFTER I’ve got up, especially if there’s only 30 minutes til we have to leave for school and I haven’t even assembled the packed lunches yet…
Once I am up I am a very determined person. I just need to get there.
Perhaps you struggle to find that morning motivation too? Here’s some things you could do before or over breakfast (which would probably help too) so you can start your day with determination:
- Check the plan that you made the night before (if you did that!)
- Look over your to-do list. Add tick boxes if you want to. (I love adding tick boxes)
- Keep some quotes that make you feel motivated nearby or in the notes on your phone and read them, recite them – believe them.
- If you have one, take a look at your vision board – or spend a moment adding something to yours so that you’ll have one to look at soon! It doesn’t take long to make one. This is about what you want out of life and business, images of things which represent your goals and hopes for the future both personal and business. This is why you get up in the morning – are you determined to make these things happen? Last year I went to a vision board workshop and this year I have two that I’m thinking about attending. It’s such a lovely process and great to remind you what you’re working towards.
- Write down your goals or take a look over them. When you go to bed, you’ll be a little bit closer.
- Listen to a motivational speaker, watch a TED talk, read a chapter from a book.
- Do Mel Robbins 5,4,3,2,1 – I’m not very good at remembering to do this, but the couple of times I’ve tried it has been at least semi-effective! (I do love doing a high five to myself in the mirror though, try that too!)
- Decide how you will reward yourself for achieving whatever it is that you’re going to do that day.
- Listen to some music that helps you feel motivated and positive – maybe even set this as the alarm on your phone to help you get in the right mindset right away when you get up in the morning.
- Meditate.
- Do some exercise. I find the walk to school and back very helpful. Any movement works.
Once you’ve mastered being determined, you’ll be able to make a big dent in that to do list and go to bed feeling satisfied. Who doesn’t want that?
How do you keep yourself feeling determined? And what are you becoming determined for?
What are you hoping to accomplish? What’s the big idea?
In my recent Adventurous Brand series (which you can still access here) I spoke about your why, how and what – taken in this case from Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle. This is a crucial part of your Brand Strategy.
If you don’t have a compelling reason to get out of bed in the morning (and the school run or the lure of good black coffee doesn’t work for you) then this is a great way to discover your reason for determination. Check out my content linked above, or pop here to see Simon deliver it all himself. He makes it sound very doable.