Find a way to play before you start your day
I’m obsessed with finding the best way to spend my morning. I’ve experimented with meditation, nature, drawing pictures, reading, you name it. I love it in the geekiest way imaginable.
Out of all these techniques, there’s not one in specific that works best. Instead, it’s a common theme that I have found between all of them.
Play.
Find a way to tap into your inner child and play! Wake up and do something fun for the first 5–10 minutes of your day before you do anything else.
Get crazy. Get goofy. Get weird. Dance. Sing. Laugh. Intentionally smile.
Lately for me that means jumping on a slackline, or spending some time in nature, or drawing pictures, or a combination of a few.
I do the types of things I enjoyed doing as a child. I go play and have fun with myself.
It’s important to start your day with a clear and playful mind. A mind that can handle the inevitable challenges that you will face.
I came up with this technique because I noticed my tendency to think about work. To wake up and have my mind immediately start planning my day. Picking up my cellphone and checking messages right when I woke up.
Messages that then hijacked my shower time and peace of mind right after waking up.
I needed something to hijack this system. Get my mind to direct in a positive direction upon waking, instead of the automatic one.
For a long time I’ve been experimenting with a morning routine to break this cycle. I do yoga, I meditate, and then I read books while eating breakfast. This routine has served me well for the last year or two now.
But I knew that there was a better way. It could still be improved. While I was going through the motions of a great morning routine, there was an element of childlike happiness missing from all of it.
I wanted something that would jolt me out of my system and wake me up into happy town.
What I discovered though wasn’t as much of an activity, as it was a mindset. A mindset APPLIED to all of these activities so that I get the most out of everything I do.
That mindset, that intention, was to play. To have fun. To be childishly enthusiastic. Act like a silly goofball. I could still do things like hiking or slackening, but I would do it with more childish enthusiasm. Less barriers and fear to the way I approach things. Letting go of inhibitions and worry about what others think.
Silly. Strange. Weird. Goofy. Wacky. Pretend that you are a child about to cause chaos on the basketball course and get as abstractly awesomely crazy as you can.
When you shower you can play with soap bubbles like you did as a child. Or sing and dancing. Take a shower like you took an ecstasy pill.
While cooking you can chop vegetables up while dancing. Or add imaginary ingredients like love, happiness, and smiles! (I actually do this hahahah!)
I personally find that doing this in the morning though keeps me in playful spirits throughout the day. I’m more lighthearted, less reactive, and a more pleasant person to be around.
It also helps me to not take myself so seriously. To laugh at myself a bit more. To notice when I’m complicating situations or thinking too much, take a step back, and laugh.
Think this is too strange? It’s probably because you’ve lost touch with your inner child. You’ve become serious and resist ideas like this. You’re the people who need it most.
Jump up from your chair and get silly right now! And then again when you wake up tomorrow morning. Thank me later in the silliest way you can 😃
Thoughts? Similar experiences? Let me know in the comments below!
Originally published at Troy Erstling.
