The rest of your life starts today, not tomorrow. If you’re looking to start fresh, to improve yourself, to begin to love yourself, or to stay more positive throughout your day, then this article is meant for you. You will never get today back. Use it wisely. Read along to see exactly how you can use your time more effectively.
Set your alarm for one hour earlier than usual. Whether that’s setting it for 11:00am instead of 12:00pm, or 5:00am instead of 6:00am, that extra hour is crucial. It will allow you to slow down each morning before starting your day at work, school, or whatever it is you do. It will give you time to ease into your day and release any negative energy from the previous night. Getting up an hour early will also give you the time each morning to complete the other six things necessary to start your day right..
The SAVERS. These other six things are called the SAVERS, which stands for Silence, Affirmations, Visualization, Exercise, Read, and Scribe. These can be accomplished in any order you prefer.
- Silence. Sit in silence for ten minutes. Whether through meditation or something else, sit alone with your thoughts. Stay off your phone, shut your eyes, and pay close attention to your senses. What do you hear? What do you feel? Notice what thoughts come in. Breathe in the positive ones. Breathe out the negative ones. Take the time to mentally prepare for the rest of your day. Sometimes it can be hard to sit in silence for ten minutes straight, so I recommend starting with five and working your way up.
- Affirmations. Setting affirmations is an important reminder of the person you want to be each day. Try to set at least three affirmations a day, but no more than ten. These positive statements will help you focus on your goals, motivate you to continue taking steps towards those goals, and help you feel more confident in yourself and your abilities. In addition, affirmations help you change your thought patterns, which is an essential step in thinking positively. Some affirmations that have helped me the most include: “I am proud of the person I am becoming,” “I respect my own boundaries,” and “I am the architect of my own life.” You can write or say these affirmations, whatever your preference, but I don’t recommend using this to count for both your affirmations and your scribe time. Afterall, there are no shortcuts to lasting life changes.
- Visualization. Visualize your goals. Put pictures to words. Sometimes it can be helpful to start seeing your goals instead of just writing or saying them. As many have said before, seeing is believing. One thing I recommend is creating a vision board and putting it in a place where you can look at each day. Another thing that helps me is scrolling through Pinterest or similar apps and creating boards of certain aspects of my life I want to work on. Try to do this for five minutes each day.
- Exercise. It’s important for both your mental and physical health to get moving each day, even if it’s only for ten minutes. You can accomplish this step by doing some exercises at home, taking a short trip to the gym, going for a walk/run, doing some yoga, or even dancing around your kitchen! Move your body and get your heart rate up for at least ten minutes each morning.
- Read. For fifteen minutes in the morning, read a few pages in a book, a magazine, a recipe to use later in the day, or an article like this one. Reading is knowledge and knowledge is the key to reaching your true potential. Reading can help you learn more about the things you want to improve on. From learning about business and stocks to self-development, you’ll be better equipped to take on your future.
- Scribe. Writing helps to clear the mind. Every morning when you wake up, open a blank page in a notebook and just write down what comes to mind. This can be about a dream you had the previous night, something you might be excited or worried about, or answering a question that helps you look deeper into who you are. One thing I like to do every day is write down ten things I’m grateful for. This helps to keep my mind clear and acts as a reminder to be more grateful of the little things in my day.
Self-improvement can be hard, but it’s necessary in living a happier life. Some days, it will be harder to accomplish these steps than others, and that’s completely normal. Life is full of embracing ups and downs, and bad days are going to happen. These seven steps are meant to help you turn those bad days into good days, or at least not-so-bad days. Tomorrow morning, wake up an hour early and practice your SAVERS. Goodluck in learning how to be the best version of you. The rest of your life starts now.