Before your feet hit the floor, your mind may already be rehearsing everything that could go wrong. Nothing has happened yet, but you’ve started the day with a preview of what you least want to experience.
What if the first few minutes of your morning went differently?
Gayle Lantz shares a simple two-minute practice she calls “Gayle’s Get Going,” a way to point your attention toward the kind of day you want before the demands of the day take over. It isn’t about forcing positivity or controlling outcomes. As Gayle puts it, it’s about “tuning your instrument before a performance,” so you’re ready for whatever comes.
She also offers three keys that make the practice work, one of which may surprise you if you’re a leader who thinks in terms of results. Along the way, she shares a candid story from her recent travels, a long flight home that tested everything she’d planned to feel, and what she did when things didn’t go as expected.
Leaders will also hear why this practice goes deeper than a morning routine. Your thoughts shape your behavior, and your behavior shapes everyone around you. Gayle explains how becoming aware of your own thinking can change the way you walk into a difficult meeting or conversation.
She closes with a way to bookend your day and a challenge to try it for a few days. You may not be able to control what kind of day you have, but you may have more influence over how you experience it than you realize.
This episode covers:
- Why the way you start your morning shapes the rest of your day
- A simple two-minute practice for choosing your mindset
- Three keys to making the practice work
- Why a “word for the day” may serve you better than a word for the year
- How self-awareness of your thinking helps leaders show up better
- A simple evening habit to close your day well
- A challenge: notice, choose, begin
LINKS
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